Crocus 2015

Bernadette Resha made this watercolour called 'Crocus' with blues, greens, purples and reds. Just imagine her at work, the brush dancing across the paper, coaxing these blooms into being through layer upon layer of translucent colour. You can almost feel the delicate touch of the brush as she builds up the petals, one stroke at a time. I'm thinking about her process, the way she coaxes form from such fluidity. The watercolour bleeds and blends into the surrounding space. This is a difficult medium to control and I like how she hasn’t tried to smooth over all the imperfections, each mark is honest and direct. The stems in the lower left are looser than the flowers, their colour dissolving into the blue ground like memories or dreams. Other artists, like Georgia O'Keeffe, have explored the inner life of flowers with the same degree of intimacy. And so artists keep the conversation going, in the hope that someone out there will pause and really see.