Papaver 2021

Mary Jane Ansell made this painting, Papaver, and you can just tell that she's playing with the old masters, but with a twist, right? I'm thinking about how the painting might have come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I feel like I'm standing in front of her, this woman with long braided hair. Those flowers in the background must have felt challenging – how to make them fresh, not just decorative? I can almost feel the artist deciding on the colors, getting that skin tone just right. It's so smooth, with hints of pink and a touch of green in the shadows. And that gaze – so direct! I wonder what it might have been like to be Ansell, stepping back, squinting, and then adding just a bit more light to the eye. You know, all artists are in an ongoing conversation, building on what's come before. This is painting as embodied expression, embracing that beautiful ambiguity.