Willow Herb, Buxstead 1919

Charles Rennie Mackintosh made this botanical study, Willow Herb, Buxstead, in 1919. The colour palette is so delicate, watercolours lightly brushed onto the page, with a barely-there quality. You get the feeling that Mackintosh wanted to catch the plant’s fleeting beauty, pinning it down for a moment. The yellow flower in the lower-left corner is sweet, but the purple willow herb is the real star. Notice how some areas are fully realized, like those deep purple petals, while others are just outlines, a ghost of a flower. I can imagine Mackintosh sitting outside, squinting in the sunlight, trying to capture every detail. I bet he was frustrated at times, wanting to get it just right. We all know that feeling, right? That desire to translate something real onto paper. Mackintosh was part of the Art Nouveau movement, and you can see that love of nature and flowing lines here. It reminds me a bit of some of the early 20th-century German Expressionist painters who were also into nature and using intense colors to express emotion. Artists are always riffing off each other, even across time, like a big, ongoing conversation. Mackintosh leaves us space to bring our own vision to it, and that’s why I keep coming back to painting.