Flowers of Summer 1966

John Bratby painted 'Flowers of Summer' with what looks like oil on canvas, and I love the way he’s built the image from simple marks. The surfaces are built up with lots of little strokes, like he was knitting with paint. Look at one of the flower heads, how the paint is applied to create a mass of individual blooms. You can almost feel the prickly texture. It's like each dab of paint is a tiny decision, a little burst of energy that builds up to the whole flower. This directness reminds me a little of Van Gogh, who also wasn't afraid to just go for it with the brush. And maybe that's the point, art isn't about perfection, it's about the messy, beautiful process of trying to capture something real.