White Peonies

      Peony is one of those perennials that completely disappears in winter and then reappears with all new growth, from scratch, in spring. Isn’t that a lot of work? Almost like a punar janma i.e. rebirth. In the past four years (i.e. how long it takes to graduate from college), I have seen my white Peony being born four times. In the first two years there were only leaves. In the third year it bore only one tiny bud. It bloomed and vanished before I could savor it. This year, much to my delight it bore over 10 buds and has kept my camera busy! So as to share this joy, here are a few pictures of the same.

      On a separate note, painting white flowers on white paper is always a challenge. One has to device ways to make them pop out of the paper, as white on white doesn’t offer a contrast. This is what I do to generate a contrast:

• Surround the white petals with green leaves in the composition (e.g. one and two).
• Paint the background black e.g. this one.
• Paint the background any other color and accentuate the details with a different color altogether e.g. this one.
• Enhance the shadows at appropriate places e.g. this one.

      The real Peonies seem to know all these techniques! I love the shadows that give them the look of white marble sculpture. The morning dew drops are a refreshing sight and are proof of life currents. Nature does make lovely paintings and sculpture. It just took four years to make it look this good

Ratna

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Last year on this blog: Strawberry Heaven

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We should enjoy this summer, flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one we’ll see.

- Andre Gide