Hydrangea by the Lake, Powerscourt
Hydrangea by the Lake, Powerscourt
In December last year, I decided to go to Powerscourt Estate in Wicklow to get out of Dublin for a couple of hours and take a walk around its beautiful gardens. I was on my third month of bed rest from an operation I had and I was itching to get back to painting. I love to go to Powerscourt on my own and soak in the beauty of its surroundings and to get lost among its garden trails. In winter there’s an indescribable stillness it gardens and incredibly peace. I was hoping to be struck by inspiration once I got there, whether that was images of landscapes, abstract or floral. I decided to go off the beaten track a little as I was trying to get away from a loud couple that seemed to be walking in the same directions as I had been. After finally separating from them I walked around the lake and I happened upon a hydrangea. There were parts of it that were still very much alive while the rest of it was becoming skeletal as the decay ripped through it like a virus. It was amazing to see the battle between life and death take place. While I was standing there looking at it, inspiration suddenly struck. I saw a massive painting of a hydrangea in my head and knew I had to paint one.
When I was in college in my final year, I did a project on life and death, (I hated every single minute of it, hating college at the same time probably had something to do with it too). I was looking from the conception of life to organic decay. I was told to look at Georgia O’ Keeffe, the American Modernist painter who painted enlarged flowers onto canvas. I wasn’t taken with her; I actually didn’t like anything she did admittedly, I am not a fan of American Modernism. I was also to look at Robert Mapplethrope’s photos of flowers, I, needless to say, didn’t pay too much attention to his photos of flowers as I got a little distracted by his beautiful visions of the male form. As I was at my wit’s end and only in need of a pass to get out of college, I decided to do a load of paintings of orchids in full bloom and stages of decay, in the O’ Keeffe style and show them as my end of year project, (along with a load of rotting potatoes and a notebook on the beginning of a persons life) I swore after the last painting of a flower I did in college I would never do them again, oh how I’ve eaten my own words. I have a newfound respect for O’Keeffe and can look at her work now without wanting to get violent with it or a flower.
Paining this Hydrangea has been a wonderful few months. I was very nervous and slightly tentative to do such a large painting after three months of bed rest, but because it’s me and I like to throw myself in the deep end, I went at it; while putting all the things I learned in pain management into play. I realized when painting this mighty hydrangea that painting is actually my center, it is what I am supposed to do in life when I can. It gives me a purpose when so much of my life has been taken away from me, it is my constant. When I am painting, I am focused and the world around me falls away, I am in a sense, at peace. I am reminded of what my goals are and how much I want to succeed, not only in this career I have chosen but in life. I remembered how much I love painting and the joy of playing and creating something that will outlive me brings me. I had forgotten this fact for a while, I think I was creating art without much heart in it at all for a little while.