Brilliant Bougainvillea Bouquets
I don't know how the beautiful flowering bougainvillea has been overlooked for centuries as a subject for still life. Perhaps its thorns dissuaded painters from cutting stems as muse for their artistry, though there are hundreds of rose paintings adorning museums.
The word "brilliant" is defined in several ways - dazzling, extraordinary, wonderful. To me, the bougainvillea flower is full of exceptional wonder because the flowers are so translucent. The way the light passes through the petals and radiates their brilliant color is reminiscent of stained glass.
Each cell carries its joyous color to my canvas.
Even its leaves present a great variety in shape and color and size, variegated and full of life. The colors of the flowers go from white to deep purple and at least a dozen different gradations in between, a glorious spectrum from red to yellow to orange to green to blue to violet.
Years ago when looking for a novel subject for my still life painting, I gathered as many colors of the bougainvillea I could find in bloom. The results were so satisfying, I continued my study of this uncommon still life flower and realize now what a wonderful collection this body of work represents in the world of Caribbean Art. The bougainvillea still life with exotic indigenous fruits and patterned fabrics is a perfect symbol of the brilliant light and colors of my Caribbean homeland.
An artist is also an inventor, and I am grateful to have been inspired to create a realm of still life that did not exist before. These bouquets genuinely carry forth my lifelong ambition to share the essence of the Caribbean all over the globe. One day, I hope my bougainvillea bouquets hang adjacent to the centuries of rose still lifes that bring joy to so many museum spectators!
Thank you always for your encouragement.
Sincerely,
Roland Richardson