I always have flowers at the opening of an exhibition, but when I am feeling particularly happy, I will have flowers in the gallery always. I like the flowers to compliment or contrast with the paintings that surround them. But when I spotted the gentle beauty of these roses on the way to work today, I had to have them for the gallery, and in particular, for this exhibition.
It occurred to me as I arranged them, that I was already surrounded by flowers. Sandy Murphy often paints flowers, but as he once explained to me, he is using them to 'hang the paint on'.
In a way, the painting is not about the flowers, the flowers are about the paint. And this is how I see these paintings. Paint, texture, colour, time, beauty.
Subject matter is almost not relevant with Sandy's work, which is an extraordinary thing to say. Usually what a painting appears to be depicting is what the artist finds important. Well, Sandy is different. These aren't paintings of flowers, they are an expression of something else.
And they have to be seen in person to be fully appreciated, to be seen as more than just flowers.
Although, as I said, I do love flowers. So thank goodness I have my real ones, but I am also lucky enough to be surrounded by so much more.
Thanks for reading!
Natalie
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