"Flowers in Vase" was a still life demonstration painting study I rendered for my painting students to show how to paint clear glass, water, and flowers.
As far back as ancient Egyptian times, if not earlier, flowering plants have been rendered onto temple and tomb walls. In Roman times, plant paintings adorned the walls of tombs and homes as pure decoration and as status symbols. In medieval times, and really coming into its own during the Renaissance, artists started rendering flowers as frescos (a type of wall painting where the pigment is imbued into wet plaster) but also onto canvas and wooden board. These paintings were created, often commissioned, to show off the wealth and status of those who could afford the luxury. Painting flowers were now being hung in people's homes rather than painted directly onto their walls or to just adorn the walls of ancestral tombs. Art was now meant to be seen and shown off to beautify homes and to impress visitors. A shift in why art is created had come into being. From the Renaissance onward, flowers show up as painting subjects in art schools and my art classes are no exception. Flowers are colourful, interesting, varied subjects, and are available inexpensively for anyone who dares to take the time to stop, to observe, and to paint.
