Description
Colourful Flowers Series No. 2 is a celebration of texture, spontaneity, and the emotional power of colour. In this small-format oil painting, Katie Erasmus continues her exploration of floral expression, using impasto technique to sculpt a bloom that feels as much carved as painted. The canvas may be just 10 x 15 cm, but the energy it holds is expansive, each stroke a declaration of joy, each colour a note in a visual symphony.
The flower itself is rendered in bold, saturated hues. Petals explode outward in reds, yellows, whites, and hints of blue, layered thickly with visible brush and palette knife strokes. The centre glows with a fiery mix of red and yellow, anchoring the composition with warmth and intensity. This central burst acts as a visual heartbeat, drawing the eye inward before releasing it outward into the surrounding petals. The impasto application gives the painting a sculptural quality, light catches on ridges and valleys of paint, creating shadows and highlights that shift as the viewer moves.
The background, a subtle blend of turquoise and green, offers contrast and calm. These cooler tones allow the flower to stand out while also suggesting freshness and vitality. Turquoise, often associated with creativity and emotional balance, adds a contemporary edge to the piece, while green evokes growth and renewal. Together, they frame the bloom in a space that feels both grounded and expansive.
Emotionally, the painting is exuberant. It doesn’t whisper, it sings. The thick paint and vibrant palette speak of freedom, of the joy found in uninhibited creation. There is a sense of immediacy in the work, as if the flower was born in a single, passionate burst of energy. Yet within that spontaneity lies intention: the placement of colour, the layering of texture, the balance between warm and cool, all carefully orchestrated to evoke feeling.
Katies technique in this piece is tactile and expressive. The impasto style allows her to build the flower physically, giving it dimension and presence. The deep-edged canvas enhances this effect, allowing the painting to extend beyond its surface and into the space it inhabits. It is a piece that invites not just viewing, but engagement, one can almost feel the bloom beneath their fingertips.
As part of a series, No. 2 complements its siblings while standing firmly on its own. Each piece in the Colourful Flowers Series is priced at R350, making them accessible and ideal for collecting. Displayed together, they form a vibrant garden of emotion and colour. Displayed alone, each becomes a singular statement, an ode to the beauty of boldness.
At its heart, Colourful Flowers Series No. 2 is about presence. It is about showing up fully, in colour, in texture, in joy. It reminds us that even the smallest canvas can hold immense feeling, and that art, like nature, thrives in the spaces where light meets pigment, and emotion meets form.
As you stand before Colourful Flowers Series No. 2, you may find yourself smiling, not just at the bloom, but at the energy it radiates. It is a reminder that beauty doesn’t need scale to be powerful. Sometimes, it only needs colour, texture, and the courage to bloom.
Artist: Katie Erasmus
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.