Vodniciar Alina Artwork Still Life «Lilac Flowers» — 35x54cm watercolor on paper 2008

I painted this Artwork in 2008, and in 2012 I brought it with us here to Canada, together with other paintings from our collection. Lilac flowers are my sister’s favourite flowers, and I tried to paint them in a way that would convey both their visual beauty and the impression of their delicate and tender fragrance. I placed the bouquet in a glass beer mug, on which the name “Chișinău” — the capital of the Republic of Moldova — is inscribed. In fact, this mug bears the name of a beer brand called «Chișinău», and for me this object is an interesting element of the composition, because we used to drink beer from this mug. I added the two apples on the table to create a balance of tones and colours. The upper part of the composition is constructed predominantly in a cooler range, while the lower part introduces warmer tones. The transparent glass beer mug, which serves here as a vase, creates a visual connection between these two areas of the composition and contributes to balancing them. Through its transparency and verticality, it unites the bouquet with the objects placed on the table. As can be seen, I painted the bouquet predominantly in cool tones and in a vertical movement, while the apples are round, warm, and have a greater visual weight. They draw the composition downward and prevent the bouquet from becoming too dominant. At the same time, the intense red of the apples further accentuates the depth and intensity of the violet-purple tones of the flowers. In this Artwork, I explored the contrast between dark and light, as well as the dialogue between cool and warm tones. I emphasised the foreground through the small flowers and petals that have fallen onto the table, which contribute to the sense of naturalness and continuity within the composition. I tried to render both the material texture of the objects and their visual delicacy: the transparency of the glass mug, the green of the leaves, and the chromatic variety of the lilac bouquet, from the lighter areas of white and delicate mauve to the more saturated shades of mauve and purple. The composition within the format is constructed in balance — the eye can begin with the flowers on the left side, rise towards the central bouquet, and then descend towards the mug and the apples. This movement creates a gently curved diagonal that guides the eye through the entire Artwork. I painted this floral Still Life in a soft and fluid manner, characteristic of watercolour, using the placement of colours and transparent washes to suggest the volume and delicacy of the forms. I aimed for the transition to take place gradually, from the background on the left side towards the bouquet and then to the objects in the foreground, while at the same time preserving the freshness and spontaneity characteristic of the watercolour technique. For me, this Artwork represents a search for balance between colour, light, transparency, and sensitivity — I wanted the lilac bouquet to retain that impression of freshness and fragility that one feels when looking at real flowers.