ANDREA JORDAN
ARTIST
“There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.”
Henri Matisse
'EXOTIC GARDEN' series
Roses have been grown throughout history for their beauty and fragrance; they have long been used to represent that most basic of human emotions, love. Wreaths of roses have been discovered in tombs of the ancient Egyptians. Fossilised roses have been found even from pre-historic times. The rose still remains a revered symbol in daily life.
The paintings in this series have evolved towards stylisation in exploration of traditional oil painting techniques and in response to the exotic forms and colours of roses. Painting a rose is similar to unraveling a puzzle. All roses are bound to follow their predestined form but every one is unique.
The folds of the velvety petals flow smoothly or dip and curl unexpectedly, the colours astonish in their variety, exuberance or subtlety and the sunlight illuminates their delicacy and transparency. There is beauty even in their decay, as the petals finally fall to the ground.
Andrea’s artwork is printed on stretch canvas.
‘WINTER BONES’ series
“I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future – the timelessness of the rocks and the hills – all the peoples who have existed there. I prefer winter and fall for their development when you feel the bone structure of the landscape – the loneliness of it, the dead feeling in winter.Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn’t show.” Andrew Wyeth
The peaceful beauty of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens belies a more disruptive cultural transition. The Gardens were established with convict labour in1818, on land that had been inhabited by the Mouheneener people for over 5,000years before their dispossession.
