“Paeonia: Prosperity and Nobility”
Oil on canvas
28” x 22”Painted frame, oil on wood
The Peony has graced Asian art since at least the twelfth century, symbolizing prosperity and nobility and, in Japan, is known as the “King of Flowers.” This painting of modern hybrids of Chinese and Japanese peonies is framed with peonies adapted from Japanese and Chinese paintings and porcelain from the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
28” x 22”Painted frame, oil on wood
The Peony has graced Asian art since at least the twelfth century, symbolizing prosperity and nobility and, in Japan, is known as the “King of Flowers.” This painting of modern hybrids of Chinese and Japanese peonies is framed with peonies adapted from Japanese and Chinese paintings and porcelain from the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
© Betsy Kelly, 2011
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“Camellia: Luck, Perfection and Loveliness”
Oil on canvas
22” X 16”
Painted frame, oil on wood
Oil on canvas
22” X 16”
Painted frame, oil on wood
Graceful camellia, symbolizing luck, perfection and loveliness, has a history in Asian art going back to the eleventh century. It was sometimes referred to as the “Rose of Winter” because it bloomed when snow still fell. This painting of a modern hybrid white camellia japonica is framed with an adaptation of an eighteenth century Chinese landscape painting of single-flowered camellias and magpies in winter.
© Betsy Kelly, 2011
Betsy Kelly
Betsy Kelly majored in art as an undergraduate and attended graduate school in pottery and design. After a career detour in banking, she took courses in botanical art. Her oil paintings have been shown at Washington DC area galleries including the Corcoran Museum of Art.
Betsy is fascinated with old painting techniques and materials. She experimented with egg tempera and gilding before she settled on painting in oils by mixing methods used by Old Masters (slowly building up many layers of paint) with her own personal techniques and contemporary compositions. Her fascination with artists from past centuries led her to paint the peony and camellia for this show, two flowers loved and painted by artists since antiquity. The peony and camellia radiate great beauty in gardens today. Their ancestors have inspired generations of artists since at least the twelfth century.
See more of Betsy's work here or on her website.
