73x 53 cm, watercolours and watercolour pencils
This is the rose from the Kazanlak. I carried it back to the artist residency studio in Sofia and painted it there.
In May, I was involved in an artist residency program, and my plan was doing some research about the Bulgarian Rose - Rosa Damascena, in combining to my rose series. The first challenge of this project is that the blooming of rose was somehow postponed this year, so I have no idea how to develop.
Then, the local floral shop gave me a clue: Go to Rose Valley, and they might have some bloom.
When I went back to Sofia, I observed my sketch as well as looking at the actual reference. Then, I began to paint it from day to night.
This artwork was completed after 5 days. It usually takes longer time to finalise, however, I determined to paint quickly this time due to the fact that the flower was injured by bad weather. It lay on the ground, so it would be best to work on this reference as soon as possible.
"In this creative journey, I learned how to create a new inspiration from changing my working pose. To be creative usually means breaking a rule, so it was tough to stay in the same routine. To stay this motivation, I have to change the surroundings while I am painting. First, I place it on the chair to paint it. Next, lay it down and then paint, and then take it to the other space where I could see for a long distance but still inside our studio space. Eventually, bring it back to my seat again. That is fun to me. That creates a playful feeling is like us, my painting and I, are doing some sort of art performances in this studio.“
-Chun-shan Chien,27,05, 2019