It is now blooming June and everywhere is gloriously purple with spires of foxgloves in this part of Wales. I like foxgloves. I like foxgloves a lot, which is why they often appear in my paintings.
But over the years, I have come to realise that their colour seems to change with the quality of the light, which makes them quite tricky to catch….
If I begin a painting one day when the sky is a little overcast, the foxgloves appear to be a mauve colour: pinky mauve, but mauve nonetheless. Then, if I continue the next day, which happens to be a bright day, the foxgloves appear to have changed colour. They are now a dark magenta pink with a hint of mauve.
It’s a bit like that famous blue/white dress – it’s not just context, the angling of the sun’s rays can change the purple dramatically.
So yesterday afternoon I took my camera out to look at the various purples in the garden. The centaurea has very slight overtones of pink near the centre; the chives had no pink tinge, but the photograph has some pink at the centre too:
The rose is a lovely old fashioned dark pink/mauve which becomes a blue pink as it blooms…… the same shade as the foxglove…
But then I look at the foxglove from a different angle:
A stronger pink already.
And if I look at some different ones against the house wall
it’s a shocking pink.
Pinker than the astrantia –
and the cranesbill:
I’m still waiting for the verbena boniarensis to flower – and the buddleia, not to mention the lavender – just as well!
It’s the time of year I really wish I could spend more time in the garden….
