Peaceful Paintings by Ian Rafferty

This painting is entitled "Water Lilies". It was published as a poster in Britain. The flowers , in the foreground , are placed within their natural wetland habitat. The form and colour of the composition were simplified to try to achieve an image of peace and serenity. Originally I painted dozens of water lily leaves in the background , almost like Monet's water lilies, but later I decided "less is more" and removed 90% of them , to achieve a more balanced composition.

The Peacock Feather painting above is from a set of three , on the peaceful theme. Most wetland areas have birds such as Swan and Heron in residence. Here an exotic Peacock , wandering in a wild place may have lost a feather.

In the "Flowers through the Window" series , I was very interested in the way the pattern on the lace curtain is distorted by the wind blowing it. In the one above though , the curtains are moved , not by the wind but by outdoor climbing roses. Untamed nature invading the tranquility of the home. Both these paintings were published in Britain as edition prints , calendars etc. Also they were published as edition prints in Greenwich Village , USA.