Today I stumbled upon an interesting article on Van Gogh's art and some scientific experiments in the archives of Discovery Magazine website. Apparently 'honey bees that had never encountered real flowers favored Van Gogh's sunflowers over floral works of other well known artists.' That is impressive! The BBC piece that sited the study further elaborates that ' A bee's favourite colour is blue, he (Professor Lars Chittka) added, which is associated with high-nectar flowers. This could be why the bees were strongly drawn to the blue "Vincent" signature in Van Gogh's painting, as well as the blue blooms in A Vase of Flowers, and a light blue square in Still Life with a Beer Mug.' I don't think my flower paintings have that power to attract the bees but I still enjoy painting them. In this piece, I used permanant masking fluid to show the bright Indian sun shining on the flowers.
Flowers in the Sun watercolor 14x11"
