Composition 2

On the hottest day of the year, the finishing touches are being put on this midsummer monochrome. The harsh July light is guided through a tiny inch-wide source, softened and diffused across the scene. The first flush of roses is gone, leaving only their hips behind, and the mass of white cools and refreshes like a glass of something deliciously iced or the lapping of a stream in a leafy glade.

The texture of these glamorous whites, toning with the more recessive green of their foliage is echoed in the ancient container, the crackle of the Style Empire urn, dripping with masks and sphynxes, and the Italian silk screen background, that fades into nothing.

In the foreground, the remaining stems wait to be added, the same trusty secateurs become a leitmotiv. We glimpse a mysterious fragment of words from a manuscript of great age and the papery elephant garlic too piques our curiosity. How on earth will it be added to the composition?