Scugog Arts had the pleasure of hosting Port Perry High School co-op student, Eden Connelly-Pugh, for the 2021 fall quadmester. Eden had the opportunity to see how we operate behind the scenes, get hands-on with adding inventory, arrange new works, work a Culture Days booth, and meet our artist members in person.
During her time with us, Eden was asked to write an editorial post about something that interested her at Scugog Arts. Eden chose resident artist, Ruth Greenlaw’s piece Life of a Tulip. Read Eden’s analysis below.
Life of a Tulip, Ruth Greenlaw
By Eden Connelly-Pugh, grade 11
Ruth Greenlaw does many kinds of paintings, some so different you can’t tell they are hers at first. Even out of all of her work, this piece caught my attention most, since it was surrounded with dark paintings which made the yellow stand out. Once viewing it more, I noticed how she used yellow on the other flowers, but it is darker than the yellow on the tulip. I love how this is done because it drew my attention to the tulip, making me feel it is the main thing in the piece.
Realizing that, I looked more at the tulip in the middle, wondering what the artist was trying to tell. I looked up the different meanings of tulips, and a yellow tulip means cheerfulness. Taking this into perspective, the painting made me think about if the tulip is a late bloomer, so it is happy to start to grow tall. Thinking of how the tulip is cheerful makes me love the art piece even more, and the more I look at it, the more details I realize. Another thing Ruth did that I love, is how she made where underneath the tulip see through, so its roots are viewable, which makes the piece that much more unique. Not only does this painting make me happy, it reminds me of the old tulip garden my mom had when I was younger. It’s a piece I recommend buying not just because of the calmness it gives off but also, it seems it would fit anywhere and every time I look at it, I find another thing I didn’t notice before.
Life of a Tulip, Ruth Greenlaw