For a while I had been thinking about painting flowers in a turquoise vase. I had painted red, blue, green and glass vases in the past but never a turquoise vase.  The colour evokes mystery and is appreciated only by discerning viewers. Others just categorise it as a general blue colour. In a painting, light changes the basic colour and makes the vase more interesting.

Which flowers to paint? Roses were uppermost in my mind. Next, the decision was to be made about the colour of the flowers. The white flowers would go best with the turquoise vase. For a moment , I visualised white lilies in a vase. Then thought about white roses with various hues of yellows and pinks in the petals. But white flowers would shine only on a dark background and I was in mood to paint a dark background. Most of the roses I had recently painted were in tones of vermillion hue. So thought of using crimson lake with its varying hues, values and tints. The buds which I painted in the end fascinated me the most. Each one is placed at a different angle and is of different size. They serve as eye magnets to bring the attention to the central rose flower. Enjoyed the challenge of painting a sheer table cloth with few petals scattered around.