Freedom’s Fortune 2021

Rose Freymuth-Frazier painted this picture, Freedom’s Fortune, using oils. Look how the forms of the horse are built up with subtle gradations of tone, like the modelling you see in Renaissance painting. But what’s so interesting is that the artist has combined this traditional technique with some unexpected motifs. A cascade of yellow roses runs along the horse's neck, surrounded by delicate Monarch butterflies. These elements seem to have been added with a lighter touch, almost like a collage. If you look closely, you can see how the wings of the butterflies are delicately rendered with fine lines and subtle gradations of color, giving them a sense of lightness and movement against the solidity of the horse. The combination of classical technique and surreal imagery reminds me of artists like Odilon Redon, who combined a mastery of academic technique with a passion for the world of dreams and imagination. Like his work, this is a painting which embraces ambiguity and multiple interpretations.