The Art of Complex Systems

The inherent beauty of flowers has aroused the imagination and emotions of man in innumerable ways since the dawn of history. "Flowers are like the pleasures of the world," exclaimed William Shakespeare. Claude Monet owed the fact that he became a painter to flowers. German artist Peter Kaizer likes to paint flowers that blossom in his imagination. Janet Dwek, the wife of Maurice Dwek, Chairman of the European Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, on the other hand, prefers to paint flowers in the exact likeness of those that exist in reality.

Or, more precisely, it is specific moments in a flower's life that capture Janet's attention."It is unbelievable how complex a flower's system is," says Janet. "If you look at a flower in the afternoon, it looks quite different from the way it looked in the morning." Janet's quest, therefore, is to create a watercolor from life, blending not only a calm moment of her chosen flower, but perhaps even guiding us toward looking at it with her – sharing in its serenity.

Janet has always had a passion for flowers and an interest in gardening, but in 2000, taking her hobby a step further, she enrolled in a one-year botanical painting course at the English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden, London, which was founded in 1673. English-born, Janet has lived in Switzerland with Maurice and their two sons for over 30 years, and there she produced a series of botanical paintings that in 2005 were exhibited in their hometown, Geneva. Several years ago, Janet's artistic interests began to spread beyond the world of flowers, finding artistic beauty in Chinese calligraphy. Depicted is Janet's calligraphed rendition of a verse of the poem, Lying Down Quietly, written by an 8th-century Chinese poet, Bai Juyi.

Lying Down Quietly

All day long, lying in the room in front
My soul quiet and peaceful in a world of emptiness
The mountains above my pillow
Nothing can come to trouble my heart