Original artwork description:

I originally started this painting thinking it would be an easy subject for a demonstration for the Society of Washington Artists. I fell in love with the painting somewhere along the way.

The International Rose Test Garden, located in beautiful Portland Oregon, is the oldest of its kind in the United States. I entered the garden for the first time ever this summer. It was an amazing experience. Difficult to describe. I could just bathe in all the color, variety and fragrance. I never knew roses could grow so large, so small, so tall, and at such colors!! Some were dainty and elegant, others large and bold. Old roses, new roses, single, double, and quartered! Upright, tall, climbing, rambling, crawling, and falling. And all were just roses!

I took many, many photos, most of them with a model, who was experiencing all this for the first time as well. It was a once-in-a-life-time experience that I will always cherish.

My intention was to start a body of figuratives featuring people interacting with the garden. This painting was just supposed to be for demonstration, for experience, for education purposes only.

For the demonstration, I wanted a strong abstract design to highlight the wonderful saturation range of a limited oil colour palette. I chose a larger canvas than I had painted on in quite a while to make it easier for the audience to see. I documented its making through youtube and Patreon videos. It became much more detailed than I intended. It was much more difficult that I had anticipated.

The demonstration went well. Very well. I felt so much connection to the audience, and chose to bring the pink roses oil painting to completion.

At first I struggled with the meaning of this painting, its message to me. On a particular difficult day, a friend wanted to cheer me and texted lyrics to a favorite song. "You make beautiful things, you make things new, out of dust."

I found my meaning.

This painting is dedicated to my closest friends. Those that have helped me find meaning so many times through their persistence I continue to paint. It is also dictated to my first therapist who picked up my broken pieces...and taught me to make beautiful things, out of dust.

Materials used:

Professional quality oil colors and medium, linen mounted on hardboard

Tags: