Description
Every house I’ve lived in as an adult I’ve planted rosebushes – as many as possible. In the house we are in now the sunniest place is the side yard, where we have to walk around the house to get to. One day around Eastertime 2014, I found myself on the side yard and saw there was one single rose, in full bloom along with one cluster of lilac – from a bush that had yet to bloom, even after several years in the ground. All the rest of the roses were in tight buds, weeks away from flowering. These two blooms showing themselves so early and so all on their own just had to be picked and painted. I set them in a simple small vase and brought them to a sunny spot up on the railing of the upstairs deck and took several photos. I started the painting in June in order to demonstrate for a “Finding the Color in Whites” workshop in July. I layered cobalt blue and cobalt teal blue with yellow and a bit of pink in the shadow – bringing color (and thus life) to it. But then it sat with just the background and the railing painted until the spring of 2015 when it seemed time to pick it back up. Painting the glass was fun, reminding myself to do what I say all the time, “paint what you see.” I then moved on to the lilacs. Ho, Nellie! I like detail, but this is crazy detail! I’d paint for two hours and have done only two or three square inches. I picked my way through it, shape, by shape, blue-violet to red-violet. The rose is a Peace rose, which gave me the working title for this painting – I thought I’d call it simply “Peace.” But when it was done, it didn’t seem right. I have been thinking that there’d be a painting at some point that I’d call “Still.” Like “Rest,” “Still” has more than one meaning – there’s the calm, quiet, not moving sense as well as continuing, enduring. Somehow both of these fit for me. Looking at this painting (when I’m able to see beyond the parts that still bother me) I feel the reminder to be still and still be.
April 2015
