Cherish

Original Sold

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You know those moments when everything stops, for just a split second?  This painting started like that.  Our kitchen sink looks out through a garden window to the back yard into a terraced hillside. It’s big huge hill behind us and it blocks the early morning sun;  it isn’t until at least 11am before there is direct sunlight cast on the back yard.  It was just about this time – late morning – on a spring morning when my eye was grabbed by the light on these roses.  I saw how blue and violet were reflected in the impartial light.  What a gorgeous combination with the peachy pink!  So much more interesting than when the flower is lit by full sun and all the colors are uniformly warm.

I climbed up the rocks on the face of the retaining wall so I could get to the same side of the rose I could see from the window, lit from the side.  iPhone in hand, I took a series of photos of the roses on this bush.  The rose variety is called “Abbaye de Cluny” and is one of the Romanticas from Meilland Roses in France.   Of course I love that it’s a French rose. I wonder if they’ve actually grown the rose in the gardens around that abbey?

I’ve been wanting to paint a big, floppy, “mature” rose for a while.  I love how much character rose blooms have after they are no longer perfect.  The autumn of 2019 I went hunting through my photo collection and this one beguiled me.  It’s funny how even though I was captured by the rose, the photos didn’t call me to paint right away.  Inspiration and the creative process can be quite mysterious!

I’ve been painting more and more with a limited palette.  Apart from the background and the greens of the bud, I painted this one with just three paints:  Permanent Rose, Hansa Yellow Medium and instead of my usual Manganese Blue Hue, I used Cobalt Blue – one of my can’t-imagine-living-without paints.  Cobalt is more violet and makes more pure purples and lavenders when mixed with the Rose.  It was fun to use something different.

Along with a collection of photos for potential paintings, I keep a collection (mostly in my head) of potential painting names.  It’s an interesting thing to contemplate:  what would I paint that would suit this particular word?  “Cherish” is one of those names I’ve been holding onto for a while.  At first I felt shy about using it for this painting.  One of my dear artists suggested “Magic,” which I love, but then the word kept popping up over a few days in a way that I couldn’t ignore.

Apart from being the subject of a sunshine pop song from the 60’s by The Association, it’s a word that I think could use a higher profile these days.  Looking up the actual definition I found: to cherish is to protect and care for lovingly, to hold dear and to keep in one’s mind.  On top of that the root of the word is the same as my first name.  Cherish and Cara both come from “carus” in Latin.  Cherish came to us by way of… the French language! Viola! It’s clear this one is to be called “Cherish.”

Cherish  – 22″x22″ – Autumn 2019 – Watercolor on Paper