Galorosa

Original sold.

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This is the first of two paintings that came out of a visit to our beloved Filoli gardens in Woodside, California. It was the first Friday in May, 2021. Everyone had been vaccinated so we could gather in person for the first time since the lockdown in March of 2020. A beautiful sunshiny day, spring in full, flourishing bloom, and being able to look right into each others’ eyes for the first time in over a year. It hardly gets any better than how it felt that day.

I took a whole bunch of photos of this Sally Holmes rose. One vertical photo looked like a cascade of petals and wanted to be a painting. It was a big Photoshop project before getting it down on paper to paint. There must be 10 versions of the file. I kept going back in to put in antother open center, move a bud, clarify and simplify. I wanted the flowers to take the eye along the length of the painting, with places to linger alonge the way. One of my favorite bits is the downward-facing bud in the lower right. The purples and blues of the shadows along with the peach of the part that is just opening cracks my heart open.

The flower petals are painted with my favorite three-color paint combo: Permanent Rose, Manganese Blue Hue and Hansa Yellow Medium. Mixing with a limited palette brings harmony and cohesiveness to a painting. Plus, it’s easier to remember from start to finish which colors/paints were used. I did not paint the whole background first, as I normally do. I painted top to bottom – background, leaves, then flowers. Rinse, repeat.

This is my first 20″x40″ vertical painting. This composition is effective hanging on the wall, in the right spot. Viewing it is a full-body encounter with the roses. I think I’ll do more in this shape/orientation.

The title is another of my made-up names – a mash-up of “galore” and “roses”, with an “a” at the end to bring it a romance language fragrance. Roses galore became Galorosa because Rosagalora seemed a bit much!

May – August 2022 – 41″ x 20 1/2″  – Watercolor on Paper