This is my latest work towards my exhibition later in the year.
It has been a while in the making and has had a somewhat organic journey as my ideas have changed as I've been making the picture. My original plan was to paint something dramatic. ---a pale rose against a dark, possibly black, background. This was to avoid an "old lady" sentimental picture, which is a danger when one attempts a rose. But as the rose grew on the canvas I rather liked the delicate feel of the pastel colours and stayed with them. After all there are many more dramatic pics to come, including the PEONY which is underway right now.
The background references are ---an Elizabethan woodcut of a gardener smelling a bloom.
---a medieval herbal.
---a piece of William Morris wallpaper called Briar Rose which (hopefully) looks as if the background is being peeled away to reveal thewallpaper underneath.
