Artist Statement:
Using watercolor, I explore the delicate, fragile beauty in the death of cut flowers. The rose is one of the most meaningful flowers there is. It is given to celebrate love, friendship, even sympathy, and is prominent at weddings and funerals. Roses follow us through the circle of life, and each has a circle of life of its own. The flowers grow on a bush until they are ready to be cut, then we place them in water in an effort to preserve them. However, their death is inevitable. They wrinkle and shrivel up when they get old just like we do, and there is beauty in that process. The roses each have a uniqueness to them. Every petal I paint is different, just as each of us have our own individuality.
In most of my paintings, my roses are set against a pure white background in order to highlight the rose itself. This allows for them to be analyzed by both me, and the viewer. It also presents them as the icons of beauty that they are. I showcase my roses through my expression of color, composition, and attention to detail. Through my analysis, I strive to understand our relationship to the rose.
There is a beauty in the passage of time for these roses. Typically, once a rose dies it is thrown away, unless it has a special meaning. Cut flowers wilt and then they no longer have a purpose. By painting them after the process of being dried, I strive to capture the intricate and special beauties that the passage of time has on these blooms. I hope to celebrate the dignity and purpose of these roses, just as they have given meaning and celebration to us throughout our lives.
Learn more about each individual series of paintings below:
Scientific Series:
It started with the examination of this single rose that I let dry. The flower dried in a way that I never would have expected. The leaves twisted and the head of the rose tilted. This series also takes inspiration from traditional illustration for scientific purposes. Artists such as Audubon with his bird paintings and botanical artist Giovanna Garzoni would paint the characteristics of the specimens that they came across. This work was also traditionally done in watercolor. In spending so much time painting each individual portion of the rose, I began to see things that I normally wouldn’t notice just glancing at roses. The drying process makes for better and more drastic details.
Paintings in this series:
Breakdown
Introspection
Timid
Drying
Open
Not Broken, Just Bent
Somber
Closed
Thoughtful
Primary Finish
Cut
Pieces
Hurt
Couples Series:
In playing with personification, I wanted to see what the relationship between two roses could be. How their leaves wilted, how their petals dried. Flowers when they are alone convey a much different feeling than when they are together. In this series I play with body language of the roses and with our natural instinct to personify things, we see a relationship between the two flowers. They do not care that their partner is dried up. Perfect and pure, they only see the beauty that the other holds.
Paintings in this series:
Onwards and Upwards
Reaching
Crossroads
Reflections(?)
Lovers
Embrace
Gentle Touch
Petals Series:
Enjoying painting the individual petals and the level of examination I had been doing with the roses, I decided to start painting them individually to compare petals from either the same rose, or petals that are the same color, and see how different they truly are.
Paintings in this series:
Gravity
Shifting
Falling Apart
Growth
Petals
The Path
In Comparison
Inner/Outer