La Vie en Rose

With the swift approach of Valentine's Day, it seems only appropriate to depict flowers, and while Valentine's bouquets may or may not make the lovely and noble rose (one of my personal favorites) seem tacky to some, it is surely the sentimental mascot of February 14th. The very geometric and refined block print, Rose [above], was done first, then I painted Roses on a Rainy Night [below]. A discerning eye might recognize similarities between the background of this painting and that of Emerging Red; the similarities were quite intentional. Having brought home a $5 bouquet of roses one evening, I set my vase on my drawing table, contemplated the dampness and darkness of University Drive, and found that the cheerful colors and large scale of the roses against the distant scene outside, the piercing neon lights, the strange shadows, and cascades of rain would tell an interesting story.