Watercolor Roses

"Truths and roses have thorns about them." Henry David Thoreau

I adore roses. Roses are the special symbol of the mothers in my life. My mother has a lovely rose garden and I carry the sweetest memories from youth in my grandmothers garden.

My grandmother always grew roses wherever she lived. Spread all throughout the property in what seemed a random arrangement of colors and shapes. You never knew what you would find since she was constantly adding new varieties. The ones I remember the most were these huge leafy green bushes both tall and wide sprinkled about with sweet pastel pink roses. I don't know what they're called and I've never seen them anywhere else but in her garden in Bayamon Puerto Rico. I would love to plant some in my backyard.

The above photo is a series of four watercolors inspired by my grandmothers roses. This was a few years ago and I think only one has survived.

"How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said." Victor Hugo

"Love and a red rose can't be hid." Thomas Holcroft

"Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet." Katharine Lee Bates

"The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot." Salvador Dali