Beach roses, so wild and sweetly scented, are one of my favorite flowers on the island. They gather along the rocky sandy shores, dancing and playing in the wild spray from the salty sea.
During the winter, their dark skinny thorny branches are filled with tiny bright red hips–a little spot of color to chase away grey windy days.
But when Spring’s cold sun starts to call out welcome to the snowdrops and the daffodills and the crocuses, we know that the wild beach roses can’t be far behind…I love them for their independence, their strength and their loyalty–they bloom without any help from anyone summer after summer and fill the air with their sweet scent, made even more lovely when it rains, as it often does, in summer, down on petals, down on sand.
In the little hidden spots on the island, where the beach roses bloom and the path to the water is hard to find (unless you know), wonderful little blue and white shards of aged and cracked and old vintage blue and white china–usually the Blue Willow pattern–sometimes peek out from the dark craggy rocks. Finding one is like finding gold!
These two new paintings (one shown below) are 12×12, a pair, and called “Beach Roses, Summer Rain” in honor of these lovely flowers and our island beaches…I’ve even included a few pieces of “gold”–china shards from generations past, such stories they could tell!
You can see them at Museo Gallery, Langley, Washington as part of the April Garden Show, opening April 7.
Dani Cristina
I loved your work!!!!!!
Mutch!
Dani-Brazil