McIntyre Gallery, Regina, 2007 – 2008
Artist’s Statement:
With these paintings I returned to a theme that appeared in 2000 during the production of Bequest and developed in Gathered Roses.
I continue to explore ideas related to beauty, loss, and the passage of time. In one series called Last Rose, the beautiful flower is in full bloom, almost past full bloom. It appears to have been abandoned in a number of also beautiful but inhospitable landscapes, inhospitable especially to roses. My intention, and hope, is that the viewer will be drawn into all this beauty, but will also consider its transience. In two other series, one numbered but not titled, and one called Another Winter’s Roses, life and beauty have already passed. But in its place we see a wholly different kind of beauty. Is beauty always present, if we can only see it?
These paintings were supported by the Saskatchewan Arts Board though its Individual Assistance program and by the Saskatchewan Theological Union through research leave. Both agencies contributed greatly to my ability to produce this work.