Deetjen’s Rose

Deetjen’s Rose

This is a rose I spotted in the garden at Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn in Big Sur, CA. It was one of the most perfect roses that I had ever seen. It had a fiery orange center that would glow bright yellow with sunlight in the middle of the petal and then the color flowed delicately into silky pale pink petals. It was perfect.

While I was studying this specimen of natural perfection I noticed on the bottom left petal some hungry caterpillar took a big huge bite. The thought did cross my mind to paint back in that caterpillar’s lunch (as if I was editing the cover of Cosmo), but I decided to leave it in because it reminds me of the japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi. It’s the idea that all beauty is impermanent, imperfect and incomplete. It also recognizes that beauty is enhanced by the natural signs of wear stemming from the life of the object itself.

I wanted to capture this rose at the peak of its beauty. On the day one lucky caterpillar got to eat one of the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen for lunch.

12″w x 12″h Oil Painting on gallery wrapped canvas – $250

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Pink Tulips

Pink Tulips

“Just living is not enough… One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

-Hans Christian Andersen

8″w x 8″h Oil Painting on hardboard panel with gloss varnish – $125

Tulips – The flower that brought down an empire

Tulips

Tulips are a strangely beautiful flower. They come in a wide variety of colors and petal shapes and they’re surrounded by big waxy blue-green leaves that seem to pulse with chlorophyll. It’s hard to believe something so pretty could ignite such widespread economic devastation.

Yes, this pretty little flower brought an empire to it’s knees with the great Tulipmania economic bubble of 1637. Apparently back then rich people in Holland decided tulip bulbs were the hot new investment and decided to pay exorbitant amounts of money for bulbs making tulips the status symbol du jour. (One of the rarest bulbs, the Semper Augustus bulb, sold for $2500 in today’s dollars!) Traders were making unbelievable amounts of money brokering bulbs and rich people’s yards were packed with tulips.

It all came to a head when buyers didn’t show up to the bulb auction one day and, like, everybody collectively freaked out. Panic spread, the bubble burst and many people were left in financial ruin. “Seriously, we paid what for those bulbs?”

Every time I see a tulip I can understand why someone would be instantly enchanted by it’s perfect beauty and want to take it home.

For a mere $90 (160 florins) you can take home this tulip painting. It’s incredibly rare (one of a kind) and if you truly love it, the value will appreciate over time. In this case a tulip is a wise investment indeed

6″w x 6″h Oil Painting on hardboard panel with gloss varnish – $90