June is the month for Roses!
Of course, roses start blooming long before June here in the UK and they continue on well into the autumn, with the occasional bloom as late as Christmas time. But still, June seems to be the month we associate with roses and that’s probably why the rose is the June Birth Month flower.
I actually photographed the rose I used for this set of patterns in July.
I remember distinctly that a friend whose birthday falls in July invited all the members of the local walking group to a picnic in the Linda Vista gardens to celebrate and that’s where I took the photo.
As usual, I spent quite a long time looking at the photo, ‘getting to know’ the rose. But then I soaked some watercolour paper, spraying it with water and dropped in the colour whilst wet, in a matter of minutes. Any longer and the painting would have been ruined. As often with art, it’s a question of knowing when to stop!
I was quite pleased with the result. But, sadly, my scanner didn’t pick up the paler pinks and I abandoned this particular painting, adding it to my stash of watercolour paper that I use for trying out colours, rather than binning it – and there it sat for several months.
Then, one day it occurred to me that maybe I could use the paler part of the painting to provide a background for the lettering on the front of a greeting card or invitation . . . and it all progressed from there!
Something about the sugary pink of this rose reminded me of lipstick; so in my mind, this series of patterns became, ‘Summer Days’, with the sub-title, ‘Lipstick Pink Roses’. It’s strange how so often a name for a painting or a pattern collection will come to me unbidden and refuse to go away.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with a painted motif that only narrowly escaped the bin to create this collection and I hope you’ll enjoy my ‘Lipstick Pink Roses’ too.
Click
for the complete collection of
'Summer Days'
Greeting Cards and Gifts
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