Dating back to the 1820’s, this rose helped settle the West here in Montana, along the Oregon trail, and down into Texas, becoming what is known as the Yellow Rose of Texas. My goal is to venture out every season to find and paint these roses, still blooming, where homesteads perhaps once stood, lives were created...and then faded. And to also find them thriving alongside the lives of many who continue to lovingly care for them year after year - not that they need it. They are often an untamed show stopper of a rose; with a week or two worth of blooms, indicating the Summer season is well on its way! What a resilient rose to continue to survive, helping to tell the this part in our history. In making these paintings, my hope is to learn more about the history of the West, the lives once lived, and continue to live in the West, and the possible connections that may have been shared because of the love of this beautiful, hardy, rose.

12 x 9 inches | oil on canvas Raymar panel

* painted from life at the end of the dirt road on Thistle Cottage Lane, from the yard of a home in Roundup’s historic “Camp Three”.

* c-channel cleat for easy hanging

* the second in a series I shall continue to explore as the historic Harison’s blooms each season.

Questions? 406.672.9605