Sub Rosa: A Pen & Ink Study of Roses, An ode to the Rose
"She is graceful, she is gentle, yet she is dangerous and holds a wildness..."
“An old symbol above a garden gate was that of a rose in full bloom with two buds above it. This signified secrecy of an herbalist’s powers that were kept within the garden.”
-Corrine Boyer, Under the Bramble Arch
Roses are most often the subject of my art. Their spirit serpentines around me, solid as a branch and as soft as lace ribbon. It’s a mysterious kinship. Do you have flower friends too? I hope you do.
Sub Rosa: Under the Rose
Under the Roses, she lends me her blooms as well as her thorns for magic, she is both a healer and a protector.
Under the Roses, you can whisper your secrets. Once in a while they may prick your finger - an offering must be paid, after all - but it’s a cut as small as a sewing needle’s point. Barely a cut at all.
Under the roses, she asks that you honor her unfurling, as much as you honor her decaying. She is love - she is also death.
Under the Roses, she offers you a strand of beads. She asks you to pray.
“She is graceful, she is gentle, yet she is dangerous and holds a wildness that penetrates the hearts and soul of the bereft human.”
-Corrine Boyer, Under the Bramble Arch
“While her beauty is apparent in her blooms, her darkness lingers close to her thorns.”
-Corrine Boyer, Under the Bramble Arch
“Twine, twine and intertwine
Let his love be truly mine.
If his heart be kind and true,
Deeper grow his roses hue.”
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Do you sell prints of these? They are beautiful
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