The Rose Quartz
The Rose Quartz & the Importance
of Beauty
Can there
ever be enough beauty in the world? Beauty, like love, is food for the soul.
Our very existence depends on it. Without beauty, we lose hope and a commitment
to life.
I, too, fell
for the prejudice against beauty. No silly floral paintings for me, I thought.
I’d paint expressive, even disturbing images, weld in steel and carve in stone.
In the end, beauty won out.
Decades of
meditation and prayer have grown into happiness, true happiness that doesn’t
depend on any external circumstance or relationship to flourish. Now, prejudices fall
away like used tissue.
I see beauty
everywhere from the tiniest blossom to a cat’s whisker and a child’s smile. I
paint only beauty, because it is what my soul demands. Perhaps a floral
painting won’t change the world, but it does change mine. On a wall in someone’s
home, the painting just might remind them to look around their world and drink
in the beauty that feeds the soul.
A song, “Starry,
Starry Night”, plays as I paint. I am reminded of Vincent van Gogh and tears
slide down my cheeks. Vincent suffered internally, yet never stopped seeing
beauty in the world around him. He painted people and fields, night skies,
sunny skies and lots of flowers. I think of his paintings as love letters from
his soul to ours. They are his legacy reminding us of the Importance of Beauty.
rose petals
drift to earth
brief beauty living on.
Mixed media on 12” x 12” gallery
wrapped canvas; includes original monoprints, graphite, India ink, pastel and
acrylic.
©Claudia Rose, Ph.D.
