Nearly two decades ago, a co-worker remarked, “Oh. I thought you were married: you’ve got that lived in look.”

     That’s the impression this trio of small roses from my back yard has made on me. I’ve painted them several times. This is the first time I feel I’ve painted them more than halfway right. I’ve made too much of the contrast between the plain reds and equally plain greens, too much of the shadows and too little again, and of course, I’ve turned some versions into overwrought exercises in line.

     It’s just taken me a couple years to let these plain small roses in a crystal water goblet be themselves.

What do you think?