Above: The Pond. Oil on 32 by 32 inch wood. Rose Strang 2024.

This is a painting that began as a commission – inspired by a pond created out of love. I like it I think, it has a feel of Monet and Alex Katz – both artists I love (though I’m nowhere near the freedom of Monet nor the distilled shapes of Katz of course!)

I found it dream-like as a subject. The pond itself was created over many years by a landscape designer as a gift of love for his (now) wife. I wanted to capture the depth, darks, lights, then harmonies of a long term relationship.

Here are some enlargeable images and details including the painting as it looks on a mantlepiece…

Monet’s water lily paintings are so often underestimated as ‘pretty’. I find them cosmic! I highly recommend this episode from Matthew Colling’s series The Revenge of The Nice –