Pink Beach Rose, 4x4 inch Acrylic Painting by Kelley MacDonald

Last weekend I was lucky enough to visit a friend who has a camp in Maine on a beautiful lake.  After I painted the vista a couple of times, something was nudging me from the back of my mind.  I'd been to Sakonnet Point recently and the scent of the Rosa Rugosa (Beach Rose) garden swept me off my feet.  there were a few different varieties, and I snapped photos of them all.

So, what evolved, through the first day, when I was alone at the camp awaiting my friend (I mean alone with Paco - my glued-to-my-hip sidekick) was a small series of up-close-and-personal portraits of these heavenly scented flowers.  I was inspired, partly, by Connie Hayes' florals that were 12x12 inches, and glorious, that I had seen a couple of months ago at the Dowling Walsh Gallery.  I'm going to buy some 12x12 canvases after my next Open Studio and make a number of large paintings like this.  

I see them hung individually, or like this:

I think they would make a stunning arrangement at a beach house, a home near the ocean, or the wall of a rose-lover.  AND mine will NOT be $5,000 EACH, like Connie's, so that's good.... :D