The Portland Rose

This weekend,my husband and I celebrated the 30 year anniversary of our first Valentine Day together. I wanted to get us a different kind of gift, a gift that celebrated us as a couple that has stuck together through thick and thin. I decided on a photograph by the Texas artist John Carlisle Moore, who lives and creates his paintings and photographs in Fort worth, Texas. The photograph is a gorgeous almost neon pink rose,sensually frilly and fully in bloom, for whom I chose a gold leafed frame, that perfectly suits the romance of the flower. I hung the frame right when you walk into our room, and its vibrant colours add just the right note of beauty and elegance I was looking for. The picture is 11 inches by 16 inches in a frame that is 16 by 20 inches, large enough to be noticed but small enough to still create a sense of intimacy and romance in the diffused light of our bedroom. The new addition to our wall added a sense of hope to my heart, a hope for a very intimate and passionate weekend for my husband and I. The flower answered my longing, and its good mojo realized itself in one of the happiest Valentine weekends for us that reminded me of our first year together in graduate school in Austin, Texas. I sent a message to Mr. Moore letting him know that the Portland Rose was already working its magic. It got me thinking, a thought I shared with him in my communication, that as long as there is art out there that encourages couples to rekindle their love for each other, the world will be alright. It is one of the thousands of functions of art, to help people believe. Each time I look at the Portland Rose, I smile, because she makes me feel pretty like her, since she will always remind me of the wonderful Valentine night I shared with my husband. His smile this morning said it all, it said to me : " Girl , you still got it, you know you do, and you know he knows, mercy!..." It is a wonderful feeling. All marriages go through dry spells. Ours is no exception, and we were well on our way back to the joy of passion, when the Portland Rose put her spell on us and made it official. That picture of this very pretty rose in its proud gold leafed frame is not just an elegant and skilled photograph by the versatile and intriguing artist John Carlisle Moore. His photograph is now a part of the story of my marriage and its continued quest for love, joy, hope. It will be forever a part of us. That is what good art does. It becomes part of your heart and soul, it endears itself to the journey of your life and adds a measure of delight, beauty, purpose, understanding, connection and belonging.