Beauty Beast and Black Rose

This richly textured and beautiful oil painting is on wood and has a cord attached at the back, so does not need framing. It is an evocative, Chagall-like picture, inspired by the classic fairy story Beauty and the Beast, and a re-telling of it by a set of Tarot cards based around Fairy Tales, who take this story to relate to the traditional card of Strength. I work in cold wax medium, which enables me to build up many layers of colours and carve back, creating a jewel-like and unique surface. The Black Rose in the tarot retelling of the story represents the unseen beauty within - the hidden beauty of the rose, the star of life.