ROSANN'S TONE POEM

My mother, Rosann Rosso, was the inspiration for my most beloved composition entitled Rosann's Tone Poem.

Why would I title a painting with such a strange name? Well, because Rosann was a great pianist, organist, and before I was born, she also played the cello but sold the cello in order to pay for my birth at Santa Monica Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

My mother wasn't just a musician; she was also a very artistic gardener. One year, in the 1960's era, my mother decided to plant gladioli's all along the walls of our garage in the backyard. Rosann grew magenta, yellow and orange gladioli's that were gigantically spectacular.

As an Italian family, every Sunday we all gathered at our table to eat together and it was my job, as the youngest of four children, to cut stems and to bring in a dozen or so of gladioli from our beautiful garden. I carefully placed them into a large vase that was made in Italy, a true family treasure. The gladioli were always placed in the center of the table. We bowed our heads while my father said grace.

Memories of my childhood never leave me. So, in 2020 I had purchased a 48" x 48" canvas to begin a new composition. I thought of many different subjects to paint, abstractly, but not much sparked a fire within me therefore, I began with the pallet choices instead of composition.

My art studio is rather small and crammed with jars, canvasses, brushes, and tubes of paint. I decided to select color that truly had a voice in my heart. I suppose most people won't believe me when I say that intuitively the colors of my mother's gladioli garden washed over me with excitement and awe. I fooled around with the magenta, red, yellow, orange and green while lightly painting these colors into my sketchbook. Suddenly, I looked down at the test sample of those colors and immediately realized that those were the color tones of Rosann's garden. Later that day I phoned my sister to discuss a title for the painting honoring the gladioli. Immediately, my sister says, "Rosann's Tone Poem!" Our mother was a poet so naturally the title was perfect.

Rosann's Tone Poem is currently available for exhibition but not available for sale at this time. If you are interested in showing Rosann's Tone Poem, in your gallery or museum for a limited time this painting can be available for showing, provided that the gallery or museum pay for shipping and a complimentary showing fee.

Rosann's Tone Poem is a mixed media painting created with acrylics and oils blended with ground sand. This painting was composed solely with pallet knives. 

                                       

-SR Wolf