“The woman has a halo, but I’m not quite sure that I meant her to be a saint. She definitely is instilled with
divine grace, however. The yellow rose is symbolic of light and warmth, as opposed to a red rose which is
more often associated with love and lovers. I also focused on taking a much more painterly approach
to this piece. I wanted it to have the built-up and layered textures like those frescos I had seen in
Italy. An astute observer will notice that this is the same model that I used for 'The Beggar Princess
and the Magic Rose,' but that painting was actually inspired by this one.”