Rosa Canina / The Dog Rose

Rebecca Thomas & Miss Roxy Dog

oils and gold leaf on linen

400 x 500 x 40 mm

2026

I approached Rebecca Thomas, a friend, in 2024/5  in regard to painting her portrait. Rebecca has spent her life within the Arts (Ballet, Acting, Fashion Design and Millinery to name but a few beautiful off-shoots in an awesome  creative career) and I've always admired her serenity, poise & almost fée qualities. 

Some people seem to be born with an effortless beauty and when I notice this, female or male I feel compelled to paint them, to record their supernatural resonance. So it was with Rebecca...

 Living in Cornwall and surrounded by the sea; folk tales of smugglers, wrecks, supernatural beings and mermaids capture the imagination and I had the notion to depict Rebecca as a siren! She kindly went along with my crazy ideas which initially were of perching her on a rock at Crackington Haven, & Roxy her beloved dog beside her,  the sea and cliff almost enveloping them.

Since last October (2025) I spent months and months trying so hard to capture Rebecca but it was just not working out. Usually when I manage to capture the sitter's eyes, the rest follows smoothly. However, I just couldn't capture her eyes. After six paintings in; all now destroyed..., I picked up a smallish  prepared canvas I had leaning against a wall in the studio and began quickly sketching Rebecca holding Roxy in her arms.  It started to "click" and I suddenly realised the whole problem had been that I had been trying too hard to please Rebecca rather than just letting go and seeing where it went & painting freely, pleasing ME!

I abandoned the scene at Crackington Haven and a whole narrative dictated itself. In the groove, it painted itself and in the last week of May 2026... it was there.

It's oils on linen with added gold leaf. I had discussed with Rebecca about depicting her almost with a side-glance to Gustav Klimt's portraiture etc.,  using sparing gold leaf which can be so dangerous ( over-doing it ) and yet when successful, affecting like the sun's rays. 

I also wanted to combine turquoise and gold as a majestic tone and was thinking of Egyptian Art. In 1972, I was fortunate enough to visit with my school the Exhibition at the British Museum of Tutankhamen's grave goods and THAT massive utterly beautiful, phenomenal gold and turquoise mask left an indelible mark on my imagination forever.