By Abby Elise Baker
acrylic on raw cotton canvas and ornate wood frame
38.5" x 46.5"
 
This painting is a deeply emotional piece, capturing a mix of contradictions: beauty and pain, hope and doubt. I envisioned roses being tossed into water—a moment suspended between growth and destruction. It’s almost as if the water is nourishing them, yet the salt is destined to destroy them.
 
They drift on the surface, caught in a battle against their inevitable demise. Their vivid colors and scattered positions radiate a quiet strength, almost as if they’re refusing to sink without a fight. There’s something hopeful in their resistance, a kind of willpower to endure despite the turbulent waters around them.
 
In this moment, the roses are neither fully consumed nor entirely free—they’ve just been thrown in, caught in that fragile space before the waves decide their fate.