Gardens of Good and Evil

Contre qui, rose,
avez-vous adopte
ces epines?
Votre joie trop fine
vous a-t-elle forcee
de devenir cette chose
armee?

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Against whom, rose,
have you assumed
these thorns?
Is it your too fragile joy
that has forced you
to now become this arméd thing?

“Poet with Roses and Nightingale”
16×16 inches, oil on aluminum panel
©2024 Fatima Ronquillo
Private Collection

“”Buwaya: What a Croc!”
40×32 inches, oil on aluminum panel
©2024 Fatima Ronquillo
Private Collection

“The Monsoon with Hare and Lizard”
24×20 inches, oil on linen over aluminum
©2024 Fatima Ronquillo
Private Collection

“Young Woman with a Squirrel and a Starling”
20×16 inches, oil on linen over aluminum
©2024 Fatima Ronquillo
Private Collection

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.

~ traditional nursery rhyme

“Three for a Girl”
30×24 inches, oil on aluminum panel
©2024 Fatima Ronquillo
Private Collection

The Sick Rose
BY WILLIAM BLAKE

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

“Ophelia: Hand with Lover’s Eye, Columbines and Butterflies”
12×12 inches, oil on aluminum panel
©2024 Fatima Ronquillo
Private Collection

There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.
Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies,
that’s for thoughts.
[…]
There’s fennel for you, and columbines.
There’s rue for you, and here’s some for me; we
may call it herb of grace o’ Sundays. You must wear
your rue with a difference. There’s a daisy. I would
give you some violets, but they withered all when
my father died. They say he made a good end.
— HAMLET, Act IV, Scene V —
William Shakespeare