Recreation of a Masterwork (Untitled 2004 by Colette Roest) (2024)

Fiona Hilton

Recreation of a Masterwork (Untitled 2004 by Colette Roest) (2024)
Gouache on paper.
11"x9"

Inspired by: 

Colette Roest (Oma, 1925-2007)

Untitled (2004)
Oil on canvas.
21"x17"

Colette Roest was an entrepreneurial modern woman of the 1950's — starting her own successful accounting business which she managed for decades in Central California. She picked up painting in her 70's not long after retiring. Even though she didn't actively pursue the arts for most of her life, her creative outlook emanated and was passed along to her daughter Lisa who pursued a variety of creative endeavors such as photography, designing, and even musical composing. This lineage of creativity is lived on by Colette's granddaughter, Fiona Colette Hilton.

In studying the fine arts, it was always a known exercise to recreate works from the masters, including such greats as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Rubens. Recognizing the beauty of and power of my Oma's artwork through the recreation process felt particularly resonating. Though she deferred her artistic pursuits for the larger purpose of pushing forward women's via modeling the path of a successful female business owner, there is an indelible talent to her paintings which I see mirrored in many of the artists I've studied. In many ways, her artwork is more meaningful to me than any textbook artwork because of the larger story it tells of a life that was lived as art — creating impact and legacy to shape future generations.