Emotion is what happens when your brain gives way to enzymes and hormones. Logic is what occurs when your brain is allowed (or trained) to think three dimensionally.
This is a sad story that is only the beginning of an even sadder story which you can read about on line. I will not get involved in the he said/She said accusations when greedy children and siblings fight over the estate of the dead. That being said, let the story begin.
Garth Benton and Christine Rosamond
In the summer of 1993 my now ex-wife and I were “summering” in Carmel California. (A town I would later and will always call home) But after having a posh taste of “scones and tea” we stepped inside a gallery owned by the world famous artist “Rosamond”. The artist was not there at the time however her husband; Garth Benton was. Garth (Pictured above) entertained us for over an hour as we talked about one of our unusual pets. We owned a well trained iguana.
Little would either of us know that Garth would buy an iguana as a pet for their youngest child. I would later find out that Rosamond would refer to this pet as the “Damn Iguana”.
On a later trip to Carmel by myself, I would purchase a piece by Rosamond for my soon to be ex. When I went in to pick up the piece a few weeks later, Christine (whom she introduced herself to me as) greeted me with: “Oh so you’re the one with the Damn Iguana”. After verbally abusing me for putting the idea in Garth’s head, we had a great discussion that seemed like it lasted two hours. As an informal gesture of friendship, Christine personalized the back of the piece to the “Iguana Lady” and wrote some very nice well wishes.
Fast Forward about 5 months. The Ex and I got an Invitation to attend the new Gallery opening of Rosamond in Carmel. Nobody was more excited than the ex as she had never met Christine. And to be honest, I think Christine was looking forward to meeting the Iguana Lady. So I rented a nice car for the drive to Carmel from the San Francisco Bay Area. Hours before we were to leave to attend the party, the ex took the car to the store to buy something. Upon returning, she misplaced the keys. We looked everywhere and till this day they have not been found. But because we both turned the house upside down looking for these keys, the Ex showed her immature emotional side and said: “I don’t want to go. The moment is ruined”. That is an exact quote. So we did not go.
3 weeks later Christine Rosamond died off the coast of Big Sur in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Apparently she was a victim of a rogue, freak 9th wave. The Ex’s chances of ever meeting this great artist vanished with the 9th wave.
Not only was the moment ruined, but a chance to meet a wonderfully talented person forever was ruined due to an immature emotional tantrum to something as insignificant as losing a set of car keys. Please enjoy a few of “Rosamond’s” creations:
My Favorite: “Story Teller” Story Teller II Story Teller III
This is how I will remember Christine Rosamond.
Please note that all of the images in this blog entry can be purchased at The Rosamond Publishing Company http://rosamond.com/
Ace's Cafe Americain 
Wow. Interesting
My wife and I visited several times with Christine and Garth in Carmel and Encino. We have collected over 100 pieces many of which have never been published or seen. We started collecting in early 1978. My wife and I met in March and she had already several pieces and I supported her collecting. Soon we purchased all of Northridge gallery who went out of business. That is where my wife first saw Christine’s art. I also loved her work. We purchased one of Christin’s early oils named Becky and it hung in our home in Temecula, California for over 20 years. We sold home in 2018 and moved to Dallas to be near one of our 7 children and 4 of our 16 grandchildren. We also purchased another one of a kind. A beautiful Christine Rosemond picture of a young girl in blue dress. It is very large and also hung in our home in a place of honor. This was purchased downtown Los Angeles directly from Christine at large art display at convention center. We have loved this piece and remembered that day when Christine signed on back personally to my wife and I.
When we heard of Christine’s death in ocean in Carmel we were shocked and depressed for an extended period of time. We have stayed in contact all these years with Stacey and the Rosemond estate.
We can still remember our wonderful weekend visit to Carmel and seeing Christine’s home and art painting room. Very few have had that opportunity. We cherished that visit with whole family. Christine’s Daughter Drew who was 4 or 5 years old and subject of several of Christine’s works was just delightful. My wife remembers DREW PLAYING WITH SNAILS IN THE YARD.
THE LAST MEMORY OF THAT visit Christine allowed me to go thru her many prints in Garage and take any prints I would enjoy. And she signed many for us. Our visits in Encino with Christine were also so enjoyable. When Christine came over to our house in Tarzana to see our large collection she was very surprised by what we collected and said that we had a lot more of her ART than she had.
We miss Christine very much and send our love to her family who we met several times over the years.