Although Justin Glaze didn’t win Katie Thurston’s final rose on “The Bachelorette,” the beloved runner-up is thankful for the journey he shared with the Season 17 lead.

“It’s hard to fully express what this entire experience has meant to me and how extremely grateful I am for it all,” the handsome artist captioned a Tuesday Instagram photo of himself posing with two pieces he painted for Katie while filming at New Mexico’s Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa.

“The ups, the downs, everything. Art has always been that outlet and means of expression for me, when at times I couldn’t find the words. These two pieces represent a lot of what I took away from this journey,” he added.

Justin then recounted his alone time with Katie on night one, during which the pair memorably painted together.

“On the first night, Katie and I painted those little squiggles together in the middle of the heart of roses. They were meant to be the initial outlines of the first petals that would eventually turn into the final rose, symbolizing the development of our relationship; petal by petal, layer by layer. I remember her saying ‘omg I know this middle part probably makes you so mad because of how ugly it is right now,’” he wrote. “But there’s beauty in imperfection.”

The Baltimore native continued, “I know I’m not perfect and neither is any relationship but that’s okay. It’s about how we embrace those imperfections and seek to improve. I approach my artwork with the same ideology I do with my life. Just like I can work to fix imperfections in a painting, revising them layer by layer, we can always work to find ways to improve ourselves and strive to be the best people that we can be, day by day.”

Toward the end of his post, Justin acknowledged that he is at peace with Katie’s decision to pursue a relationship with her now-fiancé, Blake Moynes.

“Although that final rose didn’t come to fruition, I walk away from this with more than I could have ever imagined. The life lessons, the self growth, and the life long friendships I’ve made with some of the incredible men in that house are just a few of the things that I will forever cherish,” he wrote. “Everything happens for a reason, and I’m just blessed to have been afforded this opportunity that put me in a position to cross paths with such special people who have impacted my life in a multitude of ways.”

Katie responded to Justin’s touching sentiments in the comments section, writing, “Very excited for you and your future. Thankful for the experiences we had together (even if no one saw them 😂). Always a big Justin supporter!”

See Justin’s entire post below.