Flower Mania: An Inherited Obsession
I paint flowers, I'm trying to grow flowers, I take pictures of flowers... I guess it's a healthier habit than collecting kittens that turn into full-grown, demanding cats ( which was my previous habit).
Flowers were a favorite subject for my late grandmother, who was my first art teacher. All the women on my mother's side had prolific green thumbs. My dad loves to grow flowers too. I didn't inherit the green thumb, but I've been working diligently on growing my own flowers. It started as a fun project with my daughter, and now it's become an obsessive hobby. Maybe in twenty years I'll actually have a decent garden.
Like painting, I'm learning that gardening is intuitive. I spend a lot of time observing and experimenting, figuring out what works and what doesn't for the soil we have (and all the little monsters that try to eat my plants). There are plenty of failures-- it was pretty disheartening to see entire bunches of flowers disappear overnight courtesy of Mr. Gopher! The reward is always worth it-- my small bunches of flowers are growing into bigger bunches, some of which are re-seeding and growing on their own in the ground.
 |
| "Dusky Marigolds" 17 x 23 Pastel on Paper View on Daily Paintworks |
Flowers were a favorite subject for my late grandmother, who was my first art teacher. All the women on my mother's side had prolific green thumbs. My dad loves to grow flowers too. I didn't inherit the green thumb, but I've been working diligently on growing my own flowers. It started as a fun project with my daughter, and now it's become an obsessive hobby. Maybe in twenty years I'll actually have a decent garden.
 |
| "Sprig" 9 x 12 Pastel on Paper View on Daily Paintworks |
If I spend too many days away from the plants, they begin to wilt. The same thing happens for me with painting-- too many days away, and I'm just trying to catch back up and reconnect with my art.
I can see why floral arranging is so popular-- it's both calming and fun to work with the different varieties of flowers. Due to my aforementioned cat collecting problem, I can't keep floral arrangements around the house unless I want to clean up thrown-up flowers. So, I'm content to occasionally take my tiny bunches of flowers and make arrangements to give to others--and in the meantime, I take plenty of beautiful photos of flowers to paint.
Floral art looks great in any media, and in many different styles. From expressive impasto flowers to crisp watercolor floral paintings, so many artists take inspiration from these natural wonders. Looking closely at any freshly opened bunch of blossoms, grown from what were once tiny seeds, it's easy to see why they're so inspiring to artists.
Comments
Post a Comment