It’s your time to bloom. To pick up that paintbrush and unleash your creativity. The good news is that anyone can paint expressive flowers. They are organic, forgiving subjects. Each flower is unique; no one can say you painted it wrong.
We are going to approach painting as though we are designing a garden. We will learn the basics, observe what we like from other masters and experiment to create our own unique floral masterpieces. Be open to surprises and embrace imperfections with gratitude for their flawed beauty and carefree charm. Like gardening, creating art takes time, patience, faith, a solid work ethic and relentless perseverance. But most of all, it takes you to a place of deep joy and centeredness that washes away the stress of life.
By creating your own expressive floral designs, you are joining a universal love affair with flowers that transcends time, gender, age, language and cultures. Flowers have inspired creative expression for ages. Claude Monet said, “I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.” Perhaps the same will be true for you!
Together, we’ll explore how to create art that transports viewers to a realm where nature, imagination and the serendipitous collide. To do this, we will absorb inspiration from our surroundings, follow our intuitive spirit and honor our unique stories as we put paint to canvas.
We will also incorporate key design elements found in fresh bouquets and living gardens all over the world: line, texture, form, scale, pattern, balance, unity, contrast, color, rhythm and variety. With the insight of several talented artists, we will use these concepts to create drama, cultivate design, explore possibility and nurture your style because you are the secret ingredient to each of your paintings.
People often ask me how I create paintings that express such intense joy. The soulful practices in this book are the roots that nourish that joy in my work. In his book Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon says, “Write the book you want to read.” This book is what I want to know—other artists’ techniques and truths, as well as subtle practices that cause internal shifts and find expression in art.
In “Plant the Seeds,” we will go over art basics, design principles and how to prepare the mind, body and soul for the joy-full art projects throughout the rest of the book. Scattered along the way are pages of inspiration and invitations to participate in soul work from our contributing artists, aka the Flower Tribe. Consider these women your guides cheering you on in your journey. Invite their words, wisdom, art and stories into your life.
We will embrace the wild, the natural, the free. Let go. Mimic the rose with its many layers. Imitate the wild wisteria vine with its playful unpredictability. And admire the determined ivy for its tenacity and ability to make breakthroughs despite obstacles.
Anaïs Nin said, “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
Today is that day. Let us begin together.