“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Koshin Ogui
Looking through my photostream this week, I noticed that A LOT of my pictures are of flowers. As a Minnesotan, I live in a brown, gray, and white landscape for many months of the year. Spring comes with COLOR and my whole world transforms. I am never complacent about this rebirth. Year after year, I am equally enamored with the way my world comes back to life with fresh buds, sweet scents, and vibrant colors!
See
Artists have been painting flowers throughout history and continue to do so today. I'm not the only one touched by their natural beauty and the hope they symbolize. Let’s see which I have a matching picture for in my roll!
My Peony bush never disappoints!
Peonies, c. 1869, Berthe Morisot
In the West, the peony flower symbolizes happiness, romance, bashfulness, happy marriage, honor, prosperity, good fortune, and wealth. (Floral)
Yun Shouping, Peonies. Song Dynasty (12th Century)
Peonies in the Chinese cultural aesthetic are symbols of female beauty, love, wealth, and status.
Pinkladies, from a recent trip to San Francisco, reminds me so much of Warhol’s ‘Flowers’. They are, however, not the same kind of flowers. Warhol’s were based on the hibiscus.
Flowers, 1964, Andy Warhol
Oh, the Zinnias! So prolific and colorful. I love how long they bloom and so fun to watch transform from seed to bloom.
Kim T. Richards, an oil painter from VA, USA painted a Zinnia a day for 2 months during COVID for what she called ‘The Zinnia Project’. (kimtrichards.com)
A Little Romance, Kim T. Richards
Say
Have you looked through your own camera roll lately? What do you have a disproportionate number of pictures of? What does it say about you?
What is you favorite flower and why?
Floral motifs appear in ancient Egyptian tombs, Greek pottery, and Roman frescoes. During the Renaissance, artists like Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci included detailed depictions of flowers in their works. The tradition continued with the Dutch Golden Age painters, such as Jan van Huysum and Rachel Ruysch, who specialized in intricate flower still lifes. The fascination with floral art has persisted into modern times, with artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and Claude Monet bringing their unique interpretations to this timeless subject.
Why do you think artists have been painting flowers for thousands of years?
Do
Go through your camera roll. Find an image of a flower or landscape. Draw it or paint it. What do you notice that you hadn’t before drawing/painting it?
Take ten pictures of flowers this week.
Try drawing, painting, and photographing flowers from different angles and zoom levels. Experimenting with various perspectives can reveal new details and enhance your appreciation of their intricate beauty. Whether you're sketching a close-up of a petal, painting a vibrant garden scene, or capturing a macro photograph of a bloom, each approach offers a unique way to connect with and showcase the natural elegance and hope that flowers represent.
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