I always thought my relationship with floral art was a love/hate one. For a long time I was embarrassed of my fascination with flowers because various individuals used to criticize me for it, saying that I was too “girly.” At other times, I was given flowers by an abusive partner as a “goodwill” gesture, basically trying to appease me until the next time he blew up.
Even though flowers are a divisive subject for me, I’ve continued to be drawn to them. I have hundreds of reference photos that I’ve taken at various botanical gardens, parks and my own backyard. Whenever I am feeling restless and unsure of what to draw, I usually pick flowers because I find that drawing or painting them is like meditation for me. I can easily get lost in the intricacies of the petals of a rose or a daisy, like I drew here. I love the design of flowers and how they are so beautiful and varied, all the while serving a very important and special purpose in nature. I was thinking about it this morning, and the thought came across my mind that flowers really are proof of God’s exuberance.
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