Please note: this blog will constantly be edited in the next few weeks to include
places to buy (greeting cards and archival prints are some of the products) ... there is also one more design I have yet to include that I have not finished yet (a heart design: new note: now finished, but I haven't listed it for sale yet; others are being listed every day).
This is a blog post about a side-line I have been working on. I call them my "bouquet series". Most of these pieces incorporate photography and were made into note cards and small prints to commemorate a season or holiday. Some were just made because I love making bouquets and getting outside to enjoy nature.
I have to say that I appreciate nature more when I look at all of the things the trees have thrown on the ground, or fall in love with clippings from my yard (particularly cedar clippings, dandelions and tiny delicate violets).
Finding natural things to put in these bouquet series also puts my mind into a different state too. With my other art, ideas race through my mind at lightening speed. There isn't even a chance of creating everything that goes rushing through my mind, so on some level I usually always feel I am in a rush against time, and inadequate. I would say anywhere from a handful of artworks to hundreds of artworks go through my head on a daily basis, with the "lightening fast" images going through my head just before I go to sleep or just as I wake. Sometimes I latch onto one image as it is going by, and start the creative process.
The bouquet series are as far from "ideas" as anything I make; they are more spontaneous and wild than anything I create, and I respect the untamed qualities. For me they are "enjoyments" of found objects.
Many of the objects are commonplace and are my version of something
Albrecht Durer started in 1503 with
The Large Piece of Turf (his artwork here):
The Large Piece of Turf by Albrecht Durer
1503
As with Albrecht Durer, the main focus of my work is drawings and paintings, and they are primarily figurative (i.e.
not plant oriented). Durer also enjoyed making statements with his art work. My work these days is also primarily statement-oriented too (more on that later). But as with Durer, I always like to experiment and try new things. And so I tried photographing plants in 2011 and it grew from there, turning into digital art pieces.
For me, making these kinds of
bouquets (or
wild art) is as calming as knitting, crocheting and weaving, but perhaps even more so. My mind is disengaged, much more calm than usual. I am in the moment, not pestered with ideas, simply enjoying my mornings of solitary walks, looking at birds, the trees swaying around in the breeze, taking in all the shapes of different plants, wondering what shapes of clouds will move in, all with my overalls on and my white trash bag of
nature goodies.
The cards have been popular "sellers" in my area, a rural scenic area which spans into southern and mid-state Vermont and the Adirondacks, full of tourist towns, autumn tour buses, small family farms and olde New England houses from the 1700s - 1800s.
These designs have been more popular in this area than the art I have been known for on this blog (primarily Celtic and Renaissance influenced art). I think it is because they incorporate nature, and nature is often what is missing in the big cities where the tour buses come from.
I have been working away at these designs off and on since 2011. I am listing a lot of them here now, because I believe I might be at the end of the series unless they are popular on-line (we'll see -- inspiration cannot be calculated or given a time-frame).
I do think I am primarily made for art that is more statement oriented, for causes. While "cause art" can be beautiful, it can also be ugly, depending on what issue you are trying to cover.
I believe that all of these explorations into Renaissance and Celtic style art, and the bouquet series, and even my music, were primarily just learning experiences in how to effectively use materials and understand how mediums work in depth, so that I would never feel stymied when trying to make effective statement oriented art. In my explorations, I found myself drawn to Celtic and Renaissance art the most, perhaps because a lot of my ancestry goes back to the British Isles. Those kinds of art styles just "feel like home."
I realize that there are a lot of pieces I have made over the years which are on someone's wall, or in someone's stash of greeting cards, or cupboard or hutch (pottery), or in someone's CD player. And although I have been trying to straddle both the "cause world", and "home decorating world" for awhile, I know which one is winning out.
At the beginning of my career in art, it was the artist
William Morris who I related to the most. He created in so many styles and mediums (and even created songs like "Masters in the Hall", a Renaissance-style tune with Christmas lyrics, so I can "relate" when it comes to my own music). He believed in the artful home with a lot of patterns and textures, something I always aspire to.
But, now I am more inspired to be a
Kathe Kollwitz type of artist. I have a different style and different message than she does, but I am making statements that come from female sensibilities, just as she did.
These bouquets were pleasant enough to make however, and often made during times of high stress or trauma (my life has been far from easy since this series began in 2011 and doing these pieces gave me something beautiful to focus on). They are probably done with the same motivation that
Van Gogh had when he got out among the sunflowers to paint when he was not feeling well.
The next is also a Valentine card. It was the first design I made in this style. It was, as they say, a crap shoot as far as putting the design out in stores to sell. I was surprised when people bought them as I thought the design might be just a little too quirky, maybe even hard to read as a Valentine, but being out of the ordinary is maybe why people liked this as a Valentine? I was in the presence of one woman who was buying one and she was laughing as though the card was a joke.
I also made some gift tags in this design:
Heart with Flowers and Snow Cherries
2011
hand signed 8" x 8" archival giclee print
here
Next ones up are Easter. They are similar, and I couldn't figure out which I liked best, so I used them all (although once they were all printed, I tended to like the Flower Nest most since nature looks best when it is a bit wild and untamed without too much design):
Flower Nest
© 2015
hand signed 8" x 8" archival giclee print
here
Eggs in a Bowl
© 2016
Eggs in Dandelions, Lilacs, Violets and Tulips
© 2016
hand signed 8" x 10" archival giclee print
here
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
Eggs in Fuchsia Flowers
© 2016
package of small note cards for sale
here
Some of these others are just Springtime ones. Sometimes I like to make figures out of the flowers:
Flower Head
© 2015
package of note cards for sale
here
hand signed 8.5" x 11" archival giclee print
here
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
Tulip Head
© 2016
package of note cards for sale here
This is the print version:
(archival print version)
hand signed 8.5" x 11" archival giclee print
here
The next one is probably the most radical one I've made yet. It is called "Flower Baby":
© 2015
hand signed 8" x 10" archival giclee print
here
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
This is one of my favorites (a tree):
Dandelion Violet Tree
© 2015
package of note cards for sale here
hand signed 8" x 10" archival giclee print
here
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
For this next one I used a turquoise vase I threw on the potters wheel. I liked the effect of this giant bouquet of flowers coming out of this tiny vessel. It gave me an excuse to use some of the pots I threw on the potters wheel long ago, that were sitting around the house gathering dust. I also used a couple of the elements of the bouquet and vase for the border:
Turquoise Vase with Spring Bouquet
© 2016
(design dedicated to my cousin Carrie who has a sunny disposition)
package of note cards for sale here
hand signed 8.5" x 11" archival giclee print
here
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
The following one uses some of the same ideas. I used one of the angel vases (I have made quite a few of them in this style). It could be construed as an Easter card, but it also stands on its own as a bouquet. I used the star vase because the dandelions were looking like stars to me, and the white fluffy lilac was looking like an angel:
Star Vase with a Bouquet from Heaven
© 2016
package of note cards for sale here
hand signed 8.5" x 11" archival giclee print
here
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise here
This next one I would describe as a Spring-time bouquet (in other words, no statement, just the beauty of the flowers):
Tulip, Lilac and Dandelion Bouquet
© 2015
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
There is usually a big chasm during the summer: no holidays. This is the only design of its kind that I produced for summer. It has a drawn border. I originally made this design for round gift tags, but the note cards have done just as well:
© 2012
Most of my summer outside time is not spent making bouquets for art. It is spent gardening for food and bouquets for the table, weeding and picking blueberries and raspberries.
Sometimes I think berries will look beautiful in a bouquet, especially raspberries. The raspberry seems to be endowed with magic: magic almost luminescent color (the red-est of reds), magic flower-like shape, a taste that is addictive and otherworldly. I enjoy looking at the lush bushes and the abundant bees buzzing around them as much as picking them.
I will say that I think berries have the "fountain of youth" in them. I believe organic berries are essential in the human diet, and I have a floor freezer full of berries I have picked myself. It may be one reason to use them in art: to promote them. I'll see if I get inspired next summer.
The place I pick raspberries is along a horse fence. The horses on the other side are some of the most willful bratty horses I have ever known. They like to startle people, and whinny when no one is paying attention to them, and they are constantly running away from their owners, or charging the fence. Mostly they make an abrupt stop at the fence, then gallop at break-neck speed in another direction. It is unusual to see horses so spirited, especially ones that live on a farm. So many of the horses I have gotten to know in the past do not act much different than cows, head in the grass, placid, watchful. So being around these raspberries can be like having a front row seat to a wild animal comedy. There is also my relationship to the horses, and accepting them on their own terms. These horses are the opposite of the usual broken spirited beasts of burden who must always "behave" in certain ways for humans, and for our acceptance. In other words, I love these horses in their natural state, just as much as admiring the raspberries twinkling in the sun atop thorny plants.
Then when autumn comes back around again, I become interested in working up a few more designs. Here was the first I ever made in the autumn bouquet series, followed by some others I got inspired to make:
Autumn Harvest
© 2011
Acorn Squash Bouquet
© 2013
Squash with Pumpkin Head
© 2015
Like many here, this next design has two versions, one for note cards and the other for prints. The print version does not have the small brown border on the outside:
Food Bouquet
© 2016
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
This one has drawing in it with leaves overlaying the drawing:
Oak Leaf in a Heart
© 2011
This next one takes more or less the same approach, except the design is for a gift tag (the reason for the shape):
Maple leaves (tag design)
© 2011
These next witches were designed around their respective leaves (with drawing):
Oak Witch
© 2011
Maple Witch
© 2011
Then Thanksgiving comes around. I made these out of honor for the vegetarian (I was a vegetarian from age 14 - 28, with stints of being a vegan).
I often felt that the focus on the turkey as dinner was not terribly creative, and made the holiday so one-dimensional. Yes, it is a tradition, but the few times I ate Thanksgiving with vegetarians it was a potpourri of so many tastes that it was enlightening (the best Thanksgivings I had experienced up to that time). They were also non-traditional in terms of guests: many friends gathered together, playing music, performing skits and impromptu comedies and belly laughing.
Anyway, these cards are jokes for vegetarians. The small mini tag-size ones sell well (used as favors at the table I suspect):
Sweet Potato Bird
© 2013
Sweet Potato Bird with Wild Plumage
© 2014
I usually have this design out too, for both Thanksgiving and Christmas tables. I'm not sure what people use them for (probably favors too):
Acorns with Cedar
© 2015
This next one isn't an autumn card or a Christmas card, but it seems to have elements of both. The leaves have turned brown and gotten a bit torn up, and the pine is in there with the red, so maybe it is a design fitting for something inbetween autumn and Christmas, when the trees are bare, the sky is dark, and the leaves are getting a bit threadbare from all of the pounding rain and wind. At any rate, this one was one of my favorites in terms of composition:
Pine and Leaf Bouquet
© 2012
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
This one doesn't fit in with a holiday either. The plants were picked at the end of November. I just loved the browns, the dried up seeds and heather colored Geranium flowers, and most of all the fluffy cattails. November can be so monochromatic with its tans, grays and browns. It especially looks great up against a stormy sky with shades of purple in it. This is the greeting card version:
Cattails and November Flowers
© 2014
posters, giclee and canvas prints, plus other merchandise
here
This is the print version:
(archival print version)
The next ones are all Christmas cards.
I used a hand thrown cylinder I had made and designed myself, with the snowflake motifs. I copied the snowflake pattern for the border too. Since the snowflake was on a curve in the photograph, the pattern got truncated on one side. But who pays attention to that in a border, especially when it is repeated and intentional all the way around?
Snowflake Vase with Christmas Regalia
© 2015
I got the idea for the next one by laying out some pine cones. The pine cones seemed to be whispering: "I am wings". So I decided to make an angel with some mini stockings I hand sewed for the feet, and a Christmas ornament I had laying around for the head. It was okay, but the head needed a face.
I tried to make the face pleasant, but in fact, this angel looks a little spooky!
But some people like it spooky for Christmas as it is one of my best-sellers (as far as the bouquet series goes). Perhaps Christmas can be as spooky as Halloween if you have a dysfunctional family.
Pine Cone Angel
© 2013
These next ones use some more stockings I machine sewed at one point in my life. I am not one for stockings being red all of the time, though I recognize that red and white are Scandinavian traditions.
The idea of nature gifts comes from my highschool friends. So many of them were either hippies or die hard artists who would fall in love with something that had no monetary value at all: like a rock, or a weed with an interesting shape, or a dried leaf, or the look of a word in a certain kind of artsy font on old weathered paper. Anyway, they tended to give nature gifts. I remember opening a pretty box and finding a feather. Believe it or not, this made me smile and my heart well up with love. I treasured that feather!
A gift can be very simple.
I remember another friend polished a rock and gave it to me, another friend gave me a pine cone that looked rather exotic, occasionally something handmade would be put in with the nature gift like a small carving, a linoleum block print of something they designed, a handmade potholder, or a poem they had written with a quill pen, or a small drawing.
I haven't seen any of these traditions being passed to the youngest generations, but sometimes they make a whole lot more sense than buying something:
Christmas Stocking with Nature Gifts
© 2013
Christmas Stocking with Hearts
© 2014
Christmas Stocking with Heart and Rose
© 2014
Patterned Christmas Stocking with Flowers
© 2015
The multicolored stocking (above) is the most popular one of the Christmas series.
But, I wasn't content with just the previous four ... so, I embarked on another one with a border and this was the result:
Christmas Stocking with Lights and Nature Gifts
© 2016
These next Christmas ones are more consistent with the bouquet experience:
Lace Christmas Stocking Bouquet
© 2013
Pine Cone Bouquet
© 2014
Wreath with Bow
© 2015
Wreath with Rose
© 2015
some of my works on the gallery walls
