Yesterday I walked into Trader Joe’s on a dog food mission for my aging pooch, Juno and a few other of the usual items you pick up at the market. As I walked into the store I was confronted by a big bin of pink peonies.
My daughter Haley and I both go crazy over these flowers and I immediately thought, “oh she’s gonna be buying these today!” I also thought to myself, “get ‘em… you’ve gotta get ‘em.” but the the more responsible angel on my shoulder chimed in and said, “you’ve got plenty of flowers in the backyard, you really don’t need any more and you really can’t afford them today anyway. Don’t even think about buying those peonies!”
But then…
I thought, “YES! I should. This is an investment in my soul and they make me so happy!”
So I came home with one bunch of pink peonies for $7.99 and I bought another bunch of flowers for $3.99. $12.00 in flowers… priceless in their soul lifting, smile producing, creativity inspiring force.
When I got home I went into my backyard garden and picked some calla lilies and some calla leaves and I picked some delphiniums - these purple bell flowers that are blooming in abundance right now - and I proceeded to put together my vase with a cross hatch of tape so all the flowers would sit up just right and I put together this huge explosion of beauty in my kitchen. Later in the day, I decided that I wanted to put some wisteria in there too; I went back out to my garden and picked some long whips to make it kind of a crazy wonderful experience in my kitchen.
This stuff really inspires me!
Each time I put together flowers, I’m really involved and it makes me happy, it brings me joy.
It’s also a daily inspiration.
My artwork, at its core, begins with my interaction with natural elements: flowers, grasses, water, air, clouds, and color. At home, I am surrounded by my garden of magnificent delights; a garden that I planted (and am always replanting) with botanical discoveries that feed my soul and my work. From this smorgasbord of botanical imaginings, I am regularly drawing inspiration for my next piece.
Presently, I am working on a new commission that is inspired by the abundance of spring callas that has erupted throughout my backyard (watch a video here). Next week it might be an abundance of poppies or the pink peonies I bought at the store.
Later, it may be the roaring ripples of surf I see when I head to Hawaii to visit my brother, or the patterns in the sky that seem to call out to me every time I walk out my front door.
Like I said before, this stuff inspires me. Every single day!
Drop me a line and tell me what inspires you.