New Gallery – Studio Gallery Group in Australia
I’m really pleased to say that I’ve sent my first three works to Studio Gallery Group in Australia. You can take a look at my process of un-stretching and rolling the canvases for shipping on Instagram if you have a moment.
The three paintings are above and below and you can see the price and availability under my paintings tab on this site. They should arrive in the gallery in Australia in about a week which is a bit of a miracle, isn’t it?
My peony garden is in bud but I’ve been experimenting and trying out compositions with a few bunches from the florist. The lilacs are out in my yard and I’ve been documenting those as well, for future possible paintings. I have talked a lot about how I want these paintings to give you the feeling of leaning into a bouquet and breathing in that exquisite summery scent, but at this time of year, working in the yard and with all these flowers, it really reminds me how important it is for me to convey this. I know that painting these flowers is transformative for me.
By now you’ve all read the study that many florists have been quoting out of Harvard by Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D. I’m not sure that a painting would have the exact same effect, but from what I’ve heard from those who collect my work, they are happiness inducing.
The three main findings (shared from the Society of American Florists) are these:
1. Flowers feed compassion.
Study participants who lived with fresh cut flowers for less than a week felt an increase in feelings of compassion and kindness for others.
2. Flowers chase away anxieties, worries and the blues at home.
Overall, people in the study simply felt less negative after being around flowers at home for just a few days. Participants most frequently placed flowers in their kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms, where they spend a lot of time at home. They reported wanting to see the blooms first thing in the morning.
3. Living with flowers can provide a boost of energy, happiness and enthusiasm at work.
Having flowers at home can have a positive carry-over impact on our mood at work, too. The study found that people were more likely to feel happier and have more enthusiasm and energy at work when flowers were in their home living environments.
Another popular share on Instagram these days is the word, Anthophile, a flower lover. Merriam-Webster has the definition for anthophilous here and under the Did you know? section, they say this:
“Parrots love eucalyptus flowers. That's because anthophilous birds are naturally attracted to "ornithophilous" flowers-which is to say, flowers that are pollinated by birds. The "-philous" in both of those terms is the combining form that means "loving" (from Greek -philos). "Anthophilous" uses the Greek word anthos, meaning "flower," while "ornithophilous" traces back to Greek ornis, meaning "bird." "Ornithophilous" is one of a whole swarm of specialized words that identify flowers in terms of the flower-loving creatures that pollinate them. "Entomophilous" flowers, for example, are pollinated by anthophilous insects, such as bees. There's even a word specifically for plants that are pollinated by bees: "melittophilous" (from the Greek word melitta, meaning "bee").”
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably a flower-lover, too.
Thanks for following along here, and on my social media. I’m looking forward to a busy summer of painting, growing flowers, and documenting them for future work! I hope you have flowers in your home, in your life, and maybe even on your walls.