Stopping to Smell and Arrange the Flowers:
For my final project, I really wanted to do some form of art relating to nature. I started by picking flowers from around my garden and attempting to place them in a mandala. Eventually, I realized both that the wind blew everything away and it didn't look very good anyway. So I just decided to put the flowers in a vase and take a picture. I wanted to add some things in photoshop to try to enhance the flowers but I honestly couldn't think of anything to enhance the inherent beauty of the flowers, so I decided to research each kind. I call the arrangement Purple Purity.
Allium:
Allium is a genus of monocotyledonous flowering plants that includes hundreds of species, including the cultivated onion, garlic, scallion, shallot, leek, and chives. The generic name Allium is the Latin word for garlic, and the type species for the genus is Allium sativum which means "cultivated garlic" Allium species occur in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere, except for a few species occurring in Chile, Brazil, and Africa. I used one of the flowers as the centerpiece of the vase because I love both its color and shape.
Tiger Lily Leaves:
Lilium bulbiferum, common names orange lily, fire lily and tiger lily, is a herbaceous European lily with underground bulbs, belonging to the Liliaceae. The flowers are bright yellow-orange with reddish-brown dots. I only used the leaves of this plant because the flowers were not quite in bloom.
Lily of the Valley:
Lily of the valley, Convallaria majalis, is a woodland flowering plant with sweetly scented, pendent, bell-shaped white flowers borne in sprays in spring. It is native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia and Europe. I used 4 of these to bring in a flash of white.
Wild Geranium:
Geranium maculatum, the wild geranium, spotted geranium, or wood geranium, is a perennial plant native to woodland in eastern North America, from southern Manitoba and southwestern Quebec south to Alabama and Georgia and west to Oklahoma and South Dakota. The flowers are rose-purple, pale, or violet-purple. I used these flowers to add some purple higher in the vase.
Coreopsis:
Coreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Common names include calliopsis and tickseed, a name shared with various other plants. I used the plant stem before the flower had bloomed. I just love the shape of the stem of this plant and used 4 to add more green.
Grass:
Grass is a monocotyledon plant, herbaceous plant with narrow leaves growing from the base. A common kind of grass is used to cover the ground in a lawn and other places. Grass normally gets water from the roots, which are located in the ground. I felt this made a great connection in that there is beauty even in common grass.
Wild Hyacinth:
Camassia scilloides are a perennial herb known commonly as Atlantic camas, wild hyacinth, and eastern camas. It is native to the eastern half of North America, including Ontario and the eastern United States. The flowers have light blue or whitish petals. I just loved how these flowers looked similar to the white lily of the valley and decided to add them.
Reflection + Appreciation:
The second part of this final project is all about appreciation piece. I feel like this class has truly opened my eyes. It has really helped me slow down and appreciate the small things. In the midst of all the chaos going around us, there is always solitude and refuge in nature and this class has opened my eyes to that. Before this class, I might have just glanced at the flowers in this bouquet without a second thought but now I take my time and observe each flowers unique beauty and take the time to research and find out more. Nature truly has a calming and peaceful effect that no one can ignore and I think that is something that is even more invaluable in times of uncertainty like these. Like in this quote from Thoreau “Nature has no human inhabitant who appreciates her. The birds with their plumage and their notes are in harmony with the flowers, but what youth or maiden conspires with the wild luxuriant beauty of Nature? She flourishes most alone, far from the towns where they reside. Talk of heaven! ye disgrace earth”. These days humans are all trying to get from somewhere to somewhere else as fast as possible. Sometimes we literally forget to stop and smell the flowers. The experiences that this intensive has given me will help me to embrace the joy in the small meaningful moments instead of hurrying to the next meaningless one. Like Vincent Van Gogh once said,
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere”
Thank You All!
Comments