SUSIE’S GARDEN
Forget the vase for flowers – get creative and make a work of art!
Flowers have featured in art since the days of ancient civilisations. Plants have inspired paintings and sculpture, but what of using the actual flowers themselves as the basis for artworks? I’ve been having fun making pictures from flowers, petals and leaves and arranging them in patterns. It’s something that you could do with grandchildren, even using “weeds” such as dandelions.
Your creations could feature berries, feathers and other natural materials formed into patterns. These ephemeral pictures often work best in squares and circles, simple geometric shapes rather than rectangles. In these examples I’ve used sprigs s of rosemary around a a marigold flower, f a collection of beech nut cases pressed open so that they look like stars. You can buy mandala colouring books to help with managing stress, but why not make a mandala using flowers? These rainbow coloured circular patterns remind me of the kaleidoscope I had as a child.
They open our eyes to the different shapes, textures and colours of plants.
Another idea is to float flowerheads in a bowl of water, either in different colours and patterns or as just one type of flower. Bright yellow dandelions or orange marigolds work really well for this. In the spring, I float hellebore heads in shallow bowls of water because this is the best way to see their hanging flowers.
These ideas all use fresh flowers, but for something more lasting, you could dry them in a flower press or between sheets of paper held down by heavy books. Then you can enjoy them even when winter comes.