18x18

"White Shadow"

We give flowers for all occasions: birthdays, condolences, congratulatory reasons, so why not give ourselves a floral painting?  We deserve it.  Surely there is some positive accomplishment that deserves such a treat.  In the struggle to survive in the modern world, the niceties of treating ourselves as well as we want others to treat us sometimes falls by the wayside.  We forget to meditate upon our good side, instead concentrating on our problems.  Life is not all problems and if we feel ourselves slide into that mindset, it is high time we pulled ourselves out of that slump!  Looking on the brighter side of life will ensure that our minds face the future unafraid and ready for whatever comes.  A bright floral painting on the wall of our home or office will take our minds out of the mundane and elevate them to the optimistic world that says, “Yes, we can!”  Not only for our own sakes, but for our colleagues’ and family’s sakes should we strive to present a cheery outlook.  When we feel down in the dumps, we need only see the brightness of a floral painting to remember our successes in the past, and gain the impetus to use those memories as strength for whatever crises we face in the here and now.  Such a strategy is based upon time-honored techniques of positive reinforcement and we all need to be reminded to be positive now and then.

Floral paintings range from enormous canvases with large-scale groupings of flowers to an elegantly small painting, just large enough for a hallway or bathroom.  We may even imagine that we can sniff the delicate perfume coming from such a small example of a floral painting.  Abstract paintings of flowers make for a more modern-day approach to a subject, for instance the flowery fields of Homer’s commercial illustrations may be rendered in the abstract way and thus bring the piece out of the 19th century and firmly into the 21st.   From the realistic paintings of Kincaid’s modern efforts to the more free-form stylings of Monet, floral paintings occupy an honored place in the pantheon of artistic genres.  Not for nothing is the assignment of a floral topic by an art teacher to a beginning student one of the first lessons: flowers are plentiful and they do not require excursions to the beach or the zoo to render properly, as any supermarket carries flowers.  Whether they are used for decoration or for models for an artist is the purchaser’s business entirely, and who is to say that they cannot do both jobs?  Keep them fresh and perky and they will last long enough to carry out both tasks, enlivening an artist’s studio with their appearance and fragrance, all the while providing a subject for study.

How about placing a floral painting in your kitchen, where it will cheer anyone who happens to visit?  Whether the visitor is a friend or an acquaintance or even a tradesperson, a floral piece of art is most conducive to peaceful communication and by extension, digestion, as the kitchen is the place where most people congregate to meet and eat.  You know the old saying, “No matter where I serve my guests, it seems they like my kitchen best!”  It is very true, and a floral piece hanging in the kitchen makes it all the more welcoming.