A Woman Defined

A miracle happened. One morning, I woke up and I realized that I am a woman in need of a beautiful garden. It seemed like for the first time, I could see the flowers, the leaves, the trees, and the garden in a way that I had never before. And the garden, too, could see me.

My garden, my sanctuary: a place for me to get close to God, to my beginning, to my end, and to the soil itself.

Every time I go to a flower mart, I feel like I am walking in a wild forest. I dig into everything I can find, looking for the surprises of the season. Sometimes I find dried twigs, broken branches, all sorts of odd things, all different shapes and colors. Sometimes they can be thrown away on the side, rejected, unwanted, like little orphans; then I look at them, and I have a picture in my head of what I want to do with them, what kind of vase I am going to use for them, and even where I want to place them – the complete picture.

I covered the whole upstairs floor of my art gallery with this circular design. I picked up all the materials from the flower mart. The flowers, of course, died, but the twigs last a long time and you can reuse them again.

When I work with flowers, I feel as though I’m an artist, truly expressing myself. Floral designs as art is about the relationship between the vase and the flowers. Just as one talks and one listens, the vase and the flowers should be in complete partnership. It’s ironic that I think about my vase first, then I pick my flowers. I think the vase and the flowers have to get along greatly so that, as a result, I can be able to create magic. To me, it’s like the art of sculpture. Floral design is about the shape, the strength, or the weakness. It’s about the balance of the whole composition, the balance, like any form of art, is how the piece communicates and makes you feel. As an artist, when I am working with my floral arrangements, I get an opportunity to practice all these aspects of art and designs in one place.

We can have very warm weather in the month of June in Southern California. I made this arrangement when everyone was complaining of what a hot summer we are having this year. I thought using the ingredients of watermelon, cucumber, and all these veggies from our local supermarket could visually cool us all off.

Tags: Floral arrangements, Flowers As Art

Posted in Home & Design, Welcome to My House |