Flowers- Design and Inspiration

Summer Roses
Oil Painting by Pat Fiorello
6 x 8

If you have been following my blog for awhile, you know that I teach painting, but also am a perennial student.  Learning something new can really make you feel alive.   I think you are either expanding or contracting- and expansion, or growth of any kind, seems correlated to higher energy and enthusiasm 

(although no one said the process was always going to be easy) .

 In addition to continuing my growth in art, one of my commitments for this year was to take on what I call "Artistic Cross Training" . That is, learn about other related fields which could contribute to my artwork, but are not specifically art workshops- just for the fun of learning something new.

Today I continued with my program in floral design. I love to paint flowers and gardens, so it seems like a natural complement to deepen my understanding  of flowers and facility with arranging potential subjects.

I had the wonderful opportunity to study  at Halls School of Floral Design in Atlanta with John Grady Burns, who is a prominent designer and instructor. He is an author of 2 books on floral design and designs for major events, and has even been invited to create some arrangements for the White House and other dignitaries.

Here is John doing a demo of an elegant centerpiece that might be used at a wedding or other special event. After he did his demos (there were 4 over the course of the day), the participants got the same flowers and created their own version.

And here I am trying my hand at it.

Here I am with one of the other arrangements I did. 

It was a totally fun day and I came back energized and excited to paint some flowers tomorrow.

I think having greater intimacy with your paintings subjects can only help bring an authenticity to your work. How might you deepen your knowledge of your favorite painting subjects?

To learn more about Halls School of Design visit:  http://www.hallsatlanta.com/designschool.html

To learn more about John Grady Burns and his exquisite work see:  http://jgbflora.com/about.htm 

Stayed tuned, I'll post some of my new flower paintings soon.