One of my favorite things to add into my work is secret, hidden, or extra meaning behind the obvious, up-front meaning in each painting. A fun way to do that is with the Victorian Language of Flowers!
Imagine receiving a bouquet and knowing you should run for your life because they tell you "Beware! Danger!", or leaving a flower for your sweetheart and so telling her "You comfort me". I'm enchanted by these ideas, that simple flowers could be a secret code. Every piece in my Motherhood Collection uses flowers in this way, either taking inspiration from the flowers, or using the flowers as hidden messages within the piece.
My two pieces "Fatherly Love" and "Motherly Love" explore these ideas by taking the parental figure and placing a bundle of flowers in the shape of a baby in their arms. The flowers all have meanings relating either to the parent (Coreopsis Arkana, "Love at First Sight"), or the baby (Lucerne, "Life", White Daisy, "Innocence", Indian Jasmin, "I Cannot Live Without You", etc). You can find out all of the meanings and more about the paintings by clicking their names above! If you're an artist, take a moment to browse through the list of flower meanings over on languageofflowers.com, and maybe you'll find some extra inspiration for your art!
For the non-artists, have fun figuring out what your wedding bouquet or boutonniere meant! I challenge you to bring home flowers, knowing their meaning, and either write a note for your sweetheart or keep them for yourself and use their meaning to encourage your own heart. Have a meaningful day! ~Holly