Exploring Birth Month Bouquet Paintings

I’ve been totally blown away lately by the dutch still life painters of the 17th century. Take a look at this painting by Maria van Oosterwyck’s painting “Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase. “ Holy bagumba! I’m so impressed by the detail and realism van Oosterwyck captured in the 1600’s WITHOUT technology and often hand mixing paints! Those of us who make art today have it so easy… technology, art stores, and more. It’s certainly humbling to learn from artists of the past. The dutch paintings I was checking out really got me inspired to paint flower, leaves, and such. So I began recreating famous artworks to learn from their style. The dark backgrounds. The layers. The contrast.

Now, I’m always trying to find a way to give more meaning to inanimate objects in my artwork, so I started making a floral painting for my mother representing her 5 daughters. Each flower represents me and my sister’s birth months. An October marigold for Renee, an October marigold for Rachel, a March daffodil for me, a February Iris for Stacey, and an April daisy for Heather.

It was interesting learning about the meanings of each birth month, and I loved that as I painted each flower I thought of the sister it represents. It was like a bouquet of personalities. Here is the finished painting:

I’m currently in the process of painting a family bouquet for a gift to a grandmother. The painting will have all of her grandkids’ birth months represented. I’m really enjoying the process, concept, and making work customized.

If you are interested in getting a custom painting of your family as a representative bouquet, check out my Etsy shop! I love to create custom work that signifies something special.