“Creativity runs through my veins. Both of parents are artistic, with my father an artist blacksmith, and my mother works with watercolours and pencils.
I can recall watching my late grandmother painting still life compositions in oil when I was little, and I have two watercolour landscapes which were painted by my great-grandmother (also a musician), framed and hanging in my lounge. “~ Joelene Mitchell
A little about myself…
Getting lost in flowers
My family knows that if I wander off into a garden they’ll most likely have to drag me away as I beg to be allowed to take “just a couple more shots….”.
There is a magic about painting flowers that I just love - the detail and flowing curves of the petals. There is so much wonderment to be found in the light play of early morning, or later in the day as the afternoon sun and shadows meet and create interesting shadow play, while the colour variations are always captivating.
While I have creativity in my DNA, I never thought myself as being artistic until a deep desire to paint developed around 2015 when I discovered how healing the creative process to be for my CPTSD.
A calling followed
With my second child on the way, in early 2018 I decided I wanted to invest more time in my art practice. Balancing with work and family certainly has it’s challenges, however the personal peace and healing that art brings to my soul is well worth the juggle.
Large florals are my favourite to create, with the intimate details that you only discover when you let yourself explore the depths and complexities of flower are breath-taking. Capturing the usually unnoticed details on canvas, revealing a flowers secrets is an absolute privilege.
There’s no hiding that peonies, followed closely by roses are my absolute favourites to work with and I’ll find any excuse to purchase a bunch, or a plant or visit a peony farm.
Painting large macro florals has opened up a world to me of seeing and exploring flowers differently.
I hope you enjoy exploring the intimate details of flowers just as much as I do.