The Flowers in Her Garden

What's the most emotionally valuable thing you have hanging in your home?

I went on an 18 month service mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints when I was 19 years old. Over the year and a half that I was in the Maryland area, I went into a lot of homes; some of them were large, historic homes. Some of them were very humble homes in apartment buildings. I learned that what people had hanging on their walls often reflected the things that held the most space in their hearts, and that didn’t change based on income.

When I came back to Idaho after living on the East Coast, I decided I only wanted to hang things that had emotional value to me. I have been slowly collecting art since then.

One of my favorites is a print of Winter Lights by Deanne Dixon showing the DC Temple during the winter. It reminds me of the feeling I got each time I’d drive up over the beltway and see the temple rising up on the horizon. I always felt warm inside, even though I was there over the worst winter they had experienced in decades!

Deanne Dixon, Winter Lights, 1997

I will forever cherish this piece of art!

One of my dear friends had an idea for a painting she wanted in her home. We planned it out together, and it was a changing experience for me. My friend has two daughters who both have botanical names, and she wanted to have them painted in colors that had additional layers of symbolism for their family.

Here’s the thing about painting - you have a lot of time for your brain to talk at you while you’re busy working on a piece.

* Trigger Warning: child/family member loss. Please skip this section if you’re not in a place to view it right now 🖤

While I was busy painting these two little girls, I started thinking about how fortunate I am to have photographs with my family, but how cool it is that my friend would soon have additional artwork to showcase her loved ones. Then I started thinking about all the families who don’t have family pictures together, and all the families who wish they could have a picture together. I thought about the families I know who have lost children and babies (some of them have had additional children after the loss) and will never have a complete family photo in this life.

My heart felt so shattered for those families.

There has to be a way to reach that pain and help soothe it. I knew I had to figure it out.

In the weeks that followed, I spun up a plan. Stemming from The Flowers in Her Garden, I will be painting “family pictures” with birth flowers representing each family member, and forget-me-not’s for miscarried babies/those without a designated birth month.

* TW over *

I'm so thrilled for 'The Flowers in Her Garden' to be in it's new home 🖤 this has been the most emotionally involved painting I've done - White Lilies and pink Roses in honor of two daughters.

Contact me for details on birth flower paintings & to order commissions