The Petals Project

“May our heart’s garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers” - Thich Nhat Hanh 

The Petals Project reflects my belief in the sacred essence of all things and the mysterious ability of flowers, despite their tiny and fragile nature, to convey monumental lessons of living well, aging well, and dying well. As Marcel Proust eloquently expressed, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” During the pandemic, when I remained at home in rural Virginia, I shifted my attention to my garden, and, specifically, the flowers that surrounded me. I turned 50 during this time and my teenage boys no longer needed me as much as when they were younger…my father died and my mother developed Alzheimer’s. It was a time of change and growth…grief and reckoning. 

The flowers were present throughout it all, claiming their space, sometimes presenting themselves in a blaze of enthusiasm with a riot of color, or occasionally a crumple of tired, droopy petals, or a delicate, cautious curve peering out amidst other petals … but present, nonetheless. As I gazed at the petals, I slowly began to recognize that every blossom was unique. Each flower had some special message. Glory and grace were in every petal.  My goal as an artist was to first, learn from the blossoms and then, to convey their extraordinary quality.