We have been graced with some very beautiful days here in Raleigh during quarantine. Lovely weather, gardening season, the garden supply stores and nurseries being designated “essential” — these things have saved me, or at least my mood, during the past few weeks. My mind is full of flowers, and foliage, and what to plant where so it gets the best light. I love gardening and I (like most people, I’m assuming) love looking at pretty plants and flowers; I also find joy in reproducing them on paper.

Drawing (and painting, collaging, etc.) flowers multiplies the pleasure we take in viewing them, and that "drawing" can be as simple as a doodle. Who (at least among those of us with an x chromosome) hasn’t at some point doodled a flower? Maybe this is an activity we associate with being bored in a class or meeting, but it can also be very purposeful creative expression. The idea of sitting down in front of say, the vase of flowers you got for your birthday and making “art” might be very intimidating. But what if you just doodle them? The bar just got much lower and you could be on your way to a very satisfying art journaling experience. Here are some tips for an easy way to get the beauty of flowers down on paper.

In my last post, Tell Your Own Story, I showed you the art journal I made from a salvaged book spine. I wasn’t sure at first exactly how I’d use it — it’s not quite as sturdy as my “regular” art journal. But given the season and the recent online workshop I attended where we were encouraged to try expressive, free-hand florals, I decided to dedicate my new “junk” journal to flower and garden sketches of all kinds. It’s all about experimentation and, frankly, creative play. It’s one more way to celebrate the beautiful spring and enjoy the flowers. But you don’t need a hand-sewn book to make art journaling a part of your life, just grab a notebook and a pen and start doodling.

What is your favorite flower? Have you ever tried to draw one? Tell me in the comments below (sometime this month) and I’ll send you some happy mail . . . whimsical blooms made from salvaged fabrics and sewn to lavender sachets (yes I have been a little obsessive about the flowers lately:).

One more thing . . .The’re new listings on my Etsy store, the Muse and the Magpie!

Doodle a Flower and Double Your Pleasure

Living an Art-full Life