In mid-to-late winter, I often get real antsy for spring. It seems that after the holidays are over, with all their joyful wonderment, time with family, delicious delicacies, heck, we even sing songs about and wish for snow, we enter the grueling months of winter, with the bitter cold, snow and ice, scraping of windshields, and staying indoors. Sure, I love a warm, cozy fire as much as the next guy but you can only take being cooped up inside and the cold for just so long. If July through September are the “Dog Days of Summer” then January March have to be the “Wicked Wolves of Winter”. I miss the flowers and having my hands in the soil. So, here is how my art-brain took over; I’ll sculpt my favorite flowers to have all year long!

My favorite flower is the Iris. When they start to bloom I am absolutely astounded; how can this simple flower get so huge and varied in shape, its color and hue be so diverse? I love it’s long, green blades that last long after the flower has faded and withered away. No wonder Van Gogh had an obsession with them. I decided to sculpt the Iris, along with all of my floral relief pieces, as a complete plant, showing the bulbs and roots as well as the stems and flowers. 

Daffodils are my second favorite flower. They are some of the early show-offs of spring and are such a welcome sight for the weary winter eyes! The flower is obviously beautiful and intricate, but the stems of this flower are very intriguing; the ridges along the stem are so subtle, like angle iron that would be used in construction of towers and bridges. I enjoyed sculpting the stems almost more than the flower!

Ah, tulips, so beautiful, so colorful, why can’t you just last a little longer? Tulips are a sure sign of spring, and, for me, a feeling of Easter. I decided to capture their stately elegance by digging them up, clusters of bulbs and all, and sculpt their beauty. Now their splendor will never fade!

I made sure to sculpt Crocuses, Lilies, and Roses to have in my bronze flower garden. My walls have these relief sculptures hanging on them, and when I am feeling a little cabin fever or feel like I can’t take winter anymore, I look at my flowers and am able to feel the happiness and excitement of spring and the wonderment of a world splashed with colors and the renewal of life!