"Dahlia Love" Painting

I am a botanical artist working and living in the Dandenong Ranges. I have run a floristry company for the past 12 years out of a studio in Mount Dandenong. I love combining my floristry practice with my art practice and have endless sources of inspiration.
Living where I do and doing the job I do, means I live and breath the changing of seasons. There are so many flowers that bloom for the briefest period and I love to capture them in their natural habitat and in still life compositions. My latest study has been of Rhododendron trees, I walk the suburbs when they’re in bloom and am often found clambering over fences to get the perfect shot. I use my phone to capture the trees/bushes and then edit the images in adobe lightroom.
Using Adobe Lightroom allows me to adjust the light and shadows in the picture, I then use these photos as a reference for my painting. In my work I like to have a sense of mystery, a darkness and depth that makes you fall into the piece, and gives a 3d effect.
In my floristry practice I visit the flower market and local growers regularly, I’m forever on the lookout for something special that I can style a still life painting from. I have a huge collection of props and vases and for fun will play around with compositions on the permanent back drop lighting in my studio.
Flowers are my favorite thing, I love to work with them and I love to paint them. I do also paint studies of fruit and landscapes. I mostly work in Oils on canvas, but start the painting process with a rough layer of acrylics, this helps me see the composition of the piece.
I am a self taught artist and florist, my style and skills have come from practice and trial and error. I intuitively know where a flower should go or what my next art piece should be. I am quite new to painting and working in oils, I started practicing on a regular basis in October 2021. I’m feeling more confident in my artistic direction with every new painting I create.