Besides providing people with helpful information on how to build a greenhouse and water harnessing systems, or what plants will make you happy, I’m also a photographer and digital artist – sometimes even using my photographs as the canvas for my art. Just like my life and interests are quite varied, so is my work!

But, while some of the art I will be presenting here comes from public gardens and large parks, much of it is inspired by little things I see on the side of the road, in someone’s front yard, and big cities or small towns. If you’ll allow me to get super corny for a moment – there really is beauty all around us. Just keep your eyes open and look – because sometimes it’s easy to miss.

Yard Snooping

Take these Black-Eyed Susans and Purple Coneflowers I spotted in someone’s front yard in Toronto, Canada. It wasn’t a vast flower garden or anything. It didn’t even look that well maintained. 

There were a few different types of plants, some blooming beautifully and others looking worse for wear. It would have been easy to walk by without it making an impression. But with an eye always open to a photograph, I stopped and was able to snap a few shots. And in this case, I took two of those photos and used them as the canvas for a couple of art pieces.

Beauty In The Caribbean

From Toronto, Canada, to the Island of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea. Flora and fauna on the island are beautiful, and you are surrounded by it almost everywhere you go. 

Walking through a national park, I snapped a photo of what I think is a hibiscus plant. I also grabbed a shot of another plant (I think it may be a Rubiaceae, or at least that is what Google thinks it is) growing on a fence in a yard. The photographs themselves weren’t great, but these are the two pieces I created from them.

Back In North America

Now, let’s head back to North America, but this time to the west coast. 

Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, are a definite bucket-list destination. The number of photographs I took during my visit there is slightly embarrassing (thank you very much cloud photo storage). But I came away with several great shots, including this Tulip photo art piece I created by mashing up a black and white and a color version of my photograph.

I did something similar with this photograph I snapped in LA outside the Los Angeles County Museum of Art – popping the green grass out among all the rest of the black and white photography. 

I love the geometric spacing of the tall palm trees interspersed with sculptures and flower beds. And in the background, you can see the “Urban Light” public art sculpture, consisting of restored street lights from the 1920s and 1930s. Before even entering the museum, there is “art” to see.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of just some of the colors and beauty I have been lucky enough to witness and use as inspiration. As we slowly start to emerge from our homes and the confinement bubble we have been in for months now, I think many of us will be even more likely to appreciate the nature and the world around us. And if you would like some of my work around you, or just want to check out all my art and photography, you can visit my website. Or go here, to get right to the flower art.