Bloom True

This post is about how this painting

transformed into this one over the last five weeks.

That was us six years ago.

 Sitting on our couch in the living room in Cologne,
Clara was nearly two years old.
Shortly after that we would sell or donate half of our household,
deposit the rest at my mother-in-law's house
and travel the world for half a year (here),
ending up in Oldenburg, Northern Germany,
at my mother-in-law's house.

We still have that couch.
The poppies painting would stay in her house
for the next years,
squeezed behind a big wardrobe.

I had painted it in a class in 2005 in Cologne,
I think I copied it as a lesson at this painting school.
And that was also about the last time
I took a paintbrush in my hand.

Until 2014.
With my newly-sparked appetite for painting,
I discovered Flora Bowley's art online
and without much hesitation signed up
for her e-course Bloom True.
I was fascinated by her vibrant and spiritual paintings
and wanted to learn more about her process.

So here we go.
It is a intuitive process about letting go and being bold.
With colour and in your life.

My first moves on the canvas.

At first I thought a large format (this is 1 meter x 1 meter)
would be intimidating,
but actually it is quite liberating.

I discovered my love for playing with a spray bottle
and dripping paint.

Fluorescent pink anyone?

adding some imagery

and bringing it all together.

The painting is still waiting for a new place,
it is now standing in my studio.

And I have another little one on my lap.

Thank you, Flora Bowley,
for all the inspiration and guidance.