Florals, by far, were my favorite subject matter. Painting on smaller objects like vases, plates, etc., I had been lucky in that I could look at photos in magazines of floral arrangements and paint something similar. Painting on walls with the design being very linear would be more challenging for me.
Going to college for art classes was not in my budget. Instead I signed up for a flower arranging class and an interior design class at a near-by community college. Two nights a week for a several months I could handle.
The flower arranging class was intense and I learned a lot. The missing link for my painting was composition. A few of the things I learned were to work in odd numbers until there were over seven, it takes about seven yards of ribbon to make a big loopy bow (I still used this for making bows for gifts and my Christmas tree.), ways to balance an asymmetrical design, fun stuff.
After class one evening the instructor asked if I could stay for a few minutes. It seems she was interested in hiring me. She told me that she would send me to Holland to learn new techniques. Upon returning I would teach the new techniques to the other emplyees. I cannot tell you how much I would have loved to have gone to Holland. All those wonderful flowers. Can you imagine how tempting that was?
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