It’s that time or year again, well almost that time of year again, when one of my most favorite flowers ever pops up from the ground and blooms its beautiful, funky, purple self. Every Fall I plant more Allium bulbs, knowing that my Spring will be so much the better for it. When I see the first signs of their bright green leaves emerging from the cold, Spring ground, I am like a small child on Christmas morning.

  There are many, many different varieties of allium (otherwise known as the onion family) but my two favorites are Allium Giganteum (giant allium ) and Allium Globemaster. Both display brilliant, puffy globes of purple in May/June; when planted in large numbers the effect is spectacular.

In honor of my flower bestie, I try and paint a few Allium paintings each Spring. I start by understanding the form of the flower. Hundreds of tiny, tiny spokes jut out from one central point, creating a sphere of stems; on the end of each spoke/stem is a tiny purple flower. Side note: If you haven’t stared into the trippy depths of an allium puff, I highly recommend it. Life changing.

I then do my best to mimic this spherical perfection onto my canvas. I love painting the purple allium on a backdrop of bright orange- I use gauche to get this brilliant hue. This allium painting was created using acrylic paint, gauche and colored pencil.

       And a close-up Allium....

  * Like this? You can reserve one of this Spring's allium paintings! Email me at rvelladesign@gmail.com for more information.

Tree Skirt.

 I take the shapes and forms I observe in the natural world and bring it all inside to my studio. The earth's wisdom informs my art. That is why being a gardener and artist is a perfect combination. While most of my studio time is spent creating mixed media paintings, I also love to make clothing. Clothing is three dimensional, it's functional and I find it can capture amazingly the inspiration I receive from my time spent outdoors.

 I created this skirt to blend amongst the trees. As a little girl, I used to climb high into the branches of a giant hemlock in my woods, sitting for hours reading books and watching the squirrels. To this day, I find immense peace surrounded by branches and foliage. This is probably why I instantly loved the Roman myth of Daphne and Apollo. To avoid Apollo's aggressive advances, Daphne runs fast through the forest, eventually turning herself into a tree so that he can never own her. I can imagine Daphne's feminine form zipping through the forest and then slowly morphing into the swirling trunk of a tree, pissing off the powerful Apollo. Something about this image deeply appeals to me. Maybe it's the idea of graceful femininity triumphing over aggressive masculinity. Maybe it's the idea of running buck wild through the woods, escaping what we don't want. Or maybe I want to be a tree. Who knows.

Regardless, here is my Daphne tree skirt, inspired by the trees and Roman myth. I made it from crocheting square of different greens, backing them with a shiny brown material, and then layering them like leaves. The skirt closes in the back, corset style, with a green ribbon. Swirling, crocheted green tendrils hang from the waist of the skirt like vines.

Trees, Spirals and Moon.

It's winter, the gardens are sleeping, the ground is frozen, and I am busy indoors creating nature inspired artwork. 

Here is a recently completed mixed media painting commissioned by my dear friend Charlene. 

I created this piece using acrylic paint, colored pencil, paper and dye. The circles, swirls, and vines are created by tearing tiny pieces of colored paper and adhering them, mosaic-style, to the canvas with modge-podge or matt medium. Although tedious, I love this technique and use it in almost all my artwork. Sometimes I purchase colored paper, but usually I recycle paper scraps and dye, paint or color the paper to a specific color. A few years ago I saved a bunch of my receipts and dyed them all bright yellow using dye made from the spice turmeric. The owl's eyes in this painting were created using small pieces of these dyed receipts. There is also plenty of brown bag, tissue paper from gift boxes and fabric scraps recycled into this painting.

On the lower left of the painting, beneath the layers of paint and paper, reads this:

"Know that you carry the wisdom of the earth." 

It's true, you do. 

"Then draw near to nature." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke