Jerry Rose Floral

Have you ever walked into a place and thought to yourself, “wow, I need to paint this”? To be fair, this happens to me literally everywhere. But the experience of walking into the exhibit-like layout of Jerry Rose Florist in downtown Maplewood was different. I don’t often frequent flower shops, but when you’re on your way to a 7-year-old’s dance recital, it’s a good excuse for an exception. I walked in with intent to grab a bouquet and go. The bouquet took a couple minutes to assemble. Fortunately for you dear readers, I kept my eyes open for all of those minutes, and took in everything around me.

There was a lot around me.

It’s a visually stimulating shop. Almost overwhelming with its overhanging arches of vines and clustered arcs of flowers. Never-ending pops of pinks, oranges, yellows, browns, greens, and reds. It took me out of the moment I was having as a customer and suddenly dropped me into a mode of simply observing the visual joy around me. I immediately pledged to return to draw the place asap. I came back two days later during a lull in my work day and a spike in my adhd which drove me away from whatever I had been doing before I rode my bike the mile and a half downtown.

Those never-ending pops of color proved problematic. How was I going to capture all of them? How was I going to capture their essence?! If I doodled in pen, would I be able to color it in right later on? It was one of my better exercises in simplifying & selective inclusion. I’ll definitely be making prints of this one in the future. Keep an eye on my shop & newsletter for that drop!