Sowing Seeds

My GG inspired “Sowing

Seeds” because she always

pointed out the flowers on our

car rides. She especially loved

the wisteria flowers. She’d

say, “Emma, look there! Do

you know what those purple

flowers are? Those are wisteria

flowers. Aren’t they beautiful?”

She would then sing Psalm

118:24: “This is the day the

Lord has made, let us rejoice

and be glad in it.” She taught

me a lot about life, faith, and

relationships. I wanted to show

the beautiful seeds she planted

blossoming in this composition.

As the largest piece in the

“Seeds We Plant” collection,

I wanted to lean into the

collage-like compositional style

that often grounds much of my

work. In this case, it helps tell

an abstract version of stories

and seeds planted in me. The

wisteria appears throughout

the composition at different

scales. This frames and softens

the more orthogonal lines

of the architectural forms in

the middle and background.

Every room my GG walked

into immediately felt softer.

She noticed the little things in

people, just like she noticed the

wisteria flowers on our way to

school.

The seed packets in the

composition act as building

blocks, constructing a

foundation for the wisteria

vines to grasp onto. The

architectural composition

begins to clash with but also

depend on and intertwine with

the soft, blossoming flowers.

When I would go with GG to

the grocery store, she would

let me buy little packets of

seeds; I would then run home

and get my little shovel and

dig little holes in the soil of

my backyard. I had such high

hopes that the little plot of soil

would soon be overwhelmed

with pansies and sunflowers;

however, they never got

past the little green sprouts

that pushed through that

layer of topsoil. My tenacious

determination was always met

with a soft patience from my

grandmother. Little did I know

that the seeds being planted

within myself would actually be

the ones to blossom and grow.

18x24" Acrylic on Canvas