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February 17, 2026
8 × 10 in.
Dried Flowers & Botanicals in Shadow Box
Original / 1 of 1
I started making bouquets for myself based on how I was feeling at the time. Eventually, I realized I didn't want to throw them away just because the flowers had reached the end of their life.
So I started preserving them.
This one feels like one of the fullest expressions of that idea. Instead of one type of flower dominating the frame, everything is intertwined. There are roses, eucalyptus, yellow flowers, leaves, stems, and little pieces that almost disappear behind everything else.
The roses represent love and affection, but these softer pink and cream colors feel different to me than the deep red roses in I Loved Myself. They're gentler. Pink roses are often connected with appreciation, affection, gratitude, and tenderness. This doesn't feel like screaming love. It feels like quietly appreciating it.
The eucalyptus brings in ideas of healing, renewal, and protection. I like using it in these pieces because even after it dries, it keeps such a recognizable shape. It changes, but you can still tell exactly what it was.
Then there are those little yellow globe flowers. They look like craspedia, commonly called billy buttons. Yellow flowers are often associated with happiness, optimism, friendship, and warmth. They're tiny compared with the roses, but your eye still finds them. They're these little points of happiness scattered through everything else.
And I think that's what I like most about this bouquet.
There's no single emotion in it.
There's love. There's happiness. There's tenderness. There's healing. There's growth. Some parts are bright and noticeable, while others are almost completely buried.
That's a lot closer to how I actually experience life.
I'm almost never just one thing.
I can be incredibly happy while something else is bothering me. I can love somebody while also hurting. I can be healing from something while simultaneously being excited about what's coming next. None of those feelings cancels the others out.
They all get packed together.
Eventually these flowers started dying too. Their colors faded. Their leaves dried. Their petals became fragile.
But instead of throwing away the bouquet, I put all of it behind glass.
That's really what this entire series has become for me.
I'm not trying to keep flowers alive forever.
I'm trying to keep the moment they belonged to.
The flowers can die.
The feeling doesn't have to.
February 17, 2026
8 × 10 in.
Dried Flowers & Botanicals in Shadow Box
Original / 1 of 1
I started making bouquets for myself based on how I was feeling at the time. Eventually, I realized I didn't want to throw them away just because the flowers had reached the end of their life.
So I started preserving them.
This one feels like one of the fullest expressions of that idea. Instead of one type of flower dominating the frame, everything is intertwined. There are roses, eucalyptus, yellow flowers, leaves, stems, and little pieces that almost disappear behind everything else.
The roses represent love and affection, but these softer pink and cream colors feel different to me than the deep red roses in I Loved Myself. They're gentler. Pink roses are often connected with appreciation, affection, gratitude, and tenderness. This doesn't feel like screaming love. It feels like quietly appreciating it.
The eucalyptus brings in ideas of healing, renewal, and protection. I like using it in these pieces because even after it dries, it keeps such a recognizable shape. It changes, but you can still tell exactly what it was.
Then there are those little yellow globe flowers. They look like craspedia, commonly called billy buttons. Yellow flowers are often associated with happiness, optimism, friendship, and warmth. They're tiny compared with the roses, but your eye still finds them. They're these little points of happiness scattered through everything else.
And I think that's what I like most about this bouquet.
There's no single emotion in it.
There's love. There's happiness. There's tenderness. There's healing. There's growth. Some parts are bright and noticeable, while others are almost completely buried.
That's a lot closer to how I actually experience life.
I'm almost never just one thing.
I can be incredibly happy while something else is bothering me. I can love somebody while also hurting. I can be healing from something while simultaneously being excited about what's coming next. None of those feelings cancels the others out.
They all get packed together.
Eventually these flowers started dying too. Their colors faded. Their leaves dried. Their petals became fragile.
But instead of throwing away the bouquet, I put all of it behind glass.
That's really what this entire series has become for me.
I'm not trying to keep flowers alive forever.
I'm trying to keep the moment they belonged to.
The flowers can die.
The feeling doesn't have to.