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Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
January 12, 2026
8 × 10 in.
Dried Flowers in Shadow Box
I started making bouquets for myself depending on how I was feeling.
I didn't need someone else to buy me flowers. Sometimes I wanted flowers because I was happy. Sometimes I was going through something. Sometimes I was in my feelings and needed to do something small for myself. So I would choose the flowers, make a bouquet, and let it exist with me for however long it could.
But eventually flowers die.
Instead of throwing them away, I started hanging my bouquets upside down to dry. Once they were preserved, I would put them into shadow boxes. What was originally something temporary became something I could keep.
I Loved Myself was a bouquet I made on January 12, 2026, when I was very much in my feelings. But there is something important about the fact that I made it for myself.
The red roses are the center of the piece. Red roses traditionally represent love, passion, desire, and deep emotion. Usually we associate them with giving your love to somebody else. Here, I wanted that love to point inward. I could be emotional, I could want love, I could give love to other people, but I could also give some of it to myself.
The softer pink flowers bring another kind of love into the bouquet. Pink flowers are often associated with affection, tenderness, appreciation, and gentleness. To me, they soften the intensity of the red roses. Love doesn't always have to be overwhelming or romantic. Sometimes love is simply taking care of yourself.
The white filler flowers bring in innocence, simplicity, peace, and sincerity. They're tiny compared with the roses, but they fill all the empty spaces between everything else. I like that because some of the most important forms of love aren't huge gestures. They're the little things we do that hold everything together.
The eucalyptus adds another layer. It is commonly associated with healing, protection, and renewal. Even physically, eucalyptus has long been valued for its aromatic and medicinal uses. In this piece, I see it as growth—the reminder that whatever I'm feeling in one moment doesn't have to be where I stay forever.
And then I let all of it die.
That's actually one of my favorite parts of these pieces.
The flowers aren't frozen at their most beautiful. They wilted. Their colors changed. Their petals curled. They became fragile. Instead of deciding that meant they were finished, I preserved what they became.
The shadow box isn't preserving perfect flowers. It's preserving a feeling.
When I look at this now, I'm not just looking at dried roses from January 12, 2026. I'm looking at evidence of who I was that day, what I was feeling, and one small thing I decided to do for myself.
I was in my feelings.
I wanted flowers.
So I gave myself flowers.
I loved myself.
January 12, 2026
8 × 10 in.
Dried Flowers in Shadow Box
I started making bouquets for myself depending on how I was feeling.
I didn't need someone else to buy me flowers. Sometimes I wanted flowers because I was happy. Sometimes I was going through something. Sometimes I was in my feelings and needed to do something small for myself. So I would choose the flowers, make a bouquet, and let it exist with me for however long it could.
But eventually flowers die.
Instead of throwing them away, I started hanging my bouquets upside down to dry. Once they were preserved, I would put them into shadow boxes. What was originally something temporary became something I could keep.
I Loved Myself was a bouquet I made on January 12, 2026, when I was very much in my feelings. But there is something important about the fact that I made it for myself.
The red roses are the center of the piece. Red roses traditionally represent love, passion, desire, and deep emotion. Usually we associate them with giving your love to somebody else. Here, I wanted that love to point inward. I could be emotional, I could want love, I could give love to other people, but I could also give some of it to myself.
The softer pink flowers bring another kind of love into the bouquet. Pink flowers are often associated with affection, tenderness, appreciation, and gentleness. To me, they soften the intensity of the red roses. Love doesn't always have to be overwhelming or romantic. Sometimes love is simply taking care of yourself.
The white filler flowers bring in innocence, simplicity, peace, and sincerity. They're tiny compared with the roses, but they fill all the empty spaces between everything else. I like that because some of the most important forms of love aren't huge gestures. They're the little things we do that hold everything together.
The eucalyptus adds another layer. It is commonly associated with healing, protection, and renewal. Even physically, eucalyptus has long been valued for its aromatic and medicinal uses. In this piece, I see it as growth—the reminder that whatever I'm feeling in one moment doesn't have to be where I stay forever.
And then I let all of it die.
That's actually one of my favorite parts of these pieces.
The flowers aren't frozen at their most beautiful. They wilted. Their colors changed. Their petals curled. They became fragile. Instead of deciding that meant they were finished, I preserved what they became.
The shadow box isn't preserving perfect flowers. It's preserving a feeling.
When I look at this now, I'm not just looking at dried roses from January 12, 2026. I'm looking at evidence of who I was that day, what I was feeling, and one small thing I decided to do for myself.
I was in my feelings.
I wanted flowers.
So I gave myself flowers.
I loved myself.