By: Jacob Hawthorne

Gallery: Schmidt Fine Art Gallery

April showers bring May flowers, and the beauty of those May flowers almost make the constant downpour tolerable. Sure, rainy days hold their own appeal for the somber writer or they make for a fun day of indoor activities, but we can only be cooped up for so long (2020 case and point). However, we all can acknowledge that the rain is a necessary part of natural workings because it gives life to the diverse and wonderful assortment of flowers that provide color to many landscapes and art forms. It is a wonderful dance that we play with Mother Nature to withstand the gloom and darkness of rainy days to be gifted the landscape of flowers and other living things, which humans have been using in their artistic expression for countless eras.

Flowers have been represented throughout art history dating back to the ancient Egyptians. In fact, the lotus flower may be the very first flower to appear in art. Lotus flowers, which in ancient Egypt were thought to symbolize the sun, were known to appear on amulets, ceramics, and papyrus paintings of Ancient Egyptians. While the initial concept of portraying flowers through art found its roots in ancient Egypt, this portrayal of floral landscapes continued, and flowers have been widely used in works of art throughout all significant periods of art history. 

Medieval art canvases were rich with flowers and teeming with plants and herbs. During this period, each and every flower and plant held its own specific meaning. Due to the fact that most people during the Medieval period were unable to read, artists chose to include plants and flowers in their artworks as a form of communication with the viewing public. The Medieval period was actually marked by the symbolic floral motifs which graced the famous canvases during this time. 

Pronounced artists during the Renaissance period also commonly portrayed flowers in their artworks. Renaissance artists were able to use flowers as both the main focal point of the piece as well as the backdrop for some of the most significant works of art in tempera on panel, oil on canvas, and fresco. Certain flowers were included as symbols to instruct religious followers for Renaissance artists who were commissioned to create triptychs, frescoes and altarpieces for the church, or possibly custom works of art for wealthy patrons.

One of the most renowned works of Renaissance art that features flowers is Botticelli’s “Primavera.” In this painting, a group of mythological figures are depicted in an orange grove with over 200 accurately painted plants. Botticelli’s “Primavera” was completed around the late 1470s or early 1480s, and is a large panel painting of tempera paint. 

The Renaissance era of art history has certainly come to a close, but flowers continue to appear in Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism, Pop Art, and Contemporary Ephemeral Art. 

This near-obsession with flowers is still apparent today. Along with breakthroughs in technology such as the film camera and digital cameras, the field of nature photography has sprung forth and captured the attention of amatuer and professional artists alike.

In Wet and Fresh by Lowe, Lowe has chosen to zoom in on the textures of nature, rather than the wide perspective found in a natural landscape. This technique is popular amongst nature photographers, especially cropping close to these textures in their natural habitat such as after a morning rain. The vibrant pinks found in the flower’s center slowly morph into a deep purple around the flower’s edges, like energy escaping a star. The audience can draw similarities from this photograph to images found in space like the Milky Way or the countless other galaxies, with the dew orbs mimicking planets, stars, or other celestial bodies navigating their way throughout our universe.

Kelli Lowe’s love for photography began at a young age. She grew up in the small town of Cassville, which is located in Southwest Missouri near the Mark Twain National Forest, and it is here that she first became enamored with nature and photography.

Nature photography covers a vast spectrum of photography that portrays the outdoors and displays the landscapes of nature including flowers, wildlife, plants, and naturally occurring phenomenon. Nature photography naturally tends to emphasize the aesthetic value of the photo more than other photography genres, because the content and challenge lies in finding these wonderful and visually-satisfying images in their natural context.

There is a whole new world waiting for you when you look closer. There is a world underneath the microscopic lens of your perception. Lowe, and nature photographers alike, seek to uncover this mysterious world.

Whether you are an aspiring photographer or an art collector in search of inspiring works or canvases to fill your home, Schmidt Fine Art Gallery is here to service you. We are a gallery for the artist by the artist. Our mission is to serve as the place for artists to simply sell art, without the overburdening of promotion, marketing and running a start-up business. We are committed to producing high-quality, museum grade products and timeless works of art that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

Wet and Fresh by Lowe is available in all sizes and formats.  You can pick your own frame, Finish, and finish on this piece in our customization shop.

Schmidt Gallery was founded by Kurt Schmidt with the vision to establish a photo-centric gallery in the heart of Montgomery county, Texas. Although it is all run online at the moment, Schmidt Gallery has dreams of opening up a brick and mortar gallery in The Woodlands just north of Houston. Schmidt Fine Art Gallery was founded in March 2020 as a startup funded by All ARK LLC.