i do not photograph flowers...

Fort Wayne has this thing, this unhealthy liking towards art containing flowers.

• "bugs on flowers"
• "babies with/on/in flowers"
• "flowers in vases on tables"
• "bugs on flowers with babies"

the list and combination continues. and so does the making of this cliche [fort wayne] art.

why do i write such harsh words about your beloved flowers? i must hate flowers, and stomp on them/squish them every chance i get. but the reality is, i love flowers. love the way they look, smell and feel. the way that a small lonely yellow flower wanting to be picked and appreciated can brighten the day, or how a bucket of twenty variations of flowers picked by a friend can make many rooms happy. i love flowers. this thing, this unhealthy liking towards art containing flowers is the problem. not that all art involving flowers is bad or that every photograph of a flower has no value. the truth is that i'm an artist living in fort wayne, trying to sell my own art, and all people want to buy are images of "bugs on flowers." how sad. the lack of content hurts my photographic heart. the market here to sell art is so small and specific and suffocating.

so what does an artist who feels led to create imagery with content other than flowers do? leave fort wayne? hold the mayor hostage until he passes a law that everyone must buy michelle diller's artwork instead of bugs on flowers?...interesting idea. as i and fellow artists facing the same problem trudge onward, trying to break down the barriers of this silly market, i encourage you to buy local. buy good, local, content-filled art. yes.

and to those of you who stopped reading paragraphs ago because i insulted you, no need to go home, feeling ashamed of your flower art purchases. don't tear them off the wall in a fury. i'm just on my soap box...getting down now. and although i sometimes even despise photos of flowers, they can sometimes be beautiful and lovely and have their own special meaning to you.

so here are a few of my own photographs of flowers, although "i do not photograph flowers," taken in Giverny, France at Monet's Gardens.





until you read again,
michelle