Just like two peas in a pod, flowers and painting go together

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Artwork by Sarah French. — Photo by Yoojin Cho

A beautiful flower arrangement with vibrant colors and different shapes can attract attention fairly easily. When a floral arrangement stands next to an artwork, complementing the masterpiece, it’s much harder not to miss such a combination.

On Friday evening at the Old Mill in West Tisbury, flowers matched with paintings lined the walls of the historic building during Martha’s Vineyard Garden Club’s bi-annual Bloomin’ Art Show.

The MV Garden Club invited guests to the opening reception of this weekend-long show to let them see how flowers can enhance the display of a painting.

Nancy Cabot, one of the arrangers, said, inspiration for a show like this came from prominent museums, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Often, art museums utilize flowers or other aesthetically pleasing items to make the display of an art piece more interesting.

Volunteers from the Garden Club each took home a picture of a painting or a sculpture submitted by local artists, and for a month, they brainstormed what kind of flowers and vase they could use to not only compliment the artwork, but also embody the arrangers’ interpretation of the work.

MV Garden Club member Laurisa Rich focused on the colors of the painting she received. Burnt orange and red colors in a circular pattern, for Ms. Rich, symbolized the relationship between the nature and people.

Another arranger and also President of the Garden Club, Cathy Minkiewicz, said she wanted to bring out the horizontal stripes, which illustrated the sunset.

Judith Bryant, past president of the Garden Club, said, 29 volunteers signed up to be flower arrangers this year.

Ms. Bryant said, she encouraged the volunteers to use local flowers from their own gardens and simply have fun.

Local artists who submitted their work said, they loved seeing how others interpreted their pieces, and the venue for the show also meant a lot to them.

“I just love the building and a piece of history that’s here,” Artist Sarah French said.

Artist Hermine Hull said, “It’s fascinating. I love the idea of having interpretations of two different artists, and especially when [the arrangers] write about the painting, it’s very interesting.”