The Gilded Bloom

Studio Archive Sale

2026-06-08T15:26:10.386-07:00

As I prepare for a new season of creative work, I’ve been looking back at the pieces that have filled my studio over the past decade. Some of these older paintings are "experiments"—stepping stones that helped me arrive at my current style. Others simply never found their way into a gallery show, yet they hold a special place in my journey.

I am hosting a Studio Archive Sale to clear out space, offering these unique, older, and "in-between" works at significant discounts, outside of my usual pricing structure. If you’ve ever wanted to own an original piece of my history—or grab a bargain on a smaller piece—this is your chance.

When: April 26- May 3rd, 2026
Where: www.gildedbloomstudio.com

Sneak peek: @gildedbloomstudio

Thank you for being part of my journey.

Hand Painted Floral Easter Eggs

2026-06-08T15:25:34.683-07:00

In the early part of the year, as the winter chill begins to fade and the garden remains bare, I am in the studio painting these heirloom-quality egg ornaments. Each is a unique work of art, hand-painted on an oblong glass ornament and finished with a crushed velvet ribbon. They look elegant tucked into baskets and bowls, or hung from freshly cut branches forced to blossom indoors.

Lilacs, daffodils, and Easter lilies are just a few of the flowers chosen to adorn these eggs, symbolizing spring’s beauty and rebirth.

Designed to be cherished year after year, these eggs make a thoughtful gift for a host, a meaningful addition to an Easter basket, or a unique way to celebrate a spring birthday.

These eggs are meant to be cherished keepsakes that grow in sentiment with every passing year. I invite you to bring a touch of the studio's spring quiet and creativity into your own home. Explore the collection and find the piece that speaks to your heart.

Hyacinths in Blue

2026-06-08T15:25:05.456-07:00

Delft Blue Hyacinths

I’ve been meaning to post these hyacinth photos for the longest time but life gets busy as you may know and the seasons pass. Delft blue is an unusual color for flowers but I love this crisp colorful hue in early spring. When these hyacinths bloom in their blue and white porcelain pot I know that spring on the back patio has officially begun!

Delft Blue Hyacinth Flower

Hyacinths are perennial bulbs which means they bloom year after year. They have a sweet and powerful scent which will fill any room when used as a cut flower.

Blue Hyacinth Flower Blooming

Magnificent Magnolias

2026-06-08T15:24:47.894-07:00

As spring approaches I find myself looking through the many floral and garden photos I’ve taken over the years. The star magnolia photos are some of my favorites because they symbolize the birth of spring to me and our magnolia tree is the first tree we purchased and planted for our home. Many years ago it it looked like a small twig and now it is a beautiful dwarf tree filled with velvety blossoms every March. This week it is starting to bloom and I have already begun my annual photos of its lovely flowers…

One might wonder why I photograph the same flowers year after year for my art photography instead of choosing something new. The answer is because the photographs are about atmosphere and light which is always changing. The subject of the tree is secondary although it provides a way for the viewer to connect with the image. The changes in weather and lighting are what make the photos unique and differentiate them from the work of previous years. Impressionist painters like Claude Monet also painted the same subject multiple times in order to study the effects of light. I am studying the expressive potential of light with the camera.

Garden Journal: Remnants of the Summer Garden

2026-06-08T15:24:32.048-07:00

Dahlia Bouquet

I’ve realized that I measure time in flowers, that each year is summarized in the form of a home grown bouquet. This season dahlias in a range of pinks and burgundy were most memorable and are still blooming beautifully now in late September.

Dahlias, Zinnias, and Celosia

Zinnias in shades of pink and wine appeared late in the season as did the pink celosia which is currently in the garden waiting to harvest along with a late crop of squash, tomatoes and many culinary herbs. The zinnias are Benary’s Giant Wine variety and have filled the garden beds with tall stalks of color.

Late Summer Bouquet of Zinnias, Sunflowers, Celosia, and Dahlias

Handpainted Ornaments

2026-06-08T15:24:03.074-07:00

The studio is bustling this month with the sound of holiday music playing as I paint a myriad of flowers on glass ball ornaments for gifts and for sale. It is a wonderful way to celebrate the season and make something special for friends and collectors.

This year’s ornament collection features dahlias and peonies on glass balls with velvet ribbons for hanging. Each ornament is a unique hand painted artwork and keepsake.

These little treasures are a joy to create and will make a memorable heirloom gift for the art collectors on your list. They are available now in my Etsy shop. Happy Holidays!

October Floral Arrangement

2026-06-08T15:23:32.853-07:00

Every year in nature has its own beauty and collecting flowers is one of my favorite ways to commemorate the change of seasons. This October our backyard garden is filled with floral shades of soft pink, magenta, orange and lime green, which provide lovely palette inspiration for artwork. I like to style these flowers not only to enjoy in our home, but also to photograph and make a lasting memory of what has grown and how the colors and textures work together. It is a very relevant part of this creative process.

October Arrangement of Cut Flowers

It is also a reminder of the bounty of the garden during this time of year, when the bougainvillea is still in full bloom and the dahlias and zinnias are creating a profusion of color in many containers. This bouquet is constructed of all homegrown flowers. It features cafe au lait dahlias, queen red lime zinnias, apricot blush zinnias, xsenia cosmos, starfire marigolds, rust chrysanthemums and bougainvillea. It is truly a microcosm of how the garden looks right now.

Queen Red Lime Zinnias

To create this arrangement, I used a hammered copper vessel that is a cherished artisan piece from Nepal. Because this vase is a collectors item, I didn’t want to fill it with water so I chose to line the interior with cheesecloth and then insert a plastic water bottle holding the flowers.

Garden Style Arrangment of Dahlias, Zinnias and Marigolds

Starting with foliage, I created the structure of the arrangment first then added the flowers for a balance of color. The robust blooms were assembled in the water bottle then dropped into the vase when the arrangement was complete. Voila!

Garden Floral in Nepalese Artisan Vase

Garden Journal: Gifts of the New Season

2026-06-08T15:23:05.701-07:00

The growing season here in California lasts well into the fall. In fact October is one of the most beautiful and fruitful times in the garden because the stifling high temperatures of summer are gone and the growth cycle begins again. We often find a surge of warm season edibles and flowers just as the first cool season vegetables start to sprout.

October Harvest of Zinnnias and Cherry Tomatoes

This is also the natural time for dahlias to bloom and create a gorgeous display of colorful flowers to paint throughout the fall.

Cafe au Lait Dahlia and Zinnias

We are currently pulling the last tomatoes from the vines and harvesting dahlias and zinnias daily while awaiting the ripening of pomegranates.

Greek Oregano and Dahlia

The Starfire marigolds fill in the garden beds protecting the vegetable harvest from insects and add a touch of orange.

Starfire Marigolds

Now the late season heirloom tomatoes are ripe and ready to harvest. It truly is a beautiful month in the garden!

Fall Art Collection

2026-06-08T15:22:40.587-07:00

I’m busy in the studio this summer creating floral paintings in a rich earthy palette for fall. This collection is inspired by the opulent tones found in nature in autumn when plums and burgundies, golds, oranges and smoldering browns decorate the earth for a season.

Many of these paintings feature voluminous peonies and dazzling dahlias from my own garden and our local flower farms.

The new collection will be available in October. If you are on the mailing list, you will soon be receiving a coupon code to use this fall in the shop! To subscribe, receive posts and updates via email please click here.

Painterly Peonies

2026-06-08T15:22:02.826-07:00

This exotic bouquet of burgundy and white peonies brought to me by a friend had such a unique combination of dark and light flowers that it immediately sparked an idea for a painting. I have been wanting to move toward a new color palette lately and these dramatic and earthy blooms seemed like the perfect way to experiment with heavier more opulent hues in my work.

Created with mixed media on paper, and accented with metallic gold highlights, this painting presents an impressionistic interpretation of the bouquet.

Although it was painted from life, I took many reference photos of the flowers for future artwork. Of course, there is nothing like painting from a living bouquet and these varieties would be a lovely addition to any garden. After researching their identity I found that the burgundy peony is likely a variety called Buckeye Belle and the white peony is called Festiva Maxima. They are sold as tubers and best planted in the fall.

Summer Garden Beds

2026-06-08T15:21:23.725-07:00

The garden this year is filled with experiments as I am learning to grow new varieties of flowers and vegetables. It has been a cool June in central California, so the yard is lush and green. Our elevated garden beds are packed with herbs and vegetables while most of the flowers are still in seed trays waiting to be planted for late summer blooms.

The combination of herbs and vegetables in these small elevated garden beds has proven to be helpful in deterring pests. Nasturtiums and parsley help keep the insects away while basil planted near tomatoes adds to their flavor.

Elevated wooden beds were chosen because they can be placed on the grass and easily moved or removed. While the weather was cool there were snow peas and many varieties of lettuce in the beds and now that it is warming up I’ve added tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and cantaloupe interplanted with a mix of different herbs.

Greek oregano is a staple in our kitchen during the spring and summer months. Its fresh herbal flavor is delicious with chicken. Light summer cooking is always enhanced with fresh herbs!

The Joy of Botanical Painting

2026-06-04T20:30:39.495-07:00

Creating botanical paintings is a joyful and rewarding process. It celebrates the beauty of something simple and abundant in nature while capturing the essence and individuality of flowers. Botanical paintings can be scientific and accurate or expressive explorations of plant forms.

As someone who likes to garden, I often source flowers to paint from my own backyard. These miniature “watercolor dahlias” are grown from seed. They are a dwarf heirloom variety and bloom in many colors. The small plants are lovely tucked into containers for a pop of summer color and are easy to gather and cut for bud vases to use in the studio.

Since I am interested in capturing color and expressive beauty in this painting, I began by looking at sample cards of different paint color mixes. After deciding on a color scheme that complements the hues of the dahlias, I then analyzed the shapes and patterns in the flowers and began to paint the blooms in a loose gestural way using watercolor. Details were then added with colored pencil for emphasis and visual texture.

The final painting reflects the flowing forms of these small dahlias, their rich saturated colors, and the patterns found in the petals.

Growing Cafe au Lait Dahlias

2026-06-04T20:23:36.402-07:00

Cafe au lait dahlias are cultivated for their beauty and stunning colors. They are often used in wedding bouquets and are well known for their unique, frilly petals and large size.

These dahlias are easy to grow in oversized pots if conditions are right. They need moist but well drained soil and morning sun. They also require support as the stems will not grow upright unless they are staked.

In the spring I planted a collection of tubers that feature three different versions of cafe au lait dahlias. One is a deep fuschia color, another is a variegated rose tone and the last is the classic creamy beige color. Each is stunning in its own way.

Although these flowers take months to bloom they are well worth the wait. They make elegant bouquets and arrangements and will fill the garden with a unique beauty in early autumn after all the summer flowers have finished blooming for the season.

Abundant Beauty

2022-06-19T15:41:00.003-07:00

“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep "- John Keats

The grandeur of the rose is timeless and it is one of my favorite early summer flowers. There are so many different varieties each with its own character, fragrance and unique color. In May and early June when our garden roses bloom they bring the most lovely scent and soft color.

The legendary beauty of the rose is celebrated in this piece. I was inspired by the elegance of old world floral designs which often include a profusion of roses. They were essential components in flower arrangements during the Victorian period when floral design was first recognized as a form of art.

"Abundant Beauty" is painted with acrylic on canvas, and is 24" x 24". For more information please click here.

Coral Charm Peonies

2022-04-24T22:09:00.006-07:00

The coral charm peony is one of the most fascinating late spring flowers. Over the course of just a few days, it transforms itself from an intense coral bud to a bright watermelon pink bloom then turns a soft apricot tone and finishes as a faded cream color. The blooms are large and lacy with many layers of petals and are stunning in arrangements.

Coral Charm peonies are herbaceous perennials and prefer full sun. They grow about 24" tall and 2-3 ft wide when mature. Peony plants often take a year or two to get established and usually produce few or no blooms the first year. In four or five years the plant will be fully mature and have many blooms if it receives enough sun and proper care.

Peonies form a lovely complement with ranunculus and snapdragons as they are all flowers that thrive in late spring. The round shape and large scale of the peony blooms overshadow the smaller ranunculus and the stalky snapdragons when arranged, but the three flowers together provide visual interest.

Observing the changing beauty of these flowers inspired me to create this acrylic painting on canvas, titled "Coral Charm". Additional information can be found here.

Daffodils of Spring

2022-04-04T21:32:00.007-07:00

It is that beautiful time of year again when the daffodils spring from the ground in honor of the season to come. The garden is starting its symphony of color and our pink charm daffodils have begun to naturalize. They add a touch of seasonal splendor before Easter arrives.

A vase filled with daffodils is always a joy. They make an elegant display and have a very soft fragrance. For longevity, it is best to keep only daffodils in the arrangement as their sticky sap will poison other flowers.

Daffodils make stunning cut flowers and there are so many types of specialty daffodils available to grow for bouquets. These were planted years ago and come up every spring as long as they receive an ample amount of sun and water.

They are beautiful when massed in a bud vase, placed on an accent table, or in an entryway where the subtle scent of spring will welcome guests.

Highlights of the Early Summer Garden

2021-06-30T22:03:00.001-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me when the seedlings I plant in the spring turn into so many beautiful flowers and vegetables by the summer. Some of my favorite floral varieties this season have been grown from seed along with our vegetable garden which is contained in elevated beds.

Since we have an abundance of seed-grown annuals, I often plant them in containers that hold other flowers. The heirloom pansies shown above are planted at the base of containers filled with bougainvillea.

The elevated beds are filled with many different varieties of vegetables. This season we are growing a mix of tomatoes, melons, eggplants, peppers, and cucumbers. In addition there are several more large pots of vegetable plants throughout the garden.

These orange calendula flowers were abundant in the patio garden until the heat arrived. They were then replaced with zinnias which tolerate much hotter temperatures.

Queen Red Lime Zinnias are one of my summer favorites. They grow in full sun and have the most amazing range of color!

Apricot Blush Zinnias are also a favorite and add a touch of brightness to the patio container garden. They grow beautifully in pots and bloom profusely in the sun.

Easter Morning...

2021-04-04T11:54:00.002-07:00

Wishing you all a happy and blessed Easter!

The Spring Splendor of Ranunculus

2021-03-30T23:34:00.002-07:00

This beautiful spring has brought with it an abundance of ranunculus. These early season flowers, also called Persian buttercups, are a joy to style. They not only have a lovely bloom, but usually feature a unique twist in the stem which adds a sense of movement to floral designs.

We are growing many white ranunculus flowers in the garden this spring, which are currently starting to bloom. In addition to those, my sweet hubby surprised me with a ranunculus delivery subscription that has kept our home filled with bountiful blooms over the last few weeks. I was thrilled to have so many beautiful varieties to paint and style and have selected a few favorites to add to the garden next year.

White ranunculus are timeless and a beautiful way to transition arrangements from winter to spring with a neutral palette. Here they are shown with silver dusty miller and white anemones from our garden.

The orange fringed variety above reminds me of a peony with so many layers of petals.

The unique magenta and green ruffled ranunculus above is the Italian Pon Pon Fanny. These vibrant blooms have a rustic texture and pair well with garden foliage and herbs.

Spring pink is always a favorite hue during the Easter season and these pop with color!

To learn more about the story of this lovely flower and how to grow them yourself see this previous post, Flower Spotlight: Ranunculus.

Winter Garden Delights

2021-01-30T23:10:00.002-08:00

The first month of the year brought an abundant winter garden harvest along with many cold and cozy days to relax inside. Here in central California the weather is usually mild, so it is possible to grow a culinary garden throughout the winter. This year, the focus has been on salad greens and citrus which grow and thrive in cooler weather. The Meyer lemons, blood oranges and limes have been bountiful.

Creating a cool season garden involves planning what you want to eat as well as how you want to access the garden on cold or rainy days. Since we like to harvest our salad greens right before they are served I keep several salad bowls filled with Mesclun lettuces on our outdoor table. These are easy access at dinner time as they are right by the kitchen door and one can step out, snip a handful and go right back to cooking. They are also cut and come again varieties, which means that when they are harvested, they grow back in a few weeks. The autumn pomegranates from our tree are being dried for use in arrangements.

Head lettuce like the ruby romaine shown above is grown in a raised bed.

French chervil is easy to grow in pots and can be placed in a windowsill or on a patio. Here freshly harvested key limes are staying cold on an outdoor shelf until they are used.

These ruffled pansies were a pleasant surprise as I planted seeds in the fall and they are now blooming! I am happy to see the first signs of spring approaching...

Pumpkin Spice Floral

2020-11-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby)

The beauty of autumn is now upon us as we settle in to the season with pumpkins on the porch and magnificently colorful leaves falling from the trees. Autumn has always been a favorite season of mine, and like Fitzgerald, I see it as a time of new beginnings. I always look forward to sweater weather, a pot of hot soup on the stove, planting bulbs in the garden, and of course, the quintessential taste of the season- pumpkin spice!

This fall bouquet of vivid orange zinnias, mixed with peachy-pink dahlias, blush lisianthus, and mustard yellow amaranth captures the mood of autumn with its spicy hues and rustic texture. It was a pleasure to style and also to paint!

A simple metallic gold vase highlights the warm colors in the bouquet and provides an opulent finish to complement the varied texture of the flowers.

Dahlias in a pale warm pink soften the bouquet with their ombre color and elegant rolled petals.

Bright orange zinnias add earthy texture and a pop of color. These traditional autumn hues remind me of pumpkin spice! Happy fall!

Autumn Berry and Burgundy Bouquet

2020-09-30T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last week I received this beautiful bouquet of pink sunflowers, zinnias, and burgundy amaranth to style and paint. The unique colors and striking patterns found in these flowers made them fascinating to photograph.

Styling the bouquet with hydrangeas and sprigs of green berries offset the pink tones in the flowers. The rich palette was enhanced by a wine colored vase.

The bright green color in this Queen Red Lime zinnia complemented the greens in the hydrangeas and the berries.

Next I rearranged the flowers and added silvery dusty miller for contrast. Then I began to paint!

A Fall Floral Treat

2020-09-23T18:09:00.000-07:00

Amazingly, autumn has already arrived with yesterday the official first day of fall! The summer garden is now in its final phases and I am clearing out debris of a successful vegetable harvest. However, with so many edibles planted this year, I miss the flowers that would usually fill our garden in the fall. I've found that although vegetables feed the body, flowers nourish the soul. So, you can imagine how happy I was to find Kelley Flower Farm offering a four-week floral subscription. I promptly signed up for the program, and last Friday these stunning blooms were delivered to our door!

Since I will be painting these flowers for a new collection of artworks, I styled two different arrangements with them and took a myriad of photos for future art reference. The first, in a rustic jug vase, is pictured below. To create the design I mixed the bouquet with hydrangea and foliage clippings from the garden for added texture.

These beautiful burgundy dahlias add depth to the arrangement with their dark rich color.

The apricot zinnias stretch from their stems adding a sense of movement to the design.

Finally, the sunflowers are clearly the stars of the show, with their large blooms and soft unusual color.

In the second arrangement I changed to a more formal vase to complement our current table setting with pumpkin plates and soft amber glassware.

I also used this arrangement to paint, which is one of my favorite ways to record the beauty of flowers.

I look forward to sharing my progress on this new collection of paintings from the beautiful flowers that arrive over the next few weeks! The paintings and prints of them will be available for purchase in my shop when the collection is complete.

Happy Fall!

Summer Vegetable Garden

2020-08-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

This summer we have been focused on growing fruit, vegetables and herbs in the garden instead of flowers. It is a big change as you know I love the flower cutting garden, but this season I wanted to experiment with growing fresh produce and learning how to cultivate interesting edibles from seed.

As we have a suburban home that is landscaped with many trees and very little full sun, it was a challenge to find a way to integrate the edible garden, but many of our vegetables found a home in pots on the sunniest parts of the patio and in other containers throughout the yard. Here is a large zucchini plant nestled near the plant rack filled with greenery and herbs.

For fun we added this garden bed to a section of the lawn that receives full sun. The elevated style of bed was chosen so the grass would continue to grow beneath and it proved to be more resistant to pests and easy to tend as well. Inside we are growing cantaloupe, bush beans, more zucchini and cucumbers on the trellis at one end.

Growing from seed provides more options for unusual and gourmet vegetable varieties. This is a Persian Baby Cucumber called "Green Fingers" from Renee's Garden Seed Company, where I purchased many of my seeds this spring.

These container snap peas called "Little Crunch" peas make a delicious addition to the early summer menu and also can be eaten straight from the garden!

Soon to be harvested are these mini Sugar Cube Cantaloupes. They are personal-sized melons that grow in containers. We have some in the garden bed and a few more pots trellised throughout the yard with melons hanging from their vines. Looking forward to this special treat!

Of course no vegetable garden is complete without a few sunflowers to draw pollinators and add color. This year I planted Autumn Beauty sunflowers from Ferry-Morse Seed Company. They are lovely and have been in bloom for about a month with no signs of slowing down. Miniature eggplants, peppers and a few mini pumpkins to line the windowsills in October are also growing. The garden is always full of seasonal surprises!

Valley Snow

2020-04-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

I hope you are all well and staying healthy at home during this challenging time. These photos are a bit overdue, but I'd still like to share them with you as I know many are struggling to find peace in these troubled times while adapting to a new lifestyle of being indoors. I hope I have captured the serenity I experience in nature, and that it will bring you a moment of joy and a glimpse into a beautiful world that you can see on your screen if not outside your window.

Every spring I photograph these orchards near my home and even though the almond trees are the same the pictures are always different.

Some years are filled with bright blue skies peeking through the canopy of trees, and others with green grasses from rain in the orchards.

This spring was a majesty of white petals, like snow on the ground of wonderland...