What is it that draws us to a specific flower at a particular time in our lives?  

For many years, my mother has grown a beautiful array of colourful single and double petunia flowers in terracotta pots on the sunny slate terrace outside her dining room window.   A couple of seasons ago, she grew some stunning magenta blooms, and I was smitten as soon as I saw them.  It was the colour that took my breath away, so vibrant and full of energy against the rich green foliage.  

Although I took many reference photo’s and cropped one for the home page of my laptop, it wasn’t until recently that I felt the desire to paint it.  It was as if it was waiting in hibernation until the moment arrived when I needed to use my paintbrush to express feelings I couldn’t put into words. 

Flowers can provide great personal insights when we are drawn to a certain bloom by its colour.  Like all material things, flowers are just bundles of vibrating energy at a subatomic level, and different colours vibrate at variable frequencies.  Similarly, the human body has thousands of energy pathways that intersect at seven key energy centres called chakras, the Sanskrit word for wheel, and each of these is aligned with a colour.  The rainbow begins with red at the base chakra located at the bottom of the spine, and moves through orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo to violet at the top of the head where the vibrations are at a much higher frequency.  

Each chakra is associated with certain emotions, behaviours and psychological states, and how harmoniously the energy is flowing within and between the chakras depends on how we are feeling, the influence of the emotional wounds that we carry, what is happening in our lives, who has ‘pressed our buttons’ and any number of other factors we might struggle to identify.  This will inevitably result in the bulk of our energy shifting from one chakra to another creating imbalance and instability in the system, a bit like the cargo on a ship shifting in a storm, running the risk of capsizing the vessel and causing it to sink unless we can rebalance it in time to prevent this occurrence. 

When we feel drawn to a particular flower, whether it’s by a ‘wow, that’s amazing’ feeling or ‘that’s so soft and lovely’ or ‘that makes me feel sad’, then it’s most likely resonating with the chakra within us that is either working overtime or the one that is struggling for energy to function, trying to alert us to the need to rebalance our energy and restore inner peace and harmony.  Looking at the deeper layers of meaning in the bloom can provide helpful insights to assist this process.

The magenta petunia in the painting speaks of the need to openly express to others what is deep within the heart, symbolised by magenta and green that are associated with the loving energy of the heart chakra, as well as the trumpet-shaped bloom opening wide at its mouth as if to speak, and being oriented slightly up and towards the right symbolising positive communication with others. The fluted petals seem to be moving, a reminder that life is constantly changing and the need to flow with it. 

The bloom also suggests the need for wholeness, integrating all aspects of the self, as the heart chakra links the upper and lower energy centres, and the colour magenta is created by mixing a tint of red with purple symbolising integration of the energy from all centres between the base and crown.  Its five heart-shaped petals are fused into one, reinforcing a sense of love and unity, and, in a number of cultures and spiritual traditions, five is considered to represent the centre, harmony and balance in the physical world as experienced through the five senses. 

A balanced heart is one that enables us to express unconditional love, forgive others and open ourselves to vulnerability, both our own and others.  In retrospect, these wise insights were exactly what I needed to successfully move through the conflict and disharmony in my personal life at the time I painted the bloom.  

Recently I happened to look at the reference photo I worked from and discovered that the magenta colour in the painting is warmer.  It seems like the very act of creating the artwork facilitated the inner change necessary for resolution of my conflict.  Aren’t flowers amazing?