Are you a flower person or a flour person?: How flowers and baked goods can inspire your work

Images by: Lois Dodd, Piet Mondrian, Wayne Thiebaud, Chardin. 

Can we challenge you to a month of drawing, painting, or collage from the spring flowers you are tending or enjoying? Or from the baked deliciousness, you may be enjoying even more? How many ways can you push your work? 

Take a look online at flower inspired artwork from centuries past: the Villa Livia frescoes in Rome, Dutch flower paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries, the magnificent floral works of Van Gogh, Manet, Mondrian, Morris Graves, Jane Freilicher, Lois Dodd -- and so many more. Here are a few readings to inspire you:

• 'How Flowers Blossomed Into One of Art History's Most Popular Subjects' by Kelly Richman-Abdou, My Modern Met 

• 'Considering Flowers' by Larry Groff, Painting Perceptions Blog

• '(Don't) Be Here Now' by artist Susan Abbott

If you are a baker, there is also so much to look at - like the fantastic cakes and pies paintings by Wayne Thiebaud and Chardin's masterful Brioche (above).