Flower Power

I have recently moved with my husband to the small village of Disley, right on the edge of The Peak District. Every year, there’s a local show displaying the horticultural and creative talents of the residents.

We were but newbies to the area when we attended it last year. However, this time around, I thought I’d join in. There was an art section and the theme of Flower Power. I didn’t have anything in my portfolio which fit, so I drew something specifically for it.

One of the main attractions in Disley is the National Trust’s Lyme Park and Lyme Hall (famous for Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy emerging from the pond in a scene from Pride & Prejudice). Within the park sits a lone building, like a folly, known as The Cage. It’s very well known and an easily identifiable landmark.

That, I thought, would have to be included. Regards the Flower Power theme, I was thinking about famous horror films with plants. Which lead me to finding inspiration from The Little Shop of Horrors and Audrey 2.

I had the idea that within The Cage, this man eating plant grew and grew until it burst out of the top. I had also wanted to draw in some tourists and deer which you always see around this attraction. I even savoured the idea of the plant chowing down on them and grasping them in it’s tendrils. However, the show is a family friendly event. Not the place to be too gruesome, no matter how cute I made it.

I drew my piece, had it printed on canvas and on the eve of the show, turned up and submitted it. It was a digitally drawn piece, printed. Not watercolour, acrylics or pencil, the traditional mediums you see at such an event. I had an inkling it would be deemed “not proper art” but thanks for taking part.

Anyway, the day came, hubby & I walked into the hall where the creative entries had been judged. Rounded the corner where I had propped up my entry and there was a little red card sitting in front of it. Not then rejected, as I thought it would be (though I was proud of it and would have argued it belonged there as much as anyone else’s). It had been awarded first prize.

I was shocked. Delighted yes. But shocked nonetheless.

I was confident enough to submit something I thought wouldn’t be typical or even acceptable. Something which stood out as different and possibly looked down on. Even if it was completely rejected, I liked it. It was what I’d want to see. And to discover that instead of having to walk away assuring myself I had made something worthy even though everyone else looked at me in pity (I have an active “worst case scenario” imagination) - that I was going to now leave with a certificate declaring best in show. Well, I was, I think I’ve already mentioned, shocked.

It is now hanging up in our home, where it gives me a buzz of joy when I see it. Maybe next year, I’ll add some of that gruesome gore and shock value to my entry and then find myself drummed out of the village by outraged locals :D xx