Florilegia means "a gathering of flowers" in Latin.

This series of floral illuminations was inspired by the Vanitas of Dutch Golden Age Masters and early botanicals but specifically grows out of the Victorian language of flowers. To the Victorians, each flower conveyed a specific meaning such as, faith, hope or fidelity. I explore these references in my mixed media assemblage paintings. Each work contains an antique, hand colored, magic lantern slide which is built into the canvas covered board and illuminated from behind. Onto this base I’ve layered elements of collage, found objects, paint and pattern, creating visual and conceptual depth. At times whimsical and reaching, these paintings are a playful expression of a flower’s spirit as seen through a kaleidoscope of associated meanings and symbolism.

The Hyacinth symbolizes sport and rashness in the Victorian lexicon of flowers. The classic story goes that Zephyrus was so jealous of Apollo and Hyacinth's love that he threw or blew a discus striking the mortal dead. Apollo in his grief turned Hyacinth into a flower. Ovid has said that it was Apollo's tears that turned the hyacinth blue. Here the canvas is covered in a Greek key design and laurel wreaths while Apollo's tears are raining down amongst the golden discus in which drawings of Hyacinth and Zephyrus are lifted from a Greek kylix circa 490 BC.