During Immersion 2023 I fell in love with a pattern I created based on a native flower called Bee Balm. Even though I really like the motifs and pattern I felt there was something missing so I decided to rework it and create an entire collection based on the bee balm flower. Below is the original motifs and pattern I created during Immersion.
But I have bee balm in my garden and it started blooming. The flower is beautiful. I have the cultivar of Monarda fitulosa known as “Claire Grace.” When it started blooming I realized I needed to rework the motifs and the pattern.
Even though I loved the original I didn’t think it did this flower justice. So I started taking photos and studying all the intricate detail in the petals, stems and leaves. In short, I fell in love with this flower.
It still needs tweaking but I really love the direction I’m taking this. I prefer this color palette and adding the details in the leaves.