Tag Archives: bouquets

Making Do: Tussie Mussies

watercolor fo two RAF bouquest

“Double Fun”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

I’m still working on Random Acts of Flowers paintings and sketches – there’s a steady stream of lovely bouquets to work with, and I’d love to be able to do them all!  Some recipient locations call for small bouquets (not a lot of room on a bedside table), and some days call for being able to stretch the limited number of donated flowers to reach all of the potential recipients.  (Interesting to note that brides try not to schedule weddings in Knoxville on football game weekends, so after a game, there aren’t as many flowers!)  Those are the days when volunteers rise to the occasion and come up with extra-creativity to use simple things like baby’s breath and a bit of ribbon, or maybe just two roses, to make delightful little “tussie mussies” or “nosegays”.

“Double Fun” above is an experiment in “loosening up”, not doing the usual detail I do over the watercolor base.  I kinda like it!  (I was tempted to paint in a couple of goldfish in the vases!)

“A Breath of Fresh Air” below, shows again how a vase can totally make the bouquet; this one looks like a tiny 1940’s vintage pitcher (maybe 4″ high?), possibly hand thrown but I didn’t get to check the bottom of it for details before it disappeared into the delivery van.  A few branches of some kind of shrubbery, a couple stems of baby’s breath, and voila – instant bouquet!

watercolor of baby's breath in pitcher

“A Breath of Fresh Air”, mixed media by Kerry McFall