Monches Farm was honored to once again join Milwaukee Art Museum’s ‘Art in Bloom’, April 8th-11th. This exciting event pairs area floral designers with pieces of art from MAM’s collection and asks that the florists interpret the art in flowers. It is a challenging but enjoyable endeavor. In addition to the floral creations on display throughout the weekend there were seminars and lectures offered on a variety of garden related topics. It’s a great way to spend a day in early spring – taking in art and flowers all at once!

This year our floral designer, Johanna Kleckner, interpreted an oil on canvas painted by William Adolphe Bouruereau in 1874 entitled ‘Homer & His Guide’. This is a classical piece and Johanna mirrored the simplicity of the piece with a minimalistic selection of flowers. She used white Calla Lilies arranged in a vertical design to echo the white gown that Homer wears and incorporated a wooden armature to represent the support given to Homer by the young guide. The arid landscape portrayed in the painting is represented by a simple stone container and the flash of bright color on the right side of the painting is replicated with similar color in the floral design.