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The Power of Flowers: Turning Pieces of Mother Nature into Transformative Works of Art
A charming exploration of imagination and possibility.
Creating stunning yet fleeting works of art, artist Vicki Rawlins of Sister Golden defies the notion that art should be permanent. Using only the natural world and its gifts as her medium, Vicki forages for her materials and arranges them into stunning works of art. Equipped with just scissors and tweezers, and using gravity as her glue, Vicki creates magical scenes and detailed portraits out of twigs, leaves, and flowers. After documenting her finished piece with a photo, she gifts her materials back to Mother Nature, or repurposes them in her next creation. The process is therapeutic, and the possibilities are endless!
This radiant book is here to bring inspiration and creativity to your home. Within these pages you’ll find a striking kaleidoscope of works including:
•Famous faces, like Frida Kahlo, John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr., Diana Ross, and more
•Whimsical scenes featuring blooming gardens, moonlit forests, seaside cottages, and woodland animals.
•Seasonal pieces inspired by the magic of the holidays
•Contemplative art reflecting love, inner strength, and positive energy.
With her uniquely imaginative artistic vision, Vicki takes you deeper into her world by sharing her process, her sustainable approach to art, and anecdotes about what inspired her to create. Let yourself get lost in the magic of The Power of Flowers.
Creating stunning yet fleeting works of art, artist Vicki Rawlins of Sister Golden defies the notion that art should be permanent. Using only the natural world and its gifts as her medium, Vicki forages for her materials and arranges them into stunning works of art. Equipped with just scissors and tweezers, and using gravity as her glue, Vicki creates magical scenes and detailed portraits out of twigs, leaves, and flowers. After documenting her finished piece with a photo, she gifts her materials back to Mother Nature, or repurposes them in her next creation. The process is therapeutic, and the possibilities are endless!
This radiant book is here to bring inspiration and creativity to your home. Within these pages you’ll find a striking kaleidoscope of works including:
•Famous faces, like Frida Kahlo, John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr., Diana Ross, and more
•Whimsical scenes featuring blooming gardens, moonlit forests, seaside cottages, and woodland animals.
•Seasonal pieces inspired by the magic of the holidays
•Contemplative art reflecting love, inner strength, and positive energy.
With her uniquely imaginative artistic vision, Vicki takes you deeper into her world by sharing her process, her sustainable approach to art, and anecdotes about what inspired her to create. Let yourself get lost in the magic of The Power of Flowers.
208 pages, Hardcover
Published September 13, 2022
3 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Vicki Rawlins
2 books1 followerVicki Rawlins is an artist living and creating between the lush woods of Door County, WI and the seaside town of La Jolla, CA. Both terrains provide equally beautiful, but vastly different foliage for her artwork made from 100% Mother Nature. With this artform, her paints are twigs and petals, and her paintbrush is a pair of tweezers and scissors. While Vicki has explored many mediums, including oil and watercolor painting, throughout her 50+ years as an artist, it was only 7 years ago that she began borrowing from the earth to create detailed botanical pieces.
The catalyst for her latest exploration in mediums is a life changing turn of events that begins with a prescribed round of a common antibiotic. One that leaves her with debilitating pain. Her journey to navigate a new normal in a new body leads her down a path of meditation, evolution, inspiration, and surrender. Flower art showed up for her when she needed it the most, revealing to her the true power of flowers.
When Vicki’s not creating art in her studio, she plays the role of co-founder of Sister Golden alongside her daughter Brooke. Their home & lifestyle store in Fish Creek, WI houses the work of independent artists and artisans from around the world. Naturally, part of the shop is a dedicated gallery space for Vicki’s flower work. Sister Golden is also very engaged online both at sistergolden.com and @sistergoldenshop.
Vicki’s work has been featured by What Women Create, Spirituality & Health Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Martha Stewart, and Buzzfeed. You can find her pieces hung in homes around the globe.
The catalyst for her latest exploration in mediums is a life changing turn of events that begins with a prescribed round of a common antibiotic. One that leaves her with debilitating pain. Her journey to navigate a new normal in a new body leads her down a path of meditation, evolution, inspiration, and surrender. Flower art showed up for her when she needed it the most, revealing to her the true power of flowers.
When Vicki’s not creating art in her studio, she plays the role of co-founder of Sister Golden alongside her daughter Brooke. Their home & lifestyle store in Fish Creek, WI houses the work of independent artists and artisans from around the world. Naturally, part of the shop is a dedicated gallery space for Vicki’s flower work. Sister Golden is also very engaged online both at sistergolden.com and @sistergoldenshop.
Vicki’s work has been featured by What Women Create, Spirituality & Health Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Martha Stewart, and Buzzfeed. You can find her pieces hung in homes around the globe.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
September 9, 2022
The colours and the creativity!!!
The team does it again!
The cover is rather too plain for the contents I would say!
Get surprised with the many ways you can get creative with just flowers, the petals and the leaves.
It's autumn and it's time to create and recreate!
Go for this. Get ready for the eye popping contents.
Real pictures. Rare art. Amazing flower rearrangements. You are in for a treat!
Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group - Rock Point, for the advance reading copy.
The team does it again!
The cover is rather too plain for the contents I would say!
Get surprised with the many ways you can get creative with just flowers, the petals and the leaves.
It's autumn and it's time to create and recreate!
Go for this. Get ready for the eye popping contents.
Real pictures. Rare art. Amazing flower rearrangements. You are in for a treat!
Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group - Rock Point, for the advance reading copy.
November 16, 2022
Wild art at its purest!
Everyone knows the regular art forms that can often be found in museums like paintings, sculptures, …
Although really loving these, I'm also very much drawn to lesser known ones.
Have you ever heard of Skullmapping, shadowology, beach art, infinity rooms, … ?
These are just some of my favourite alternative art forms.
And now I've discovered a new one: foliage art!
For a little over seven years Vicki Rawlins (° 1960) has been creating art with gathered foliage.
Twigs, leaves, flowers, pine cones, … everything that can be found in nature is turned into amazing temporary portraits and sceneries by this extremely talented artist.
And once she's finished a masterpiece? A photograph is taken and Vicki gives everything back to nature where it belongs.
There are só many talented artists whose works aren't exposed in a museum, while that should be the case.
Vicki Rawlins is definitely one of them and it would've been a real shame if the rest of the world couldn't savour the beauty of her creativity.
That's why a very big thank you is in order here to Vicki's daughter Brooke!
Because she recognized this beauty and deciding to share it with the outer world, she became the driving force to promote her mother's artwork. She came up with the idea of an online artwork store and thus Sister Golden was born. In the beginning they started by selling prints of the watercolor paintings Vicki used to make. But as she became obsessed by foliage art due to serious health problems, this art form became increasingly important.
And guess what? Today they not only have their online business, but they have a thriving brick and mortar store in Fish Creek neighbouring the Peninsula State Park in Door County (Wisconsin) as well. Should I ever travel to the USA and be in the neighbourhood, I'll make sure to pop in.
Anyway, all I've been doing until now is talking about this amazing foliage art.
But a picture says more than a thousand words 😉
So, let's take a look, all the while keeping in mind that there's no glue, marker or anything else used.
What you see is pure nature!
On the website of Sister Golden you can click on 'flower art' to see prints, greeting cards, a 2023 calendar and this book.
The best introduction are definitely the prints which you can see here.
Although the book mainly consists of pictures, there's also an introduction in which you learn more about how Vicki started with this art form and how she proceeds.
Here and there she shares some details about how a specific artwork came to be and sometimes she also offers a glimpse of pieces at different times in their progress.
If you'd like to watch a short movie to showcase a part of the artwork or if you want to read interesting interviews with Vicki Rawlins and her daughter Brooke in which you can see even more amazing pictures, you're also welcome to head over to my blog World of Tau.
If one would ask me which picture I like best, it would be an impossible choice to make because each and every artwork is truly beautiful.
There are cosy and dreamy sceneries like Fireside friends and Stargazers.
Or fascinating animals like Succulent hummingbird or Owl you need is love.
And lots of portraits. Some are from famous people like Frida Kahlo or Einstein. Others aren't famous, but nevertheless breathtaking like Sophie.
The portraits that reflect most of my own personality are Free spirit and Wild heart which is probably why those really spoke to me.
And then there's a portrait that says it all: Be someone's sunshine.
Vicki Rawlins, you sure let the sun shine in the lives of many admirers.
Keep up the good work!
Signed by your new fan from Belgium,
Tau
*Thanks to NetGalley and Rock Point (imprint of the Quarto Publishing Group) for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 4, 2022
I received an ARC of this ebook by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.
The Power of Flowers is a coffee table book that features photographs of Vicki Rawlins' artwork. She forages and uses plants, flowers, leaves, twigs, grasses, etc. in order to create impermanent images, in a similar vein to Tibetan sand mandalas. The artwork is meant to be temporary, but the journey is what matters. There are tidbits in the book written by Rawlins, describing her methods and how she discovered this medium.
As is the case with most artists, there are pieces that are more to my taste than others. But I generally enjoyed going through the book and seeing what Rawlins could achieve with things a lot of people dismiss as the mundane. It's interesting, this book reminds me of another ARC book I received about a year ago called Hello Rainbow.
Hello Rainbow is all about color therapy and gives tips on how to be more present in your everyday life through actively looking and taking note of the different colors you encounter throughout the day. I'd say The Power of Flowers provides another method of being present on a day-to-day basis, by encouraging you to look at the flora around you and really taking note of the colors, textures, etc. of the leaves in your driveway or the flowers blooming in a bush next to a restaurant that you visited.
I give The Power of Flowers 3.5 stars rounded up.
The Power of Flowers is a coffee table book that features photographs of Vicki Rawlins' artwork. She forages and uses plants, flowers, leaves, twigs, grasses, etc. in order to create impermanent images, in a similar vein to Tibetan sand mandalas. The artwork is meant to be temporary, but the journey is what matters. There are tidbits in the book written by Rawlins, describing her methods and how she discovered this medium.
As is the case with most artists, there are pieces that are more to my taste than others. But I generally enjoyed going through the book and seeing what Rawlins could achieve with things a lot of people dismiss as the mundane. It's interesting, this book reminds me of another ARC book I received about a year ago called Hello Rainbow.
Hello Rainbow is all about color therapy and gives tips on how to be more present in your everyday life through actively looking and taking note of the different colors you encounter throughout the day. I'd say The Power of Flowers provides another method of being present on a day-to-day basis, by encouraging you to look at the flora around you and really taking note of the colors, textures, etc. of the leaves in your driveway or the flowers blooming in a bush next to a restaurant that you visited.
I give The Power of Flowers 3.5 stars rounded up.
September 7, 2022
Open this book and you will find page after page of gorgeous art created by the author with flowers, twigs, leaves and things you usually find in your garden. I must say it’s quite new to me and I was quite amazed at how creative she is. What amazes me even more is that after all that work and some photographs, the ingredients are all taken back to the garden.
My favourites are the ones made with colorful flowers, and those portraits with twigs and flowers are really beautiful.
I do wish there are some step by step instructions for those of us who want to try some of this form of art with her guidance. So this book is more for inspiration, and admiration. Great for those who have easy access to a garden or land with these art supplies.
4 stars from me.
My favourites are the ones made with colorful flowers, and those portraits with twigs and flowers are really beautiful.
I do wish there are some step by step instructions for those of us who want to try some of this form of art with her guidance. So this book is more for inspiration, and admiration. Great for those who have easy access to a garden or land with these art supplies.
4 stars from me.
September 19, 2022
Beautiful coffee table book! I’ve seen Vicks Dawkins artwork on social media before and thought “how cool”, but had no idea how many pieces she had created and the diversity. It’s a gorgeous book to flip through.
Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ebook ARC!
Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ebook ARC!
June 10, 2023
I fell in love with stunning works of art by Vicki Rawlins on Instagram and immediately ordered her book. If you are an artist of any kind, or just love nature, you need this book in your life. Packed full on inspiration, each work of art will leave you in awe.
…and now I must frolic through a forrest, foraging for unexpected foliage and (try) and create a Rawlins inspired work of art. 🌿🍁🍃✨
…and now I must frolic through a forrest, foraging for unexpected foliage and (try) and create a Rawlins inspired work of art. 🌿🍁🍃✨
November 13, 2024
I LOVE her work!
December 15, 2025
Beautiful work resulting in amazing pictures. Love this book.
May 26, 2023
I read this book in one go. Because there is not much to "read" but this book is to see , to be inspired and to create. And honesty, I just witnessed some of the best artworks I have seen in my life.
Now, before anybody comes at me with 'you call this one of the best? You have not seen this person called..." no. No, I mean I really have not seen much of anybody making these types of art. I am not an artistic person. My only prowess at art is to observe some object and the try to recreate that on paper. And the object has have some straight lines which I find easier to draw than the curved lines.
Vicki Rawlins showed me a complete different world of art called "foliage art". She forages the forests, gardens and any part of vegetation she finds to gather the materials of her art which are often flowers. And she creates arts with them and using mixed media. Vicki talks about her hardships with health and how foliage art gave her a new life almost which is inspiring to read. I loved the Frida Kahlo arts.
The books could have given some more tips on how to start the foliage arts as a newbie. I would have liked to know and how to try to preserve the arts but she doesn't preserve them. After creating and taking some of photographs, she takes them away giving back to the flora to the mother nature. Interesting again.
This book is not for everyone. If you think that you can learn new art form with tips and tricks, please don't buy this. But if you are someone who like to discover new things and love to collect books on art, this books should be in your collection. For the mesmerizing arts in every page, I will give this book a solid 4 star out of 5.
Now, before anybody comes at me with 'you call this one of the best? You have not seen this person called..." no. No, I mean I really have not seen much of anybody making these types of art. I am not an artistic person. My only prowess at art is to observe some object and the try to recreate that on paper. And the object has have some straight lines which I find easier to draw than the curved lines.
Vicki Rawlins showed me a complete different world of art called "foliage art". She forages the forests, gardens and any part of vegetation she finds to gather the materials of her art which are often flowers. And she creates arts with them and using mixed media. Vicki talks about her hardships with health and how foliage art gave her a new life almost which is inspiring to read. I loved the Frida Kahlo arts.
The books could have given some more tips on how to start the foliage arts as a newbie. I would have liked to know and how to try to preserve the arts but she doesn't preserve them. After creating and taking some of photographs, she takes them away giving back to the flora to the mother nature. Interesting again.
This book is not for everyone. If you think that you can learn new art form with tips and tricks, please don't buy this. But if you are someone who like to discover new things and love to collect books on art, this books should be in your collection. For the mesmerizing arts in every page, I will give this book a solid 4 star out of 5.
April 30, 2023
I've admired this artist's work as I've come across photographs of various pieces online, and I was excited to be able to look at a whole book of her creations. The scenes are sweet and nostalgic, and the portraits creative and fun. The author shares some of her history with a health crisis and the way working with nature helped restore her. It's somewhat disappointing that live plant creations are difficult to preserve or share other than from a photo. I was surprised to learn that she doesn't use any adhesive but just freely lays down the pieces of plant matter in her composition (careful to have no fans or open windows). There's not much in the way of tutorials or instruction, but the artist shares a paragraph or two of her thoughts about each artwork or series of art pieces. The variety of matter is inspiring and I loved the contrasts of colors and textures. A wonderful source of inspiration for foraging and creating!
Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.
Disclosure statement: A complimentary copy of this book was provided from a tour group, publisher, publicist, or author, including NetGalley, OR was borrowed from the library, including OverDrive, OR borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, OR purchased. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are unbiased and my own.
September 9, 2022
This is an incredible coffee table sort of book featuring truly amazing art created completely with flowers and other natural materials. The cover does not do it justice. It’s brimming with pieces showing portraits, houses, animals, landscapes, you name it. They are stunning— gorgeous, whimsical and incredibly well done. Portraits include Frida Kahlo, Iris Apfel, Einstein and Diana Ross, plus oodles more. It’s truly a must see.
Note that this is not a craft book. You don’t get instructions to do this yourself. That would have been nice. This is truly just an art book to look through and marvel at, but it’s an excellent one.
I read a temporary digital arc of this book for review.
Note that this is not a craft book. You don’t get instructions to do this yourself. That would have been nice. This is truly just an art book to look through and marvel at, but it’s an excellent one.
I read a temporary digital arc of this book for review.
September 19, 2022
I have been an admirer of Vicki’s work with flowers, leaves, twigs and bark to some time. Being a native California, currently living and gardening in Wisconsin, I am especially interested in the plants she has found to use in her artwork, many of which she identifies in her accompanying text. The story of how her artwork evolved into working with nature’s gifts that are ultimately returned to the earth where they originated is inspiring. How wonderful that she and her daughter have worked together to create a business together selling handmade crafts, including her own, in Door County. It’s time to make to visit soon!
September 4, 2022
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a beautiful book! Rawlins uses leaves, branches, and other pieces of nature to create beautiful works of art! This book is a collection of pictures of some of her work covering beautiful portraits of Frida Kahlo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and others as well as picturesque landscapes and designs. Rawlins talks a bit about how she got started and encourages others to see the artistry in nature. I was hoping for a bit more of a how-to from this book, but it's a nice coffee table read.
This is a beautiful book! Rawlins uses leaves, branches, and other pieces of nature to create beautiful works of art! This book is a collection of pictures of some of her work covering beautiful portraits of Frida Kahlo, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and others as well as picturesque landscapes and designs. Rawlins talks a bit about how she got started and encourages others to see the artistry in nature. I was hoping for a bit more of a how-to from this book, but it's a nice coffee table read.
September 9, 2022
I clearly did not read the description properly. but boy am I glad I didn't! As i would not have gone for this type of book normally. however this artist is incredible! Each work of art is so beautiful and the detailing is insane!
Then add the fact they are all made from plants and earth, makes it Phenomenal ! So talented! And very inspirational, but even I enjoyed looking at these beautiful pictures, I won't be starting this myself very soon, as I don't think I'm artistic enough for this.
Then add the fact they are all made from plants and earth, makes it Phenomenal ! So talented! And very inspirational, but even I enjoyed looking at these beautiful pictures, I won't be starting this myself very soon, as I don't think I'm artistic enough for this.
November 9, 2022
A bouquet of beautiful botanical art! The book features themed chapters that illustrate the depth of possibilities with floral art. The author discusses her inspirations and how she got started with the medium. However, after inspiring readers with her art, it would have been nice to have more information on the tools needed to get started or a complete walkthrough of the creation for one of the projects.
September 9, 2022
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book is inspiring and beautiful. It's whimsical and fun it would make a great coffee book table because it would provide hours of conversation. I think my favorite part of the book was the happiest of holidays section it's so charming.
This book is inspiring and beautiful. It's whimsical and fun it would make a great coffee book table because it would provide hours of conversation. I think my favorite part of the book was the happiest of holidays section it's so charming.
September 12, 2022
This book was an absolute joy to look through!
It is a collection of art works created using only natural components eg flowers and twigs.
The talent of Vicky Rawlins is immense and very inspiring.
There is no guidance in how to create similar works which is perhaps a missed opportunity but I really enjoyed the book anyway.
It is a collection of art works created using only natural components eg flowers and twigs.
The talent of Vicky Rawlins is immense and very inspiring.
There is no guidance in how to create similar works which is perhaps a missed opportunity but I really enjoyed the book anyway.
September 13, 2022
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
A charming book! Flowers are also my passion, and this author understands the attraction and the creation of beautiful dry flower projects. My favorite is the Frida Kahlo section, so many different looks for her! Well worth taking a look at!
A charming book! Flowers are also my passion, and this author understands the attraction and the creation of beautiful dry flower projects. My favorite is the Frida Kahlo section, so many different looks for her! Well worth taking a look at!
July 7, 2023
Gorgeous doesn’t even begin to describe the inside of this book as this is truly a work of art. While the art is what truly shines, it does discuss the artist, discussing both her history and her craft/process. It makes for an interesting read that is as cozy and comforting as it is informative and breathtaking.
September 10, 2022
Stunningly beautiful art created with bits of leaves and flowers and other nature ephemera. Very inspiring and it makes you want to create some beautiful art yourself.
October 29, 2022
Even if you didn’t read a single word in this book, the joy from the author and all the pictures included. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
November 7, 2023
A strikingly beautiful book that celebrates the natural world and the healing powers of its organic matter.
December 1, 2023
Wow, just wow 🤩❣️❤️🤗
Loved the beauty of mother nature captured in this art 🙏
Full of soul ⭐💕
So creative and priceless 😍
You inspire me to create my flower book 🌹
Loved the beauty of mother nature captured in this art 🙏
Full of soul ⭐💕
So creative and priceless 😍
You inspire me to create my flower book 🌹
July 5, 2024
A health challenge became the impetus for this artist to seek a new way to express her creativity. Her artwork is amazing and her story, though briefly told, is inspiring.
July 8, 2024
Absolutely inspiring. Loved it. 😍
June 8, 2025
Went to her gallery in door county. Couldn’t decide which piece to buy so got them all in this book. Truly a masterpiece love her work!
June 23, 2025
The foliage art is absolutely beautiful to look at. Ths simple and intricate details of the pieces in the book are visually inspiring. I'm very happy I have this bookin my book collection.
June 10, 2023
This was a lovely, and so so inspiring book! It's filled to the brim with beautiful pictures of even more beautiful art works made entirely from foraged materials and buckets of imagination and talent. This has given me so much inspiration and made my fingers itch with the need to try it out for myself.
Thank you to NetGalley and Rock Point for the ARC and the opportunity to review this beautiful art book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Rock Point for the ARC and the opportunity to review this beautiful art book.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews