Simone Thompkins

What I love about flowers is that they're beautiful right now.
That's it. My mind does not let me enjoy many things in a simple way.
I have like, no chill. I basically live in between the lines of everything,
looking for the why behind the what.

When I started painting flowers in June of 2019, it was a 30-day
exercise in discipline. (It didn't work, by the way. I completed the
challenge; I am still undisciplined). I've since come to see it as an
exercise in being present and letting go. Paint runs, colors mix
unexpectedly, drawing flower petals is complicated, inking
is...just...so hard. But I'm here and I'm doing it. I'm pushing
forward through inexperience and imperfection. I'm learning to be okay
with things where they are right now, being who I am right now.

I hope you buy flowers and put them in your window sill. I hope you
have five, uninterrupted minutes to let the sun shine on your face.
I hope the works in this book stir a chord inside you, or move you into
an act of "hmmm," or help you find stillness and peace whoever you are right now.