Pansies-Happy Faces

Pansies - Finding Inspiration

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The Pansy is named for the French word pensee, which means thought. As a child I always called them "Happy Faces" and recently read that some feel the French probably named the Pansy that because the flower petals often resemble a human face when the flowers nod forward as if thinking.

Pansies are easy to grow and in Southern California, where our fall and winters are mild and the sun shines almost every day, they bloom all winter. They come in a wide range of colors, ranging from gold, white, violet and blue. Pansies make me smile and the ones with bi-colored petals are my favorite to paint since they remind me of happy faces.

All of those "happy faces" were the inspiration for my painting of pansies.

Painting almost complete - needs a little touching up!

Completed painting displayed on a garden bench at Debra's Cottage

Pansies are a member of the genus Viola, and they are closely related to violets. Did you know that you can eat organically grown or culinary pansies? The blossoms are beautiful sprinkled on a garden salad and you can also cook with them? Only eat flowers that are organically grown without chemical pesticides. It is best to plant pansies yourself if you plan to eat them or order from an edible flower source.

My organically grown pansies are ready to harvest and today I am experimenting using Pansy blooms to decorate sugar cookies. I will let you know how they turn out in my next post.

Have a lovely creative week.