"Flowerful"

It all began as a writing prompt. In my writer’s craft class we were given the opportunity to write pieces about our names. I have always believed that my name belongs to someone much different than I, someone powerful and fearless and frankly, badass. But deep down, I also hope that maybe my name does reveal secrets about me, like hidden strength and bravery. The piece I created became very different from what I expected when I began writing it, as poetry often does. 

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taite

not simply ice cream

overdoses 

puddles of sunshine

sloshing under her feet. 

not just that one

blue dress

taite

shrieking calamity 

all the feelings of the colour red

tiger lillies

screaming in gardens 

and burning kitchen tables

taite 

the clash of traffic

and swords on broad shields

fire tangled in the wind,

and her words,

demolishing forests

and boiling skin. 

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The line “tiger lillies/ screaming in gardens/ and burning kitchen tables” specifically inspired this project. I wanted to continue using this concept of flowers being a way to reveal secrets about a person’s personality, and so I began bringing people to life as flowers. I did beauty makeup on the girls and then built each look from that as a colour base, incorporating painted patterns, actual petals, and a dash of glitter. I wanted every makeup piece to be as beautiful and unique as each model. Not only did I create each look but I also styled, set the location and took all the images. So much inspiration from one hurried line of poetry... 

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