As you’ve probably noticed, leafy foliage plants are my thing.

However, I realized something not too long ago.

I paint so many orchids because of Mom.

And I paint roses because of grandma, which I will talk about more in future blog post.

Both orchids and roses are sensual plants.

I’d like to use this collection to find out the connection with this journey.

Sustainability and creativity

Mom’s orchid wall made of baby cradle parts and plastic bottles.

First,

let’s take a look at the symbols of orchids.

Orchids have been revered by different cultures around the world for centuries, from ancient China and Japan to ancient Greece and throughout Europe, even in Aztec and Incan traditions.

The delicate, exotic and graceful orchid represents love, luxury, beauty and strength.

Many cultures associate orchids with love, romance, sex, and fertility.

In fact, the word 'orchid' is a derivative of the Greek word orchis, meaning testicle.

Greek women believed that if the father of their unborn child ate large, new orchid tubers,
the baby would be a boy.

In China, due to their delicate fragrance and graceful figure, orchids are associated with ideal feminine beauty.

Orchids symbolize exotic beauty, refinement, thoughtfulness, and mature charm.

They're also a symbol of proud and glorious femininity.

Turning 33 this August, I think mom’s orchids came just in time.

This year, I’m learning to own my femininity and sensuality, feeling more comfortable in my own skin.

**Plants & Art**

At the beginning of my art journey, I didn’t know the purpose of my art apart from aesthetical beauty.
As time goes by, I finally have a clearer picture of my art aligning with my values, sustainability and creativity.

Second,

Ｗhat is orchid’s meaning in a relationship?

Giving orchids means giving a gesture of love and sensuality to a woman or girl we particularly care about.

Together with a composition with roses, it is among the most popular and most chosen flowers by men with whom to pay homage to their women, wife or girlfriends.

What does it mean to give an orchid to a girl?

In the language of flowers, therefore, the orchid is a symbol of beauty, elegance, reverence, seduction, love and even eroticism.

The orchid has always been considered an aphrodisiac (春藥) flower, so much so that in ancient times it was used to prepare elixirs(長生不老藥) of love but also infusions of eternal youth.

Sensuality, passion, love are all elements and meanings that are combined with this fascinating flower with velvety petals and multiple shades of color, from milky white to a light touch of yellow or green, from light pink to cyclamen.

Orchid Child 蘭子

Mom’s orchids
Orchid child with sensitivity
Bloomed nicely in the galaxy together
媽媽的蘭花
高敏的蘭花小孩
一起在星河裡綻放

Third,

let’s look at orchid care.

Potting & air circulation:

Among the first of an orchid's unique needs is the medium in which it grows. Approximately 70% of orchids are what are known as epiphytes (附生植物).

These are plants that grow anchored to other plants, which is why orchids are often found growing high in the canopy of trees.

These plants don't typically do well potted in regular soil because it holds too much water and lacks air circulation. Bark chips are often used as potting mediums, or moss. They also need good air circulation. Basically, this just means the air is light and constantly moving.

Water:

Most orchids do not sit in soil like other plants, so their watering requirements can be a bit complicated. "In the case of the most common popular orchid variety in the home, the Phalaenopsis, or moth orchid, it should be watered approximately once a week if potted in bark," Van says. She adds to be sure to check how much water is actually still in the pot if it is potted in moss, using a bamboo skewer.

"When watering the plant, it is important to avoid salt-softened or distilled water. The water must be tepid, as cold water will shock the plant, and run through the pot for some time to make sure the plant is thoroughly soaked—and it must be allowed to drain completely.

Other tips to keep in mind, maintaining proper humidity to keep your orchid happy.

Light:

Moth orchids are the most common at-home orchid. They need 14 to 16 hours of low light, preferably placed in an east window, or in a south or west window protected by a sheer curtain.

If moth orchids receive too much light, their leaves will turn red and even burn, indicating that they have received too much illumination. If they do not receive enough, their leaves will turn dark, and they will refuse to bloom. A mature moth orchid can bloom two or three times a year, with blossoms lasting up to six months—but only if properly cared for.

Orchids are definitely not the easiest flowers to take care of. It takes patience, careful attention, and perhaps some trial and error to welcome an orchid's beauty and symbolism into your own home.

(I’m by no means a good orchid carer. I’m still killing orchids myself but I’m learning.)

Now,

Let’s look at the woman who brought me to the world and took good care of me all these years.

This’s my mom when she’s little. She looked like a very good girl.

Grandma, mom and grandpa
Grandma used to say she was quite strict with mom when she was young.

Teenager mom looked quite happy and care-free.

Then, mom started to get pretty. She had several boyfriends before dad.

There was even a story that grandpa used a sweep and pipe water to hose down the boys that were after mom.

Mom performing English drama on stage.

She studied English as her major in Uni.

She has always stressed the importance of English.

I guess that’s why English was the only subject that I was actually interested in schools.

Mom and dad were high school sweethearts.

Then

My poor little brother that I used to bully was born.
He was a cute baby indeed.

Ｍom likes exploration and adventurous.

She likes to visit super market when she’s abroad in a foreign country.

Growing up as the only child in the family, she’s used to have all the responsibility on her shoulders.

I think that's why she is so wise and mature because she had to process a lot by herself only.

She doesn’t want to put that pressure on us, so she brought us up very differently from grandma.

My mom is always more open minded than other Taiwanese moms.

She doesn’t like to murmur.

Sometimes, she feels no one in the world understands her, definitely not my dad.

She allowed me freedom to trial and error but with guidance that she could provide so I can find myself.

She’s creative with an engineer mind.

She used to be a sourcer for electronic devices, from phones to TVs and computers, who knows what else she can put together.

**I wonder if this is a trait from Ataya roots.**
**Grandma was very good at knitting.**
**Mom’s very good with needle and thread works.**
(I wasn’t helping much but making it more difficult for mom.
She untied half roll of my knots because they didn’t go straight line.)
**I guess I’m good at tying plants to wood?**

Mom’s paintings

Mom’s forest painting

My Neptune - the god of creativity and beauty
This is little inspiration corner

**She’s the one who came up with the idea of having a cabin in the mountains, thanks to grandma’s Atayal roots.**

**Mom is planty.**

She’s the one who gave me those two orchids walls made out of a baby cradle.

NOW,

She’s a big supporter on my art journey.

Orchid Child 蘭子

Some kids are weak and prone to sickness.
Some kids hate the prickling of sweaters against the skin and the wrinkling of socks in shoes.
Faced the "marshmallow experiment" of delayed gratification, some children are able to resist temptation.
Some kids, like orchids, LIKE ME, are highly sensitive to their environment.

Watch them bloom provided enough of love, time, attention and routine.

They prosper and thrive when reared in positive, encouraging families and schools,

but they languished and sickened in environments of adversity and threat.

Orchid kids are not failed dandelion children.

No one is an absolute orchid or dandelion type,

but every child needs the approval and protection of adults.

為什麼有些孩子身體特別不好，很容易生病？
　　為什麼有些孩子會討厭毛衣接觸皮膚的扎刺感，還有襪子在鞋子裡產生的皺摺？
　　面對延遲滿足的「棉花糖實驗」，為什麼有些孩子可以力抗誘惑？
　　這些問題的答案，都直指一個方向：他們是高敏感的蘭花小孩。

( 就是我 )

　　蘭花型孩子對身處的環境高度敏感，較易出現身心疾病，也容易對周圍所發生的事情感到害羞、悲傷。

這些「小蘭花」如果得不到照顧和支持時就會枯萎；但當接收到同情和關愛時，就會變成美麗而優雅的生物。

蘭花小孩並不是失敗的蒲公英小孩，也沒有人是絕對的蘭花或蒲公英類型，但每一個小孩，都需要大人的認可與保護。

This is a beautiful sweater made by grandma.
I loved the design and color, but the material is too prickly.
I have tried it on multiple times but never worn it once.
It’s been living in my drawer for decades.

It must have been hard to raise me as a kid, even till now.

Shadow 影子

What is “shadow work”?

Shadow is the aspect of a person that is not exposed to the light of their own consciousness, in other word, shadow lives in our subconsciousness. Why do we want them to remain hidden? Usually the shadow was generated since our childhood, we were conditioned, warned and punished by behaving a certain way, in order for a child to survive, we want to be loved and appreciated, so we denied, suppressed, rejected aspects of ourselves that we feel are negative (not all shadow are negative btw), but that side of us doesn’t disappear , it just fade from our conscious. Our reaction from doing shadow work usually is this— Resistance.

Why? Because it is extremely difficult to acknowledge something that you have been rejected your whole life. The original pain of rejection will come up everytime when we do the shadow work.

It will bring up the exact same feeling of rejection that trigger by our parents, family, caregiver. Make us feel like we will be punished again, it can really drive us insane because it challenge our survival mechanism.

Why is it important for us to do the shadow work?

These are the brave souls who understand that we have both lightness and darkness inside of us. We have to be willing to face, embrace, and incorporate the darkness into our being in order to be whole. As a soul we constantly seek to be unified, universe seek to grow and expand, same as our soul, universe will present us with every single opportunity to see the aspect of ourselves that we have rejected and denied , we will be provided every single opportunities to confront our shadow self. Our shadow will keep chasing us until we willing to face it one day.

No one ever reach true enlightenment without confronting their shadow and exposing it to the light of consciousness.

Bring attention and acceptance to the aspect of ourselves that was previous been denied is what I consider the highest form of light work that we can do.

什麼是Shadow work?

Shadow 影子，是我們沒有暴露在自己意識下的那一面，換句話說，影子是存在於我們的潛意識中。
為什麼有些方面我們寧願隱藏呢? 通常這種壓制在潛意識的shadow side產生於我們的童年。

在童年時我們因某種行為而受到警告和懲罰。對孩子來說，我們都想要被愛和欣賞，所以我們選擇否定、壓抑、拒絕我們自己不被接受的一面(並不是所有的shadow side 都是消極的)，但其實我們的那一面並沒有消失，它只是從我們的意識中消失，藏在我們的潛意識中。我們對shadow work的反應通常抗拒的。為什麼?因為要承認一件你一生都在否定的事情是極其困難。

Shadow work會帶來被父母、家人所排斥的完全一樣的感覺。提起這些shadow side 讓我們覺得我們會再次受到懲罰, 因為這些陰暗面挑戰了我們的生存機制。

為什麼對我們來說shadow work很重要?

我們的內心既有光明亦有黑暗。為了達致完整，我們必須願意面對、擁抱並將黑暗融入我們的存在。作為一個靈魂，我們不斷地尋求統一，尋求在宇宙中成長和擴展。就像我們的靈魂一樣，宇宙會給我們提供每一個機會，讓我們看到自己被拒絕和否定的一面。宇宙會提供每一個機會來讓我們面對真正的自我。我們的影子會一直追著我們，直到有一天我們願意面對它。

為了達到真正的覺悟/啟蒙，將自己抑壓的shadow side 暴露在意識下是一個極其重要的過程。

帶着全然的接受，勇敢的將注意力放在我們一生都在否定的一面，不是一件容易的事。

Galaxy Orchid 銀河蘭

This is a piece born in the very beginning of my art journey shortly after I met J-D in 2018.

I was transitioning from fashion industry to jobless to English teaching.

I just moved into J-D’s tiny single man apartment.

I started painting on the floor as a hobbist, not thinking about making art for career for sure.

He’d go out to work and I’d spend my day job hunting, creating and waiting for him to come back.

I started cooking a little on a camping stove in his tiny apartment.

Not knowing what to do with life, it was a dark time in a little dark room.

In creating this piece, I gained confidence with the control of detailed fine lines and watercolor shading.

It was satisfying to paint the background pitch black with heavy acrylic, painting all my dark emotions into galaxy.

I didn’t know that you can use splash technique to create similar starry effect back then yet.

The stars in the background were hand painted with a paint brush one by one.

The dotting process of mimicking stars was a healing process that led me to see light.

Meeting J-D also made me a lot less scared.

He encouraged me to paint more.

The distressed wood frame was made by first destroying it with a metal comb, then painted with wood paint,
and destroying a little bit more, repeating this process for several times.

It has always been in a little corner of our house, usually a dark corner.

I hung it on the wall of my art room after we moved in current house.

Five years later, it’s time for me to let go and let it shine.

It’s a dark piece reminding me of the dark time.

It’s also a nice reminder of how far I’ve come.

I started painting on the floor in a living room, to a small table in living room, to a big table, to a big table in a studio room.

Now, I left behind all the things I created in the new house we just moved in last year with gratefulness.

I’ve created it once before and I’m confident that I can do it again, but even better.

I’m ready to start over fresh, everything on my own this time.
Thanks to the universe, I now work with with female-led organizations that I resonate with.

An orchid child bloomed in art universe.