Flowers are the paint for Cassie Osterloth.

“What I have here is a hybrid delphinium,” said Osterloth, getting ready to cut an inch or so off the flower stalk, “so it has a little bit of lavender, a little bit of blue.”

She’s interpreting a painting at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg for their 25th Art in Bloom event.

It’s Pool Room, by Carol Cloar in 1960.

“So the building in the center is white. But it’s very textured --it looks like old brick,” said Osterloth. “I’m going to take the Rice Flower, and this is called Smart Wave Veronica to get the textures in there so it doesn’t look like flat white.”

Osterloth’s been a florist for 34 years—and is currently the owner of Wonderland Floral Art and Gift Loft, so she knows how to find the right color and shapes of flowers.

These are her live, color-matching swatches, including pin cushion proteas.

“There’s something growing in my painting and it’s up between the steps and it’s just very pointy and kind of orangey so that’s what I selected for it,” said Osterloth.

How does osterloth find that level of details?

She pours over close-ups of the art.

“You can also see all the texture in the brick,” said Osterloth,“As you scroll through these there is a lot of different details.”

Osterloth has been involved in all but the inaugural Art In Bloom event.

The challenge of creation is what keeps her coming back.
“I think it’s a fun way to show floral is an art of its own, just like the art that’s in the museum,” said Osterloth.