WAG Virtual Resources — Creative Spring/Summer Bouquet

Do it at Home with the WAG! Creative Spring/Summer Bouquet

Celebrate the warmer weather on the way and create a WAG inspired paper spring/summer bouquet. This family art project highlights the beautiful floral works in the WAG’s collection and invites you to make your own paper flower creations to keep for yourself, give and share.

Many artists create floral works of art. Using examples of works in WAG’s Collection, follow the easy step-by-step instructions below to inspire your own beautiful version. All you need is pencils, markers, paper, and a good imagination to improvise or alter any or all steps below. There is no limit to the flowers you can make. You can also invent your own!

Share your creation on social media with the hashtag #WAGatHome and tag us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Activity 1: Paper Roses

Create your own paper roses, inspired by Roses in a Brass Bowl by artist Florence Carlyle.

Watercolour painting of a bouquet of white roses in a brass bowl

Florence Carlyle (Canadian, 1864 –1923), Roses in a Brass Bowl, no date, watercolour and gouache on wove paper, 50 x 75.9 cm, Purchased with funds from Woodstock City Council.

A round glass bowl in a display case

Brass bowl, Bequest of Florence Johnston.

Florence Carlyle was born in Galt (now Cambridge, ON) in 1864. She lived in Woodstock in her early years, studied art in Paris and later died in England in 1923. A post-impressionist oil painter known for figures and portraits, Carlyle also explored other genres and mediums such as this still-life watercolour.

Did you know: The WAG also owns the brass bowl in the watercolour painting!

Step 1

Download the spiral circle and leaves template.

Gather the materials:

Primary: Construction paper (any colour), pencil, glue, scissors, printable template
Optional: beads, ribbon, leaves, glue gun
Alternatives: paper bag, newspaper, magazines, scrapbook, copy or wrapping paper

Craft supplies including markers, tape, glue, paper, ruler and scissors laid out on a table

Step 2

Draw a circle approximately 4 inches in diameter, or
Trace a circular object, or
Use the spiral template provided

Hands tracing a masking tape roll on a red piece of paper

Step 3

Cut out the spiral circle template.

Hands cutting a red circular piece of paper into a spiral

Step 4

Start at the outside of the spiral and roll tightly to the centre.

Hands rolling a spiral cut out of red paper into a rose shape

Step 5

Glue the paper in place at the center.

Hands using a glue stick to glue rose-shaped red paper together

Step 6

Cut out leaves using the template or design your own.

Decorate as desired and make as many as you want!

Four paper roses with green paper leaves laid out on a table

Activity 2: Paper Hyacinths

Create your own paper hyacinths, inspired by The Garden at Englewood by artist Florence Carlyle.

Florence Carlyle was born in Galt (now Cambridge, ON) in 1864. She lived in Woodstock in her early years. Studied art in Paris and later, died in England in1923. Florence was considered a skilled colourist and enjoyed painting portraits and figures performing domestic tasks such as this painting describes in the Garden at Englewood.

Did you know: The model is Carlyle's younger sister Maude, painted in the garden at Englewood, the Carlyle family home.

Florence Carlyle (Canadian, 1864-1923), The Garden at Englewood, c. 1907, oil on canvas, 68.5 x 48.4 cm, Purchased with support of Ontario Ministry of Culture and Communications and Art Gallery Trust Fund.

Painting of a young woman standing in a garden with purple hyacinths and sunflowers