We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

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Quote of the week:

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

-Mahatma Ghandi

Inspirational Artist of the week…Olaf Hajek

Olaf Hajek was born in Rendsburg, Germany. After he finished his degree in graphic design at the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf, he moved to Amsterdam and began to work as a freelance artist.

Olaf primarily lives and works in Berlin, but travels frequently and is represented by an agency on nearly every continent.

A technically perfect illustrator, he creates enchanting visual patterns, scenes and creative characters in which nature and artifice are intertwined. Olaf collects mental images everywhere he goes: on his travels, in magazines, or on the internet.

African traditions, Indian temple art, South American folklore, and pop culture are all expressed in new ways in his almost surreal tableaux.

He plays with motifs of flora and fauna, archaic symbols and current themes, working them all into his pieces in great detail and vibrant colour.

His personal work has been exhibited in solo exhibitions in Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Atlanta and Cape Town.

Hand lettering inspiration of the week…Sabrina Ward Harrison

Sabrina Ward Harrison published her first book, Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself, at the age of 23. Written between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, Spilling Open was an intimate and moving picture of the contradictions young women face as they are asked to grow into societal norms of femininity. Her tender honesty and singular aesthetic energy turned Harrison into the voice of a generation.

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We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

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Quote of the week:

“Serious art is born from serious play.”

― Julia Cameron

Inspirational Artist of the week… Enid Collins

Enid Collins, was the designer of the handbag company known as Collins of Texas. By the 1960s, her colorful jeweled totes and box bags were in every major department store in the country. Her unique design style became a folk art icon of the time, and her handbags and accessories are still collectable today.

While my father and many others are a part of this story, it is Enid who commands center stage. She commands, not only because of her talent, but also because of the strength of her personality. She was probably the most real person I ever knew. She was forgiving and compassionate but not gushy. She expected—she demanded—the best from others. She was never fooled by foolishness. People were afraid of her and loved her at the same time. She was a full-time businesswoman in a world of sometimes condescending men, and at the same time she was a full-time loving mother. 

She and her husband did not set out to make ladies’ handbags. Her husband wanted to ranch but knew little about it. They worked in a war plant during WWII and saved their money to make a down payment on a ranch in the hill country of Texas. Making handbags grew out of their need to make a living. Collin bags were very important in the fashion world of the 1960s, and to many vintage collectors today.

Handlettering inspiration of the week… Jeffrey Fisher

Jeffrey Fisher hails from Melbourne Australia where he studied Fine Art – Film and Animation at Preston Institute of Technology in the 70s. He lived in London for a while before settling down in France in 1993. The bulk of Jeff’s work has been book cover design as well as working in design and exhibiting regularly in Paris and London.

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We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

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Quote of the week:

“Whenever you create beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul.”

-Alice Walker

Inspirational Art of the week… Continental Bride’s Boxes

In 18th and 19th century Germany and Scandinavia, bride’s boxes were given as a marriage gift to brides to hold small items in the bride’s trousseau such as linens, lace, and ribbons.

Hand Lettering Inspiration of the Week…

Spotted these hand lettered tags at a boutique. I love the delicacy of the lettering.

We are BEYOND EXCITED! Kenzie and I will be teaching together for the first time!! Our “Words and Wildflowers” retreat in Portugal … October 17-24 2025 is half booked already!!! Yay!! COME JOIN US!!!

If you are thinking about joining us… here is what you will get…

• 8 Days/7 Nights in a GORGEOUS Portugese villa in the Algarve region on the beautiful Southern coast
• Delicious meals prepared by our own chef… YUM!!
• A sailing adventure around the coastline
• An outing into the charming village of Lagos… where there are colorful buildings and inspiration everywhere!!
• Fun exercises in our own studio space that focus on handlettering and floral art…. Our favs!!
• Sharing of techniques in several mediums and styles.
• Laughter, sharing and (maybe dancing?? You never know) with creative kindreds
• Making precious memories and lasting friendships!

Imagine how you will feel treating yourself to this experience! We will go above and beyond to make to AMAZING!!!

If you have ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL or if you are on the fence about booking…please reach out to ​contact@uptrek.com​ The folks at UPTREK are more than happy to address any questions or concerns!!

We LOVE research and learning as a way to get inspired and boost ideas and creativity!! So, Kenzie and I are going to be sharing the inspiration that we collect here in our second newsletter…. once a week!!!

Here’s how it works:

We provide the inspiration. You interpret it however you wish… any medium, any size. It is meant to inspire lettering and floral art combined together. But, you can:

• Just do the florals, just do the lettering, or combine them together.
• Use the provided quote for your piece or select your own.
• Use colors from one of the inspiration images or select your own favorites
• Create the floral art… as a still life in a vase, a single flower, a border, a pattern, a bouquet

Hope you will create with us and post your work at #wordsandwildflowers2024 and tag @lorisiebert.studio and @snippetsofwhimsy

We will be checking and sharing some of our favorites. AND… there may be surprise guest judges and PRIZES!!!

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Quote of the week:

“Carpe diem. Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary.”

—Dead Poets Society, 1989

Inspirational Artist of the week: Federico von Berzeviczy-Pallavicini

Demel, the oldest Viennese confectionery, was founded in 1799. They are admired as much for their decadent chocolates and candies as for the packaging designed by Swiss baron Federico von Berzeviczy-Pallavicini (1909-1989). Pallavicini was a visionary artist and designer, and studied fine arts in Vienna where he was strongly influenced by the Wiener Werkstätte movement. In the late 1920s, he was introduced to Demel by architect and designer Josef Hoffmann—launching his career as a visionary designer of wrapping papers, packaging and ornate window displays. Pallavicini’s work is consistently recognized by his use of lively overall pattern and hand lettering with a distinctively flamboyant style. His box designs with hinged lids seen above, are likely dated sometime in the 1930s.

Hand lettering inspiration of the week: William Ellis

This exercise book once belonged to William Ellis, an artistic young student who was studying his arithmetic lessons. It was excavated in Exeter, England years ago and now sits in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum archives. Ellis began his book in 1729, and filled it with his calculations, measurements, flourishes and ornaments. He then hand painted the same three additional colors onto each page with great attention to detail. Many pages had colorful display headings with birds, flowers and medieval-looking creatures. His hand-lettering skills were capable, but “needs improvement” as any teacher might well suggest. Neatness was not his strongest suit. Exercise books in Georgian England were commonly used by school children to practice lessons plans while perfecting their art and valued penmanship skills. These talents indicated you were a literate person of culture and good standing. All learning had great value and was considered virtuous. Creating beautifully illustrated lesson books with polished hand-lettering was intended to honor content, while building good character.

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