Contemporary Representational Paintings of Garden Flowers, Pollinators & Animal Bones

Through quiet observation and painting from life, Christine Mercer-Vernon explores the stories nature holds—and what they reveal about the human experience.

oil painting of day lily flowers, bees, and hummingbirds in a botanical art style.

One Conversation With Nature. Three Ways of Seeing.

Multiple yellow and white daffodil flowers with green leaves on a beige background.

FLOWERS

Growth • Renewal • Interdependence

A painting of a wishbone, with the bones pointing up and a string tied to each pulling away from the center. A pale pink heart is painted behind the wishbone, and the background is painted in shades of gray with pink accents.

WISHBONES

Hope • Longing • Intention

A gray-toned drawing of an leopard skull with prominent canines, set against a plain background.

SKULLS

Impermanence • Memory • Mortality

Each Painting Begins in the Garden

The flowers in Christine's paintings are grown in her own pollinator-friendly garden, where she observes them from seedling through bloom and eventual seed. The garden is not separate from the studio practice—it is where each painting begins.

Brought into the studio a few stems at a time and painted directly from life, flowers are added as the season unfolds. Over weeks and months, moments from different stages of a flower's life gather into a single composition.

FOLLOW THE JOURNEY FROM GARDEN TO ARTWORK

A vibrant garden with pink and peach Zinnia flowers and green foliage, a wooden fence with a wire mesh in the background, and a grassy field with trees under a bright blue sky with a few clouds.

Stories within the Bones

For more than twenty years, Christine has studied animal skulls and bones from life, using drawing and painting to explore the stories held within each specimen.

From intimate studies to narrative still lifes and suspended wishbones, four distinct collections examine different conversations with nature—impermanence, memory, hope, and the human experience.

Explore Skulls & Bones

“My floral paintings aren’t really about flowers and my skull paintings aren’t really about bones. Somewhere between life and death sits the human experience.
Through nature I seek to understand it.”

– Christine Mercer-Vernon

Upcoming Exhibitions

Experience the paintings in person at current and upcoming exhibitions.

Bring the Work Home

Museum-quality giclée prints created from Christine's original floral and skull paintings, bringing these quiet observations into the spaces you live in every day.

Shop Fine Art Prints

Join me behind the scenes…

New paintings, exhibition announcements, thoughtful essays, and occasional glimpses into the studio. Subscribers are also the first to hear about new originals, prints, and annual small works releases.