"A Blossom for Every Day" exhibition at the Botanical Garden features paintings by artist Ülle Järve

For a month and a half from Valentine's Day, 14 February to 31 March, artist Ülle Järve's painting exhibition will open at the Botanical Garden, inviting you to decorate your home with a painting of a flower that will delight your senses every day.

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Ülle Järve is an artist, but also a great lover of houseplants, and until recently the indoor flower garden tended to play a big part in her life - all 560 plants needed special attention. Her collection included a proud family of succulents and many other plants. The artist has a great love of flowers, but it was the Türi Tulip Days that inspired her to put floral motifs on canvas. Due to the pandemic, the exhibition was not mounted at the time, but from Tuesday 14 February, Ülle Järve's paintings can be seen at the University of Tartu Botanical Garden - her canvases include tulips, a few peonies, a poppy, a pasqueflower and a brightly coloured artichoke - and the soul of the gardener is not untouched.

"I paint flowers in spring when I feel I need a new and fresh energy. Many of my paintings feature parrot tulips and have a story of discovery," said the artist. "Once, about ten or so years ago, I fell in love with the imperfect blooms of these flowers. It seemed so creatively exciting because each blossom was unique. I was working in a flower shop at the time and the pictures of the flowers on the labels of the bulb packets looked so similar that I immediately had to buy them also for my garden. Alas, in the spring, I was not in for the sea of blooms I had expected from such a quantity of bulbs. Only a few plants were flowering, and only a few of them were varietal - such misfortune was disheartening, as I had always thought of myself as a fan of plants. My grandmother and aunt made their living from growing plants. I'd seen it all, how and what."

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The floral world fascinates the artist, and in her paintings one can see the orderly fluidity of the flowers, captured with dedication, and the play of colours, forms, shadows and light. As Ülle Järve herself described it: "It's like one endless adventure and chase".

Ülle Järve is a talented artist who worked as a graphic designer at Vaal Gallery 30 years ago. "After high school I ended up working there - the most famous work from that time is the logo of the company Radio Kuku, which was made over 30 years ago now." She has also illustrated a number of books and teaching materials, and studied at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has worked with Kaari Sillamaa's children's musical theatre, where she has filled the roles of props, costume designer and artist. For many years, Ülle Järve led the children's handicrafts workshop at the Türi Economic Gymnasium.