Local artist Kristijan Mitrovic brought the community together through his vibrant flower art in his first-ever art exhibition at The Studio Downtown, Blossoming Memories.

He said the “exhibit is actually called Blossoming Memories since I’m using the flower petal art and using the scrapbook paper, so it’s full of memories.”

“It is like a new, fresh start in spring, where everything is waiting. And just like flowers, they start blossoming the memories of the scrapbooks,” he said. 

Mitrovic also said, “A lot of people see my stuff, and they actually tell me that they remember this stuff.” 

“They saw when they were younger. It walks in memories. And I like that,” he said. 

“Just like philosophy and memories, I keep them fresh and open,” Mitrovic said, “I want people to remember beautiful stuff.”

His artwork was displayed in the back room and hallway of the studio and featured flowers he had pressed and painted in various unique frames.

Mitrovic described his creative process and inspiration: “I actually come from [a] pretty artistic family, so I was always interested.”

“I guess talent from the God is just something that is inside of me, and it’s always needed to go out,” he said.

Mitrovic said that he started art more seriously once Covid hit when he couldn’t find a job and rented a space to further his art career.  

He “found a scrapbook. And I was like, This is so cool. And that’s kind of how it started.”

“Some of the books date from the 1930s to 1960s and maybe like the 70s. It’s almost like some of them are a century old almost which is amazing,” he said.

Mitrovic said he “started to work in a flower shop and it just lifted my art style because it just gave me such a booster when it comes to inspiration and stuff.”

“I love nature so and I was like, How can I use the flowers to paint?” He said.

This is what started him on his journey to creating flower artwork on pieces of old scrap paper.

“That idea never left me. Months after I finally tried, and I tried, I didn’t stop,” he said.

He said he “uses the flower petals and actual greenery, like foliage and grass from my yard, and from my neighbor’s yard.”

“I just take a paper and transfer the petals on the top of the paper, then I actually use a paint,” he said.

“Then I seal it and frame it. I picked the frames,” he said, “and I framed them all by myself.” 

Mitrovic said he wants people to learn from his exhibit that they can “try to use whatever you can that’s surrounding you.” 

“Just art is everywhere. So you don’t know what you’re holding inside of your hands that actually can turn into your art,” he said.

Many people from the community came and went as they enjoyed the company of fellow art enthusiasts throughout the exhibit’s opening.

UCA freshman art major Paley Honeysuckle who was visiting the exhibit said, “I’ve never heard of anyone doing art that way.”

“I think for myself it is mostly just neat to see a different process and how he thrifts all his frames,” she said.

Honeysuckle said, “There’s roses and different actual flowers hanging from different displays, and I thought that was awesome to include his medium as well as his work.”

Friend and coworker of the artist Deb Lewis said his art was “very comforting and very refreshing.” 

Lewis said the exhibit’s important because it “gives people a chance to experience art and not just see it on television or social media, but they can actually see it themselves and experience the feelings they get and talk to the artist and find out maybe more depth of the work.”

“It makes me happy to see the colors and the flowers and to know that my friend did this, and I’m so happy for him,” she said.