Student Spotlight: Escape into Erika Deruaz’s Fantasy Garden

Erika Deruaz, Vision Board, Collage, 16 x 20 inches, June 2010

A petite energetic soul, Erika Deruaz is an accomplished artist who paints and collages among other things.  A well-seasoned artist, what impresses me about her is her long-term passion for art and her continued ability to dream.  Here are her vision board reflections…

Erika Deruaz

My vision board of a garden was not done as a means to reach a goal but was simply a dream. This meant that I was not hemmed in by consideration of possibilities like size of backyard and financial capabilities. I could indulge myself and let my fantasy free rein. And what a joy it was! – The search for material to create my garden; to put it together and populate it with fish, a little bug for luck and a silky cat. Later to look for comfortable furniture and to place it in a good location and finally to dream myself sitting there in the shade with a book, nibbling on fresh strawberries and sipping Champagne. If I had to do it all again, it wouldn’t be any different. I had great pleasure assembling this vision board and have since been doing more collages although no more dreams.

I love Erika’s thoughtful use of images on her board.  She came to the class fully prepared with ones she wanted to use, which included her own photos (a nice personal touch), magazine images (from gardening sources) and real feathers!  With the flora, fauna and other decorative elements she gathered, she constructed her own little Eden!  Collaging with the spirit of an expert landscaper, she cleverly laid out her design in a grid-like or organized patch work fashion – akin to a real garden plan.  She cleverly transformed the green negative (unused) background space of her board into a path that meanders through the space.  Drawing on her skills as a painter and perhaps gardener, she used a variety of greens, bold punches of reds as well as soft blues and lavenders to create spectacular views of garden beds.  Her enlarged flower shots seem so close, you can almost smell them!  Everywhere bits of Erika’s personality abound… her sense of whimsy captured through the use of fallen feathers; her love for classical and contemporary décor echoed in her choice of garden pots and furniture and her sense of humour evident in the grinning garden gnome (top, left). Touches like the “silky” cat, gold fish and lady bug breathe further life into her space transforming it into a plausible idyllic setting.  A place of leisure, rest and relaxation, Erika’s fantasy garden is a cozy spot to curl up and read a good book in!  If she was interested in making it real, this board would certainly give her the impetus to do so! 

I enjoyed escaping to Erika’s hide-away so much I decided to use her board as an example for my workshop students to study throughout the year.  Every session, they’re inspired by her vision!  Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and board with us Erika – you’re a kind and generous artist.  Keep on collaging and dreaming!  See more of her wonderful nature-related paintings on Erica’s website and Facebook page.

Vision Board Tip: 

Varying your image sources can make all the difference in personalizing your vision board.  When you can make connections to sources that are actually part of your life experiences your board can be made more meaningful and have less of a commercial edge.  Besides using ones from magazines, consider adding your own photos (as Erika above did) or even recycling old greetings cards, postcards, fragments of letters, artwork, doodles on post-it notes, fabrics or even interesting shopping labels and tags… things that you feel in some way might be related to your dream’s theme.