I want my Final Major project to be something I want to draw more than anything else. Being passionate about it means I’ll make some of my best work. In preparation for the project proposal, I’m doing a little research on interpersonal relationships so I can take a better and more thoughtful approach to illustrating my characters interacting.

All of the sources can be found in the bibliography for my FMP.

Connection/kəˈnɛkʃ(ə)n noun

1. 1.a relationship in which a person or thing is linked or associated with something else.

relationship/rɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nʃɪp noun

1. the way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected.

love/lʌv noun

1. an intense feeling of deep affection.

“Material objects determined how people related to one another by providing a key means of conceptualising and processing their emotions. They also played a vital role in preserving the identity of the giver, acting as an important site of memory for the recipient.”

Things like coins, ribbons, swatches of fabric and flowers were all given to mark important moments in relationships. This was in the 18th and 19th Century.

“These aspects were in their turn all related to what has been termed the 18th-century ‘culture of sensibility’, denoting a period where emotional responsiveness and expression of sympathy were highly valued aspects of social life.

The ‘cult of friendship’ was in its turn characterized by a marked idealization of friendship, which was viewed as the noblest and most virtuous form of social relation. These friendships took on an increasingly emotionally intense guise during the end of the century, the language of friendship becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from the language of romantic love.”

“This aesthetic preference mirroerd his emotional response to nature, according to which spending time outdoors was not viewed as a source of powerful, dramatic emotion, but as a means of achieving happiness and bliss.” – Maybe take this as a chance to explore an area that makes me feel this way, or an area that would make my characters feel this way?

“Within this vast collection the object of inquiry for this article can still be found: pressed flowers carefully enclosed in tiny paper packages.” – I can’t believe that this article I’ve chanced across perfectly merges my two recent interests… pressing flowers and relationships… if there could be a scholarly article on the importance of baking cupcakes on relationships now I’d be on cloud nine!

“The concept of sensibility did not encourage all form of emotional expression, but rather established a nuanced code of emotional behaviour that could be mastered by the individual.[17] In the Gjörwell family, the emotional expressiveness connected to ideals of sensibility was centred on affection for family and friends, sympathy with the plight of others and happiness.”

“Sally Holloway emphasizes that in the case of courting relationships objects ‘facilitated the development of intimacy by encouraging lovers to think deeply about a relationship, imagine their beloved’s physical qualities, conjure the joy of being with them, and renew their romantic promises’.[19] Although not necessarily used in conjunction with courting relationships, similar functions could be served by flowers in maintaining a level of intimacy and emotional connection over distance in the Gjörwell family. This also includes the physical aspects of intimacy. The practice of sending flowers per letter often includes a description of how these were kissed before being sent off, followed by a description from the recipient of how the flower had been kissed when received, in effect constituting a sort of transporting of physical touch through the object.”

“See here a little flower, it carries a little tender kiss, it has been pressed to my lips. Therefore you will do the same, and never forget your little Stafva, who with all her heart and soul is your little friend and wife.” – Tell me this isn’t lovely. This is making my day.

“After gently reproaching her for not granting him the pleasure of seeing his child after a long time apart, Gjörwell tries to put the incident behind them by sending his wife flowers picked at a local health spa, Vårby:

At Vårby we drank to your health for the first time, and I picked the flowers here enclosed by the clear, salubrious and refreshing brim of the spring. [We] have all kissed them, why I also ask, that they be kept as memory of the feeling that enliven us all for you.”

“His procedure of keeping flowers is intricate and clearly draws on themes from pastoral literature wherein flowers are used to make sacrifices to the Gods.[40] These practices were common in Roman and Greek antiquity, both in religious and civil contexts, and are often depicted in Greek poetry.”

“There is thus a distinctly ritualistic character to the way in which Gjörwell views and keeps flowers, serving a function to repeatedly mobilize positive emotions. After extensively viewing the flowers he has received or picked himself they are kept in what Gjörwell terms a ‘friendship herbarium’. Herbaria are collections of pressed plants usually mounted on paper sheets or placed in convolutes on which the species’ scientific name is added, often along with other information such as date and location of collection.”

White daisy = “as of yet unseduced” but only from man to man specifically.

It seems to me as though the exact type of flower mattered less at the time than the intentions behind it: if you happened across a carnation, you might pick it just because it looked nice and you were thinking of a friend rather than because carnations have a specific coded meaning.