A Flower Blooms: My Journey in a Landscape of Art

What is the good life? JoEl Vogt has been exploring that question ever since her first childhood discoveries of seemingly vast, untamed land stirred a longing for a wild sanctuary of her own. In this memoir, the painter, art therapist, and grandmother traces her lifelong relationship with nature and her passion for landscape painting. She has contemplated the good life, defined it for herself, and manifested her dream of deep immersion in wildlife and art. Together with her husband, local friends, and a few lively chickens, JoEl has created an artist’s haven and home deep in the Missouri Ozarks, where she paints the colorful land and sky.
“The land is like a canvas—not blank, but full of possibilities. New discoveries inspire new ways to connect with the land. The quiet, unhurried pace of living allows time to follow my whims and fantasies. Being here has changed me. The peace of quiet, rainy days, the stirred-up electricity in the air during storms, and the clarity and joy of sunny, cool days, have woven into the fiber of my psyche. In the country, I’m a much more enlivened version of my normal self.”
This book is filled with her beautiful paintings of this magical place, as well as insights for defining and pursuing your own dreams. JoEl’s journey shows that the path to fruition is worthwhile—even when it winds through heartbreak, loneliness, several unruly groundhogs, and an indomitable population of ticks.