Meet the Artist: Melinda Kirkpatrick of Flowerness Farm
I am absolutely delighted to introduce you to the talented Melinda Kirkpatrick, the artist behind Flowerness Farm and the newest addition to our Cailíní Coastal female artist collective.
I first discovered Melinda’s work while browsing an antique store in New England. Her pieces stopped me in my tracks. Their folk-inspired charm, soft coastal hues, and whimsical maritime details felt like they were made for the island. I brought one home that day, and before long, several more found their way into our Nantucket house.
For months, I thought I had collected centuries-old artwork, which felt very cool and special. Then one day, I received a DM from Melinda herself saying how much she loved seeing her art in my home. I replied, insisting the pieces I owned were antiques. She kindly informed me… they weren’t!
I’ll admit, I felt a little fooled at first, but mostly thrilled. As a business owner, I love discovering incredible talent, and Melinda’s work is truly one of a kind. I’m so excited to be able to share her beautiful art with all of you.
Each painting feels like a little story - a celebration of sea, history, and imagination that perfectly captures the timeless spirit we love at Cailíní Coastal.
I’m so thrilled to be featuring Melinda’s original paintings, created with reclaimed materials and antique frames that add even more soul to each piece. Her work embodies everything I admire in coastal art: beauty, craftsmanship, and a touch of nostalgia.
Read on to learn more about Melinda, her creative process, and the magic behind her one-of-a-kind pieces for Cailíní Coastal.
Enjoy!
xo Meg
CC: Where is Flowerness Farm based, and how long have you been creating art?
MK: Flowerness Farm is based in Brimfield, Massachusetts, only minutes away from the Brimfield Antique Shows, which happen three times a year. Being close to our field where we set up, Quaker Acres, allows us to have a bigger presence there with my art, and we spend all year planning our different themes, our look, the projects we intend to present.
I have been painting since I was a child when I first started taking painting classes. I grew up around flower gardens cultivated by my mother who is also an artist, and the importance of nature and beauty and art was instilled in me at an early age. I started painting as a full-time artist about twelve years ago, and never stopped, never looked back. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do with every minute of my time.
CC: How did you first get started on this creative path?
MK: I feel that my first start on the creative path happened when I was a child. My mother called her flowers “friends” and taught me that folk art was a way to get in touch with a whole new world, a way of “seeing” that can deepen the meaning of life. I learn something new every day, which is exciting and vibrant, even something simple like the way the grass feels between your toes, and I try to incorporate that into my art.
Credit: Melinda Kirkpatrick
CC: How would you describe your work?
MK: I feel a strong almost mythical connection to folk art traditions, and love to paint in ways which open the door to the imaginal world, not ordinary perception at all. If I can make one person see in a way they didn’t think was possible, I’ve done what I set out to do.
CC: What inspires your pieces?
MK: I love literature and history and the correspondences between nature, us and the imaginal world. I when I say “imaginal world” I don’t mean a fantasy world, as I truly believe what opens up to us in the imaginal world, may be more real than what is in the world of ordinary perception. What is behind everything that we see is what inspires me, which is why I can’t stop painting.
CC: What’s your favorite part of the creative process?
MK: My favorite part of the creative process is the unknowing of it all, the uncertainty of what the outcome is or how to get there, and the faith one must hold onto even in the face of great doubt. The feelings, the correspondences that I feel, that something beyond me is reaching out to me, and if I let go of doubt, a wave flows through me to make it all happen. It’s really beautiful, and it creates a deeper meaning to living that I wouldn’t otherwise have.
CC: Do you have a favorite piece you’ve created for Cailini Coastal?
MK: I think it might have to be “Nantucket Moonlight”. It seems to me that there is somewhat of a balance in the outcome of this painting, a soul, a feeling of home, the quaint village nestled on the shore next to the lighthouse, amidst the miracle of the sea, and the two watchful moons, ancient mariners themselves perhaps, a mythic connection to the island’s folklore. The dreamy quality of the night evokes the feeling of being small, and yet intimately connected to the vastness of moon, stars, and sea, a celebration of correspondences and how transformative they can be, a luminous communion.
CC: What do you hope people feel when they bring your art into their homes?
MK: Most people tell me that my art makes them happy. They love the simplicity of it, the positive energy, perhaps the same naïve quality you have when you are a child, but they feel the connections, the correspondences that brought it all together. I love it when people send me photos of my art on their walls, and I can feel the energy transfer in it. I hope people feel the energy of it all.
CC: What’s next for Flowerness Farm?
MK: We are very excited to be working on a gallery gala project of 100 larger ship journal paintings planned for the Brimfield Antique Show for May 2026, happening right in our tent! I will take place of the incredible atmosphere of the Brimfield show under the Spring sky at Quaker Acres. It’s impossibly challenging, ambitious, and so exciting! It’s a “romance between art and words”, as I am doing the painting, and my husband is writing the ship journal entries that will be part of the paintings. Through our collaboration, we are trying to conjure a narrative through a single, consistent voice. We are walking the plank, but pushing ourselves is what keeps us going.
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