Shelly Kerten Maderer
Instagram
A Series · Mixed media, stones & gold leaf

Smile at the world, and the world
will smile back

I created this series from a deep wish to imagine a better world — a joyful, optimistic, colorful world filled with light.

The series features smiling butterflies and smiling flowers, creating a visual language of happiness, innocence, and hope. The smiling flowers were also freely inspired by the iconic floral imagery of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, whose work has transformed the smiling flower into a contemporary symbol of color, pop culture, and optimism.

The butterfly motif appears repeatedly in my art, as for me it represents freedom, transformation, and movement. Flowers symbolize renewal, blooming, and color — and for me, color is life.

“Smile at the world, and the world will smile back” is an invitation to choose joy, to recognize beauty in simplicity, and to believe that even a small smile can spread great light.


No. 26 The Joy Keeper — Mixed media on canvas

The Joy Keeper

80 × 100 cm

Mixed media on canvas

No. 27 She Blooms in Color — Mixed media on canvas

She Blooms in Color

70 × 80 cm

Mixed media on canvas

No. 28 A Smile with Wings — Mixed media on canvas

A Smile with Wings

40 × 40 cm

Mixed media on canvas

No. 29 The Garden of Smiles — Stones, gold leaf, and mixed media on canvas

The Garden of Smiles

30 × 50 cm

Stones, gold leaf, and mixed media on canvas

No. 30 Wings of Joy — Stones, gold leaf, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas

Wings of Joy

50 × 50 cm

Stones, gold leaf, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas

All series The full collection