We recently connected with Melissa Allegories and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Gallery Walls to Quiet Moments: Dreaming, Creating & Growing Time2Bloom

This year, I presented our first commercial solo exhibition in a gallery space, serendipitously showcasing eight pieces at The Robert A. Peck Gallery at Central Wyoming College in Riverton, Wyoming. It was also my first attempt at making a sale, as well as using the Time2Bloom brand package method. Time2Bloom is a creative brand and for-profit initiative under Smile Sweet Sunflower LLC. Established in 2011, it received copyright protection and achieved partial trademark registration through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2024. Dedicated to nurturing human potential through storytelling and unique, exclusive art, Time2Bloom fuses creativity with purpose to inspire growth and transformation through collective consciousness.

We are working to showcase intricate relief paintings and allegorical pieces that depict stories and values through symbolism. I was honored to participate in several group exhibitions this year, including Summer Time (Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA), HOPE springs… (Arts Illiana Gallery, Terre Haute, IN), Botanic and May Flowers (Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA), BLOOM Art Exhibition (The Galleria, Fort Lauderdale, FL), and Flowers and Trees (MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA).

I wasn’t sure if my quirky narrative artwork would be the right fit. Rustic Treehouse, Circa 2024 was featured in HOPE springs… at the Arts Illiana Gallery! To my surprise, On the Banks, Circa 2024 was selected as one of the new additions for an evening exhibition at Galleria Ft. Lauderdale in celebration of Earth Day, joining many other talented artists. I also showcased Uphill, Circa 2024 in the Flowers and Trees art exhibition at the MVA Gallery (Modern Visual Arts) in historic Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Arsh Sharma, from the YouTube channel Fuzz Culture, said in his video titled Why Society Hates Artists (And Always Has), “Artists are the originators of the ideas of tomorrow. They change minds. They challenge power. They expose corruption. These are ideas that dream up a reality that doesn’t exist right now and may be implemented years later. These are the ideas that matter.” He further stated, “In democratic societies, they don’t ban artists. They just make sure they can’t survive.”

I’ve found myself wondering: why is chasing dreams so hard? And why is most of the population broke and in debt? We live in a world where dreaming often feels like an act of rebellion. Maybe, I’ll need a wingman. Perhaps, that’s the only way.

Nevertheless, I am grateful to sit in quiet for a moment —

To inhale and exhale, hearing the whooshing of cars and planes passing through the wind. To stay still, just for a moment, while life happens and the birds chirp.

I can worry about tomorrow,

About all the things I have yet to accomplish.

I can drench myself in the feeling of an oncoming cold.

Or I can relish in the fact that things will get better with time.

At a slow and steady pace,

Making a small effort every day.

Look how far we’ve come.

I know it’s not enough,

But it’s something.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The Intersection of Nature and Nurture

Smile Sweet Sunflower LLC (doing business as Time2Bloom) is an artist-led creative enterprise founded to develop allegorical visual art and literary projects that encourage personal growth and philosophical reflection.

Throughout my practice, I have used allegory to examine the human experience, emphasizing our relationship with the biosphere — on, above, and below where all life exists — as an active interplay between nature and nurture. I see this interaction as a cooperative effort between biological and environmental forces to sustain life, and I believe that cultivating harmony with the natural world is essential to achieving both personal and collective flourishing.

I am currently transitioning from mixed drawing mediums to a dedicated focus on painting while experimenting with dry brush, stencils, sign-painting and relief techniques — creating archival, long-lasting works that invite contemplation and introspection through color, texture and form.

Eudaimonia — Watering, Nurturing and Cultivating a Life Well-Lived explores what it means to live well in a fast-paced world. Drawing from philosophy, nature and allegory, I contrast speeding vehicles with blossoming gardens to reflect on growth, balance and human flourishing. The project invites viewers to slow down, breathe and reconnect with what truly matters. It provides a safe and reflective space to explore underrepresented social philosophies and paradoxes, encouraging critical reflection on how such ideas can contribute to shaping a sustainable future.

Ethics and the Evolving Narrative of Lében

I was awarded the Broward County Cultural Division’s Artists Support Grant in September 2023 to introduce and advance my ongoing project, MelissAllegories — an evolving narrative unfolding across five interconnected worlds, each with its own distinct characters and settings, intricately woven together to convey a rich spectrum of metaphors.

I am publicly private; it’s quite the conundrum. Although I am naturally private, reserved, and empathetic, I strive to stand out for good by communicating secular, ethical, and logical principles through the storytelling arts. At the root of all religions lies ethics, and I believe we need to go deeper to truly quench our souls. Consciousness is like an instrument— played harmoniously when we support one another.

In the process of inventing a fictitious world, I am letting the universe steer me as I race against time. Creating and building a narrative feels like uncovering hidden connections. As I research, ideas intuitively link—sometimes eerily, sometimes surprisingly—like discovering something I didn’t know I already knew. For example, I chose the Crow as the sentinel and imagined an Electric Forest engulfed in fire, only to later learn of its ties to the Great Plague of London. These unknowable connections breathe life into my work in ways I never expect.

The story unfolds with Centipede’s father, Ignorance Chilopod, driven by survival instincts to cannibalism. Ultimately, Ignorance Chilopod lives in solitude with his son on the banks of the Electric Forest. The narrative then shifts to the Caged-City, an urban environment that explores themes of freedom, confinement, societal structures, and the human condition, following the tragic Forest Fire.

MelissAllegories is an evolving allegorical narrative art collection that tells the story of Lében — a fictitious world — through visual arts and creative writing. At Smile Sweet Sunflower LLC, we believe in the power of allegorical stories to inspire critical thinking for discernment, encourage mindfulness to foster self-empowerment and personal growth, and celebrate cultural diversity to help create a more compassionate and equitable world where every individual can flourish and contribute meaningfully to society.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Yearning for More: The Struggle Between Integrity and Survival

There’s a natural yearning for more that we all seek. The opponent is survival, which can often jeopardize our integrity and our ability to do the right thing, even when no one’s watching. In Uphill: There she sat, uphill, dreaming. Meanwhile, her heart was screaming, beating like an ocean of emotions, steaming… She was forever longing for something more.

When we identify ourselves solely with the body, we forget that we are a collective consciousness. If we focused more on the deeper meanings behind our thoughts and emotions, rather than the fleeting frustrations, we might see things differently. It is this interconnectedness — our intertwined thoughts and emotions — that makes life strange, yet serves as a reminder that there’s something more than the trivial things we get upset about daily.

Magnolia, a character inspired by my personality and life experiences — not a complete replica, but a source of nuanced inspiration — finds solace in nature while wrestling with animalistic desires, intellectual pursuits and the quest to improve the social landscape.

I think most of us can relate to Magnolia in that we’re all striving to become something greater than what we are now, while navigating feelings of hopelessness, emptiness, the desire for affection and understanding, and the exhaustion of simply trying to survive. It’s about confronting discomfort, overcoming adversity, and more than anything, chasing dreams without settling for less.

Magnolia can be seen as a playful and soft character, unafraid to express her childlike, feminine side. In today’s world, however, being too feminine or youthful is often viewed as subordinate. This reflects a culture that undervalues softness, playfulness and vulnerability, mistaking them for weakness.

Magnolia moves in and out of her shadow self, understanding that the nature of being is never one-sided. She tends to exude traits, such as empathy, that are often misunderstood as weakness, rather than complementary strengths — traits that bring balance, creativity and humanity to a world increasingly driven by rigidity and competition. Empathy, as I’ve experienced it, is an extroverted feeling — it’s an awareness of emotions beyond oneself. In contrast, introverted feelers naturally understand their own emotions and express them outwardly, while extroverted feelers prioritize the emotions of others. Because of this, empaths must work harder to establish healthy boundaries.

“Try not to be friends with people who might stab you in the back”— that’s the motto! Our imaginations can both fuel and inhibit willpower, depending on how we use them. During tough times, when we can’t control the situation, the only thing we can try to control is our perspective and understanding of what’s happening.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Returning to My Creative Path: An Ongoing Journey in Art, Marketing, and Personal Growth

I originally set out with the goal of returning to the art industry. After gaining experience in Pharmacy, Education, and Horticulture, I decided to take a step closer to my creative roots by joining Michaels, where I worked in custom framing.

From there, I began working with Oliver Gal Artist Co., previously located in Hollywood, Florida, initially seeking a production role. That experience led me to opportunities with a robotics company and Bonnet House Museum & Gardens in Fort Lauderdale, each helping me stay connected to the arts in different ways. My intention at the time was to work in art-related environments, and although I’ve come a long way, I’m still finding my footing with my creative direction and financial stability.

Interestingly, I fell back into marketing without actively seeking it — though it wasn’t entirely new to me. Many years ago, I participated in the Academy of Finance, a vocational program that introduced me to the stock market, Microsoft Excel, and resume design. Through this program and a recommendation from my former high school art teacher, Jacquelin Downey, I earned a mentorship in graphic design and advertising, meeting professionals from the Sun-Sentinel and other companies. Shortly after high school, I studied Graphic Design for about a year at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale (2003–2004).

Over time, I realized I needed to learn how to promote myself as an artist, and I’ve since taken on several coordinator positions and participated in marketing pursuits across different fields — including my work with the robotics company — for various reasons. Although I took everything I was told and learned from my time at a marketing agency in Palm Beach County, Florida to expand my knowledge, I also implemented it into my own business endeavor.

I somehow found myself back in the art industry — and I don’t take that for granted. Every step has broadened my perspective and strengthened my understanding of how art, communication, and business intersect.

Now, I’m in a position I never imagined. I never thought I’d return to school, especially after completing the Education Reform program at Broward College with straight As — an experience that felt both arduous and tormenting — while also earning several leadership certificates through the National Society of Leadership and Success. Yet, next spring or summer, I plan to go back to school to study Marketing Operations, taking things slowly and steadily.

To put those feelings into words…

So often we’re surrounded by walls and liquid crystal displays backed by LEDs, mixed with our dilemmas within our socially constructed worlds.

As I step back for a moment to feel the breeze, to look up at the sky into the concrete world, I notice how small we are in a vast world — yet the problems we create, though big, are not completely insoluble.

In the meantime, I’m continuing to seek grants and funding opportunities to support my personal creative projects and bring my long-term artistic vision to life. Together, we can help beautiful ideas blossom and spread kindness. Support my mission to create meaningful art — your encouragement makes all the difference: buymeacoffee.com/time2bloom

Contact Info:

• Website: https://time2bloom.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/time2bloomofficial
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Time2BloomCo
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/time2bloom
• Twitter: https://x.com/Time2BloomCo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Time2BloomCo
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/melrose85/sets/at-the-garden
• Other: https://melissartworks.com

Image Credits

Melissa Allegories