Daniela Ölweiner, a contemporary artist from Klagenfurt, Austria, has developed a unique artistic approach that combines traditional portrait painting with pressed flowers to create deeply meaningful artworks. Her innovative technique involves incorporating self-picked, dried, and preserved flowers into portraits, giving each piece extraordinary depth, individuality, and a harmonious fusion of color and nature.

"I focus intensively on character traits – every person carries a different flower within themselves," explains Ölweiner, whose passion for connecting nature with human essence is evident in every piece she creates. The artist's philosophy goes beyond surface-level representation, as she notes, "For me, it's not about the face, but about the character that lies beneath. That's why the flowers I ultimately incorporate into a painting are the essential element of my artworks."

Ölweiner, who trained as a kindergarten teacher, has been painting throughout her entire life and works with various materials while engaging in philosophical discourse through her art. "The meaning of your own existence is to get to know yourself, to recognize your strengths and what does you good, because that's how you flourish," she reflects. "My flower characters are meant to show how much we all bloom – every person is perfect in their own unique way."

Her surname proves prophetic, as the Klagenfurt-based artist works primarily with oil paints and enhances her paintings with flowers she personally picks, dries, and preserves. Her creative process is both methodical and intuitive: "I paint every face and head completely – with eyes and hair. Then I modify what I've created and reduce it until it feels right to me. The personality has to come through, and often that doesn't require a nose or ears. The flowers I add give the portrait a radiant personality."

Ölweiner first exhibited her flower character portraits in 2021 at venues in Klagenfurt's harbor district and the Diocesan House. Since then, her artworks have traveled throughout Austria, leaving behind both visual impact and literal fragrance for her customers. "I've had many wonderful encounters with people who have purchased my paintings," she shares. "My portrait was essential for that person's further development."

The artist carries her flower press everywhere she goes, constantly collecting botanical specimens for her work. During an art trip to Sri Lanka in February, she gathered native plants, though her heart also belongs to Austrian meadow flowers. "They appear small and inconspicuous, but in the paintings they radiate incredible power," she observes.

Sometimes Ölweiner rediscovers pressed flowers years later by chance – tucked away in old books or found in her grandmother's basement. Beyond her portrait work, she also creates various jewelry pieces using dried flowers and processes flowers from bridal bouquets into lasting artworks. Her paintings ultimately convey a powerful message: that regardless of our differences, we are all perfect in our own unique ways and bloom differently, each person carrying their own special beauty and character.