Art, in its broadest meaning, is the expression of creativity and/or imagination. There is a variety of arts, including visual arts and design, decorative arts, plastic arts, and the performing arts. Artistic expression takes many forms viz., painting, drawing, sculpture, music, literature, performance art, printmaking, film, and possibly architecture as the most widely recognized forms. However, since the advent of modernism and the technological revolution, new forms like photography, comics, video art, computer art, etc., have emerged. Similarly, such art forms with depictions of flowers, flower bearing plants or other flower related materials are collectively referred to as Floral Art Forms or flower art forms.

Traditional Flower Art Forms

Making flower arrangements by itself is a great floral art. Making artificial flowers, silk flowers, paper flowers, clay flowers, drying flowers, flower painting, flower clip art, flower shows, flower tattoos, virtual flower cards, flower photos, flower posters, flower screensavers, flower wallpapers, and flower widgets constitute other popular forms of flower art.

Flowers & art are intensely intertwined with each other. The University of Virginia Art Museum organizes an annual event "Flowers Interpret Art", which proclaims that flower arranging is a great art.

Although flowers are naturally beautiful, it is the artistic arrangement of flowers that enhances their beauty through flower arrangement. Ikebana, the Japanese word for the art of flower arranging, is more popular today. Ikebana means "living flowers", but a more accurate interpretation would be an ´arrangement of plant material´. Ikebana strives to convey through symbolism how nature and art relate to daily living.

There is no event worth the name in the universe without some or the other kind of floral arrangement involved. It is here that floral designers come into the picture. Floral designers create their designs according to the occasion – weddings, birthdays, parties, etc., and even funerals – each having specific flower arrangement patterns.

Different kinds of flower arrangements by various floral designers around the world are exhibited at flower shows. The Philadelphia Flower Show (U.S.), Chelsea Flower Show (London), Toronto Flower and Garden Show (Canada) etc., are some popular flower shows. Flower shows serve as venues for learning about the art of gardening, art of arranging flowers and such other information about flowers.

Making artificial flowers is another wonderful floral art form. It is the art of manufacturing imitation flowers, which look no different from natural flowers. Silk Flowers, soap flowers, paper flowers, clay flowers, plastic flowers, porcelain flowers, etc., are examples of artificial flowers. When properly designed, artificial flower arrangements can be just as beautiful as a real flower arrangements.

Drying flowers and arranging dried flowers is another floral art form for decorating home and offices as well. Dried flowers, whether used in bouquets, pressed flower pictures, or potpourri, or on hats, wreaths, kissing balls, shadow boxes, hearth brooms, shaker boxes, window ornaments, door swags, inspire us to recreate a gentler time of beauty and elegance.

Art, in general usage, is most often thought of as painting. the art of Painting is the most poular art form. Similarly, flower painting holds a special place in the hearts of art lovers and flower lovers. Paintings of flowers have their antecedents in the herbal and scientific depictions of plants. Flower tattoo is another favorite floral art with many, especially with the youth where the body is pierced in the form of an image of a flower or a plant, which looks like a flower painting on the body.

Modern Flower Art Forms

Technological innovations have brought other floral arts like flower clip art, virtual flower cards, flower photos, flower posters, flower screensavers, flower wallpapers and flower widgets to the fore. Flower clip art is one of the most popular online floral arts today. The purpose of flower clip art is to provide a pool of generic art that can be reused by non-artists, who bhave a great love for art and flowers.

Virtual greeting cards are postcards with special wishes for all ocassions can be sent via the Internet, usually through email. Virtual flower cards convey messages with ease and almost instantaneously with a beautiful virtual flower.

With the advent of photography and printing technology, photos and posters entered the arena of art. Since flowers are a natural source of inspiration for any artist and for that matter for anyone, flower photos and flower posters comfortably gained popularity in the world of art, especially floral art.

Similarly, flower screensavers and flower wallpapers are very popular with the PC-owning community for their personal desktops. So is the case with flower widgets on the desktops of computers.