June Bunch is an artist who loves botanical illustrations. Along with that, she is a folk singer/songwriter. In her spare time, she does graphics and marketing for the Morean Art Center. In August, she filled in for Woman of Song Fiona Frensche while she was on her European tour. Now, she has her own show on RadioStPete.com Sunshine 96.7FM, Lyrical Ladies. How does she do it? Coffee fuels her journey, yoga and meditation center her soul. “I try to recalibrate every day and ask myself what’s important? I think that if you start the day with a purpose,” said Bunch. “You end the day feeling good and for me, having multiple purposes just makes me feel better.”
Making Music with June Bunch
She started singing as a kid, self-taught and precocious in a family of musicians and artists. Bunch began her songwriting career as a street performer in Asheville. She sang her original songs between folky covers and spritely persona quickly gained a faithful following. While there, Bunch established a songwriting circle, hosting many “Writers in the Round” to showcase the community’s original talents. During quarantine, she released her first E.P.
Not Much and Then Some from her home studio. As a solo and duo act, Bunch expressed excitement about playing with her new band, The Dead Stews. Recently, the band performed at New World Music Hall for the Pop-Up Music Co-op: Artist Showcase and Musician Networking Event. Bunch founded this project. The mission of this free project is to create a collective of musical collaborators. Participants share their contact and instruments, then get connected with quarterly projects. At the end, each project participates in the showcase.
Arts All Around!
The Gabber Newspaper covers live theater and art across South Pinellas and, when we find something worth the drive, in the Tampa Bay and Sarasota areas. June Bunch: Botanical Illustrations and Graphics
Her art and music sensibilities are meshed in her mountain roots. She started One Fruit Forward in 2020 in St. Petersburg after she began drawing botanical images for a Florida plant nursery the same year. She moved to Juneau, Alaska and became a naturalist guide. This job inspired her to debut a series of botanical ballerinas, au naturale. June studied plants’ “choreography” of growth and illuminated their dance with vibrant colors and clean lines. Her visual art remains rooted in botany and ballet, featuring postures pausing movement and holding emotional richness. Each highlighted feminine nature and flora in a bold and empowering way. “It kind of started with helping my grandpa in the garden,” Bunch said. “I would see the plants grow and he would explain how some are fast, some are kind of sneaky and just sit and wait. They all have personalities.” She continued to describe how she couldn’t help humanizing plants. “As a botanist, you are explaining to the tour what is going on with the plant,” said Bunch.”It felt like poetry to express the human form in botany.” She plans to release a 2024 series of birth month flowers as a 12-piece set in 2025. She will do this in between her full-time job and singing/songwriting/radio hosting gigs.
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