Life in Full Color: What Art Teaches Us About Friendship
Art helps us appreciate life’s beauty — and reminds us that friendship is life’s most colorful masterpiece.
Jul 13, 2025
Written by our Founder and Chairman, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.
Earlier this year, I wrote about how art helps us grapple with life’s biggest questions, like why we’re here and how we come to terms with our mortality. Paintings, music, and stories don’t offer neat answers, but they give us a way to process the mystery.
But, as I’ve been reflecting further, I’ve realized something else: Art not only helps us understand the big, eternal questions but also the smaller, everyday moments.
Picture the way Norman Rockwell brought ordinary moments to life on canvas, or how Henri Matisse used color to evoke the warmth of a summer afternoon. Contemporary artists like Drue Kataoka, who blends various materials inspired by Zen philosophy, continue the tradition in new and thought-provoking ways. These artworks show us that joy isn’t reserved for grand occasions but rather in the quiet rituals that make up a life.
And perhaps no everyday joy is more universal than friendship. Some of the most powerful works of art reveal how friendships look and feel. Even if you’re feeling down, friends remind us of the comfort of companionship and the human need to be understood.
The art of friendship
On a recent visit to Miami — which always feels like a vibrant city in South America and New York’s sixth borough all rolled into one — I had the pleasure of spending time with an artist whose work radiates joy, color, and the warmth of true friendship.
Romero Britto’s style blends pop art and street art, with clear nods to Picasso’s cubism, the playfulness of Keith Haring and Roy Lichtenstein, and the bold color of Matisse. But what makes Romero Britto’s work unmistakably, well, Britto, is the optimism that shines through every brushstroke.
When I stepped into the Britto Palace (yes, he really has one!), I was immediately struck by the scale and vibrancy of his work. His art doesn’t just depict connection; it celebrates it.
One piece in particular — “Friendship” from 1995 — captures the joy of being loved just as you are. It shows a cat and dog in a happy embrace, the cat mid-lick, both smiling with unselfconscious delight. Surrounding them is a riot of color and pattern, Britto’s signature dots, stripes, and zigzags creating a sense of movement and emotion.
There’s a childlike innocence in the piece, but also a universal truth: Friendship, at its best, is colorful, loyal, spontaneous, and full of heart.
Capturing the joy of friendship
One of the joys of art is how it helps us connect across time and place. But often, when we talk about the world’s great artists, we’re left wondering what they would say because they’re no longer with us. Fortunately, that’s not the case with Romero Britto. He’s very much alive, thriving, and creating.
In this week’s Celebrate Your Story podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Britto about what inspires him. I discovered that his work isn’t just about friendship. In many ways, it exists because of it. From painting on scraps of newspaper in the streets of Miami to installing public art in cities around the globe, Britto's journey has always been fueled by connection and the friends who believed in him.
Born in Brazil as one of nine children, Britto, 61, showed artistic talent early on but had limited resources. When he decided to leave law school and pursue art full-time, it was the encouragement of friends that helped him take that leap.
After moving to the United States, he began selling his work on sidewalks, often supported by friends who helped him find materials or introduced him to local shop owners. One friend connected him to a store in Miami’s artistic neighborhood of Coconut Grove, where Britto's work started to sell. Eventually, a small gallery gave him the shot that led to his first major break: a commission from Absolut Vodka, which had previously featured artists like Andy Warhol.
From there, Britto's career skyrocketed. He partnered with Disney, Coca-Cola, FIFA, and the Olympics. And yet, through it all, he’s never lost sight of the people who helped him get there. As he told me: “My closest friends don’t ask me for anything, and I don’t ask anything from them. That’s how you know it’s real.”
How friendship is like a splash of color
As our conversation came to a close, Romero said something that’s stayed with me:
“Life without color wouldn’t be the same. Just imagine it — everything in black, white, and gray. Color brings energy. It creates emotion. It inspires.”
That describes art and friendship. Without our friends, life would be flat, muted, and more than a little bit lonely. Our friends are the splash of color in our lives.
Britto's art reminds us that even in uncertain times, we can choose joy. We can choose connection. And we can brighten someone’s day in ways both big and small. That’s why I’m especially proud of a project I’ve been working on with Britto that combines the joy of flowers with the joy of his art. Each vase bursts with his style of vivid patterns, bold colors, and the energy of connection. And they’ll last even after the blooms are gone.
This collaboration is the direct result of a friendship that began over a shared meal in Miami and blossomed into something lasting. It’s yet another example of how friendship, like art, can lead to beautiful things.
As we celebrate Friendship Month, I encourage you to reach out, reconnect, and brighten someone’s world with a splash of color.
All the best,
Jim
Explore Popular Celebrations Pulse Topics
AUTHOR
Jim McCann is the founder and chairman of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. as well as a business leader, author, and philanthropist with a passion for helping people deliver smiles. Devoted to helping others, he also founded Smile Farms, a 501(c)3 organization that provides meaningful jobs in agricultural settings to young adults and adults with developmental disabilities.
