Petal n Fern Impressions

Artist & Gardener - The natural beauty that surrounds me in my garden has always been a source of inspiration. Hesitant to leave it all behind at summer’s end, I began to press plants to study and enjoy during the long winter months. This lifelong pastime became serious when I started to devote more time to perfecting my "pressing" skills. Now, I anxiously await each new garden season to discover what nature will wax lyrical. My botanical art begins with pressed plants, but the art does not take shape until the colors of the plants and the background papers are finally matched. The true artistic quality of each work begins to form when the plant takes its natural shape and recreates its place in the garden on a background that complements its colors and textures. Each plant, from wildflowers and ferns to prized roses and hydrangeas, possesses that unique artistic quality (so perfectly captured in Georgia O’Keefe’s single flower masterpieces) that truly inspires the imagination. The pressed botanical art image featured on this page is a sprig of Summer Beauty French hydrangeas permanently captured on a French postcard background. The entire process (growing the plants, pressing for 2-3 weeks, and creating the art) is a long one, but the pressed botanical art that is created can be enjoyed in any season for many years to come. The flowers and ferns featured in my artwork are home-grown in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.