Back Again

So I kind of let this blog go for quite a long time. I had been looking for a new platform, then a new website, then I just got busy... and here we are. ( For now)

 Above: " Fine Day For A Swim"  Pressed flowers on canvas. The background is painted, the sea life is all pressed botanical materials.

This version of " The Lion King " was created for the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show. The entire picture was made using fall leaves. It received an Honorable Mention.

How Long ?

Recently I entered two pictures in the Pressed Plants Competition at the Philadelphia Flower Show. I finally got to make an abstract piece I've often thought of doing, as the theme for that particular class allowed us to create a work inspired by a famous artist. So I chose Kadinsky and I made this using all pressed leaves and flowers.

 

The abstract was fun to make.

 

The other picture I entered was a lot more detailed. The class called for a garden to resemble an artist's style of painting. I went with Claude Monet. This picture took much longer than the abstract because of all of the little pieces used to create the "impressionist" look.

 

 

This "Artist's Garden" took home an honorable mention. Again it 100% made with pressed flowers and other botanicals.

 

 

People always ask how long it takes to make "that" , referring to one of my petal painted pictures. I usually answer the amount of time (usually several days or weeks) that it takes to create the piece. When I think about it, I am wrong. Truth is it probably took me at least twice as long. Pressed flowers is a great form of art that is also timely, not only in creating artistic works, but in collecting, preparing, pressing, sorting and organizing sometimes hundreds to thousands of botanicals. It's a process that is redundant at times, yet calming to me. It's my passion. It's what I do. So I don't think much about the time and the process, but the end result, which despite the labors, is the true reward.