over under

water lilies are among my favorite leaves to dry. something about drying them brings out the pinks and purples on the underside of the leaves. i find the color incredibly pleasing. the gradation from mauve to wine red compels me to linger. stay a while. relax.

dried water lily leaves

a roll of the dice

pressing flowers and plants is a roll of the dice. you cover them with paper. sandwich them between boards. screw them tight. and then hope for the best. sometimes they rot. sometimes they disintegrate. sometimes they fold awkwardly. and sometimes they create wooly-headed darlings like these clematis. this one came up sevens.

pressed clematis 

what is left behind

i love how the vascular networks in the petals of dried flowers seem to hold their pigment while the rest of the petal fades. like bones waiting for their moment, after the flesh disappears.

pressed northern blue flag iris

new friends in an old location

i opened up a plant press this afternoon, and got reacquainted with some friends i tried to preserve last spring. these apple blossoms appear to have benefited from spending almost all of 2020 in the dark and quiet, completely isolated from the world. i could have used a little more of that myself.

pressed crabapple blossoms

movement and flow

i’ve begun working on a big project that has all my time, and my attention, at the moment. so i didn’t get a STILL image made today. i dug into my archive and found this fun assemblage from a year or two ago. it still delights me. i love the movement with all the curved pieces. i love the earth tones. i love the feeling of flow. as if this were a season, sliding down the current toward the season that would replace it.

i hope you’re delighted too.