Archives for category: art

IMG_0310_cropAt first glimpse, this is a simple and classic botanical — pastel-tinted yellow archangel on a subtle heart-shaped background. On closer inspection, however, the graphics that surround the heart carry a special message: “I love you! Will you marry me?” Never underestimate the value of packaging the message!

Although I usually initial and date my pieces in a corner of the image, this one is signed verso for obvious reasons. See it properly matted and framed in my Etsy shop – My Stonington Garden.IMG_0311_crop

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The day before yesterday, I promised an update on this image when I decided what plant to use for the ‘bottom feeders’ in my second underwater fantasy in what is so far a series of 2. I needed something small enough to display as a ‘school’ within the composition but different in some way from my pastel-tinted azalea. Ultimately, I settled on Eunonynus.IMG_0307_crop

IMG_0299_cropI thought yesterday’s pseudo seascape needed a companion, but my dried dill was just a small-scale experiment. Even though it worked out well, it will be weeks before another batch will be ready to work with. What to do in the meantime? I decided to try the denuded flower stems of my Andromeda bush as bottom growth. Stuck with the Azalea fish though and turned yesterday’s ‘waves’ into todays ‘kelp’. Still, I need some bottom feeders, don’t you think? I’ll have to sleep on it. Check back tomorrow.

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After playing with wave and color effects, I was reminded of the sea so I checked my inventory of dried plants and selected dill as the main plant. To this I added a few curving fern leaflets and a ‘school’ of azalea leaves. My husband was reminded of winter instead because he thought the ‘bubbles’ looked like snow. That’s the beauty of fantasy. Everyone creates his or her own.

Meanwhile, I think I’ll pay more attention to my husband’s herb garden next season.

IMG_0256Right now my gardens are covered by two feet of snow from the “Blizzard of 2013” How optimistic of the media to assume the worst is over in that way. The only casualty in my garden was my beautiful and very old Euonymous fortunei. It’s lying in its side pinned to the earth by heavy snow. We are holding out just a little hope that we can right it when the snow melts, but I see my garden through rose-colored glasses sometimes.

All I can do right now is make the best of it. The little flower bud clusters may or may not press well, but with the buds removed, the flower drupes make great little “trees” to support other types of leaves. Meanwhile, the Andromeda is evergreen so the little leaf rosettes which resemble Schefflera may just be candidates for pressing as well. Time will tell.

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It’s always a dilemma to decide whether to present foliage on its own — whether enhanced or not — or to use it to represent other things. Both work for me but rarely do they work together.

LoisLawrence(MyStoningtonGarden)#2ARTsansGlgPinkCaladiumOne truth about the creative process is that as new ideas evolve old ones — even the best old ones — can fall into the shadows. Mindful of this, I have tried to keep all of the threads of this work growing even as new ones develop. I think of my pieces as either ‘straight botanicals’– meaning that, aside from providing the right background to compliment the plant, I keep myself out of the equation — or as botanical compositions.

Within the second category are a lot of sub-categories. For instance, some of my more contemporary graphics– especially those I use to support light grasses — are meant as the focal point of the composition with the grasses serving as enhancement only.

When I incorporate poetry or other text, on the other hand, I present it in a way that allows it to disappear into the background on first inspection. Check out some examples at my etsy shop by the same name as my blog.