Nature Captured Forever

Botanical Art in the home

When I lived in Florida I discovered a new avocation. The ecosystem that Tallahassee is a part of encourages such varied plant life. When faced with this beauty everywhere, I decided that I wanted to bring it inside, but I didn’t want bouquets of cut flowers that would fade and die, and I already had a great many indoor plants, so the challenge was to find another way to capture nature and enjoy it inside.

That was when I discovered botanical art. Everywhere I looked there were plants, flowers, grasses and trees with beautiful and varied colors, shapes and even textures. I just had to find a way to capture them.

One day, while browsing a Habitat For Humanity resale store I discovered the solution to my dilemma. Habitat had boxes and boxes of switch plates and plug covers. All were on sale for ten cents each, and I had a few bucks in my purse begging to be spent. I loaded a bag and happily made my way home. Next I took a short walk around my front and back yards.

There before my eyes was beauty. Each leaf, flower and grass I looked at inspired me, and they were all very small. Most weren’t as large as a penny. I grabbed a basket and collected a hand full of this, and a hand full of that and took them back inside the house.

The switch and plug plates were a boring white, so my first task was to apply some color. I solved this by gluing hand made papers to the front of each. Then I took flowers, leaves and grasses and made pictures with them. I glued them down, then when dry I covered the whole thing with several thin layers of glue, allowing each layer to dry.

Some of my attempts turned out terribly, the flowers didn’t stick, or they were so delicate that they blended into the background paper. Others turned out very well.

After I perfected my technique I branched out to larger flowers and different backgrounds.

Now I have these beauties throughout my home, reminding me of my time in Florida and the beauty that God has blessed us with in nature.