I missed to point out what other reasons why pressed flower art is kinda amazing and special for me. First off, I love flowers (but who does not?)... funny however, that a few days back, my daughter asked, "Ma, why don't you like flowering plants?" and I said, "Huh?"
"You don't seem to plant those with flowers..." she explained. Then added, "Ivvong picked the flower of your plants again," referring to perennials (I am also an absolute idiot about plant names) in can pots I have in my apartment mini-garden. In fact, those are the only plants I have that produce flowers, it's like pansies but smaller, in red and pink. And my daughter just partly answered her own question.
I don't like picking flowers from plants. If I could make the flowers in their best bloom stay forever, then, that's it... And it is why preserving flowers for me is special one time I bought a bag of silica gel to preserve roses and all the beautiful flowers I can gather. I succeeded to preserve their faded color for a few days, but after several more days, they all turned brown. And all my enthusiasm about flower preservation died with it... well, not exactly. I found out some straw flowers / grasses maintain their original colors and features even when preserved. I stuck with this bunch and created wreaths and topiaries for sometime. Made some little money. Then, there are what we Ilocanos call pagay billit. I simply love them because they are sturdy and dainty they could highlight a thrash anytime.
With the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild, I not only started to learn a few basic tricks but also got awed by the beauty of their arts. It takes a ton of patience just to place one piece of pressed leaf or flower in the right place, but with their works, it was like, OMG! How were they able to do this?
Paint (watercolor, oil, pastel) and mixed media are for me much easier to control and manipulate, but with pressed flowers? I was like, oh no, it got stuck in the wrong place! and would abandon or get discouraged at what I am doing... pressed flowers are very delicate and one little mistake could rip apart a treasure you've preserved... that difficult. And I was only talking about placing a couple or 3 pieces in place... as in basic. But then, as I already mentioned earlier, majority of things I know about arts & crafts are self-taught. Well, I actually attended a summer painting class one time and the lecturer was a pro he did a waterfall landscape without a draft --- just the paints directly on canvass, and it made me think since then that a sketch, pattern, or a guide is for sissies. I create most of my works from scratch, as in nada. And I never get to return to one piece again after I finish it. Just keep on doing what can be done out of materials I have, by whim if you may call it. That was a little stupid, of course. And the tragedy of it is that I only found out that that stupid thought is really stupid just a couple of days back, as in literally.
So, now, I hope you get the point. Pressed flower art is one of the most challenging and fifficult form I have ever encountered and these ladies will remain to overwhelm me for-ever. Well, you better checkout their works to believe it...
Here is a sample of Simona's detailed work.
"You don't seem to plant those with flowers..." she explained. Then added, "Ivvong picked the flower of your plants again," referring to perennials (I am also an absolute idiot about plant names) in can pots I have in my apartment mini-garden. In fact, those are the only plants I have that produce flowers, it's like pansies but smaller, in red and pink. And my daughter just partly answered her own question.
I don't like picking flowers from plants. If I could make the flowers in their best bloom stay forever, then, that's it... And it is why preserving flowers for me is special one time I bought a bag of silica gel to preserve roses and all the beautiful flowers I can gather. I succeeded to preserve their faded color for a few days, but after several more days, they all turned brown. And all my enthusiasm about flower preservation died with it... well, not exactly. I found out some straw flowers / grasses maintain their original colors and features even when preserved. I stuck with this bunch and created wreaths and topiaries for sometime. Made some little money. Then, there are what we Ilocanos call pagay billit. I simply love them because they are sturdy and dainty they could highlight a thrash anytime.
With the World Wide Pressed Flower Guild, I not only started to learn a few basic tricks but also got awed by the beauty of their arts. It takes a ton of patience just to place one piece of pressed leaf or flower in the right place, but with their works, it was like, OMG! How were they able to do this?
Paint (watercolor, oil, pastel) and mixed media are for me much easier to control and manipulate, but with pressed flowers? I was like, oh no, it got stuck in the wrong place! and would abandon or get discouraged at what I am doing... pressed flowers are very delicate and one little mistake could rip apart a treasure you've preserved... that difficult. And I was only talking about placing a couple or 3 pieces in place... as in basic. But then, as I already mentioned earlier, majority of things I know about arts & crafts are self-taught. Well, I actually attended a summer painting class one time and the lecturer was a pro he did a waterfall landscape without a draft --- just the paints directly on canvass, and it made me think since then that a sketch, pattern, or a guide is for sissies. I create most of my works from scratch, as in nada. And I never get to return to one piece again after I finish it. Just keep on doing what can be done out of materials I have, by whim if you may call it. That was a little stupid, of course. And the tragedy of it is that I only found out that that stupid thought is really stupid just a couple of days back, as in literally.
So, now, I hope you get the point. Pressed flower art is one of the most challenging and fifficult form I have ever encountered and these ladies will remain to overwhelm me for-ever. Well, you better checkout their works to believe it...
Here is a sample of Simona's detailed work.
Comments