Botanical art

My Paper Plants

| Flower Roberts

The green is gone here on the mountain. My other home is never this brown in November. The wind and cold have kept me inside more than I am used to. These conditions are causing what I call “green anemia.”

Plant people know what I am referring to. I do have a few special plants here, but they cannot compare to my indoor jungle back home.

Two clivias, a cereus and an epiphyllum

To address my need for green, I have a large selection of paper plants. I have put these out on the Zebra so I can walk by and get a plant buzz. I will take you on a tour of my paper conservatory.

Mary Delay Notecards

Here is the back of the box. If you have never seen her work made of cut colored paper, stop reading and look her up. I have several books about her life. You need to know her.

The Passion flower on the right is my favorite.

My sis ordered an antique book about her for me as a gift. It is one of my treasures.

THIS book has artwork from Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. It has groupings so you can pick your fix for the day.

Botanicum curated by Katie Scott and Kathy Willis

Almost every page is frameworthy.  I consider this another treasure.

Ornamental shrubs

Wildflowers

I got this WALL COLLAGE set with two sided cards and sticky circles. You can make your own diplay of plants, animals, fungi, planets… If you have a little scientist or artist, they should have something similar to play with. Cards could be sorted or copied. I can imagine a lot of thoughtful quiet-time with this.

Wall collage kit

The last book I will share is a sticker book.

Unbelievable artwork

I have not removed a single sticker. It is too precious to dismantle.

Desert plants section
Rainforest section

I will share more in another post. This is how I plan to survive my first winter on the mountain. If you know someone who suffers from “green anemia” you may want to get them a survival kit of paper plants.

FLOWER

A Beautiful Botany Book from Kew

| Flower Roberts

This is one of my favorite gifts from my daughter, Rose. It has the most gorgeous illustrations of plants. It is also organized into plant types and explains how those plants are related.

It is a book I wonder through on cold, rainy days. I can pretend I am in the rainforest among the tall trees and hanging vines.

Or I can dream of being in a warm Orchid House among the breathtaking blooms.

This very large book also serves as a piece of art in my library. Illustrator Katie Scott and writer Kathy Willis have created a treasure for anyone who loves botany or unusual plants. Brava!

FLOWER

Tea and Stones

| Flower Roberts

Sometimes I am lead down unexpected paths of discovery. I have been sick for ten days, so I have spent a lot of time searching shoes, purses and brooches on-line. I have been sucked into the internet for hours at a time. Here is an example of one of my internet adventures.

My latest path started with a tea box. I was perusing the many choices of teas on the internet and was drawn to a specific type due to its lovely box. I purchased the tea to get its box to make a bookmark with it. I was drawn to the box because it reminded me of the botanical work of Mary Delany.

Then I looked up Mary Delany and ordered this lovely box of cards with photos of her flower mosaics on them. I was trying to tell folks about this remarkable woman who did not start making these marvels until the age of 72. She is one of my ‘old lady idols. ‘

The cards came in the most beautiful box…another box for me.

I realized I wanted to learn more about Mary Delany, so I looked up books about her life. I ordered the one by Molly Peacock and put another by Ruth Hayden on my Christmas list. I hope Santazon brings it!

We even waited at the gate for the book’s delivery. (I stalk my delivery people on-line.) It was later delivered to our neighbor’s porch, so Mr. Flower had to go retrieve it in the dark. Since he went to all that trouble, I felt compelled to start reading the book immediately. It is fabulous and has many photographs of Mary Delany’s art and several of Mary herself.

Then a fellow blogger posted a lovely blog about painted rocks being left out for folks to find.

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/24620341/posts/4372809849.

I thought this was an interesting idea since I am intimidated by the thought of painting on canvas. I have plenty of river rock and paint. I also have thousands of photographs of flowers. I figured that painting my flowers onto rocks would make better plant markers than my chop sticks, plastic knives, etc. that I inevitably step on and break.

So, this is how a box of tea lead to stones.

FLOW