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In ALL POSTS, ART, WORDS On
January 21, 2019

Scents Are Memories

gardenia botanical illustration

Where do scents take you?

Gardenia takes me right back to middle school and the gardenia scented Bath and Body lotion I loved so much. It also brings to mind a candle I used to sell in my bookshop a long time ago. I can still hear the tinkle of the bell on the door and remember how the town square sat so pretty outside the window.

Tuberose is our porch in the summertime growing up, at the exact moment of sunset, crimson and orange behind the tall stem with the pretty white flower.

The scent of hay and grass are those long August days when it seemed like ages since the last rain shower, when sweat ran in rivulets down my back and the air was a little heavier than other days.

Tomato stems are summer Saturday evenings under my wide straw hat, watching my dad water his garden.

What scents take you somewhere else, transport you completely? Do they take you to a certain moment or take you to a certain feeling?

In ALL POSTS, ART On
January 14, 2019

Tiny Alien Skulls

snapdragon botanical illustration

What’s your favorite flower name?

Mine has to be snapdragons! I love pinching the blooms on the sides and letting them snap back into place. And snapdragon seed pods look like weird little tiny alien skulls. What’s not to love here?

In ALL POSTS, ART, WORDS On
December 31, 2018

Imperfections Are What’s Beautiful

anemone botanical illustration

Imperfections are what is beautiful. When I’m choosing blooms to sketch, I look for asymmetry, uneven petals, curled and overgrown leaves. It is these things that make each flower different from the rest, it’s what makes them memorable. Even more, it’s what makes them real.

In ALL POSTS, ART, WORDS On
December 27, 2018

Daisy Fleabane And Summertime

daisy fleabane botanical illustration

You know those magic things that pull the oldest memories to the front of your mind? That fill the dimmest, grayest, murkiest thoughts with color and sound?

These tiny flowers do that for me. When I look at them, I immediately remember being a little girl, sitting on a blanket in the shade on a scorching summer day. I’d pick them from the grass and run their petals – impossibly soft – along my cheek where they’d stick in the sweat at my temples. I’d imagine they were fairy crowns or make them into rings or kiss them and make a wish.

Isn’t it funny how memories work? What’s the oldest memory you have?