A couple of months ago, photographer Ted Mishima introduced me to Nina Nightshade. I had seen pictures of a photo shoot that they had done together where she was wearing the most incredible raven’s head. I found out that her husband had made this masterpiece for her to wear at some of her burlesque shows. I made a necklace, ring and a scarf for our photo shoot. It was another super fun project!
A couple of months ago I was trilled to find a hornets nest, encased in 5 large cones of sugar pine in the booth of Wreath Sources at the Portland Flower Market. And I also found a mega fungus, about 1′ in diameter as well as some beautiful small bird feathers from J.Foss Flowers. I secured both large pieces onto a 3′ long moss covered log with ferns and then decorated it with lots of textures and some hellebores. What a fun project, which was perfectly captured by Theresa Bear.
Last November I had the wonderful opportunity to teach a workshop at The Floral Reserve in Providence, RI. Owner Semia started this magnificent wholesale business in the fall of 2017; she wanted to have access to the most stunning flowers and textures to use in her wedding business, Flowers by Semia. The high ceilings with sky lights, the white walls and a bank of large windows create the most beautiful space for her incredible display of botanical treasures. The workshop took place in that area the first day when we focused on woodlands. The second day I taught in her studio space, which is conveniently located around the corner. Photographer Kirstin Capron documented the fabulous headpieces and jewelry that the students made.
Earlier this month we did a photo shoot at the fabulous store Digs Inside & Out in Sellwood. JJ de Sousa has a very ecclectic selection for interior decorating, as well as plants, books, candles… Check out her unique boutique! For the occasion made a couple of headpieces, a botanical stole and decorated a great metal box that JJ had in her shop.
Photography: Theresa Bear
Creative Director: Gwen Severson
Wardrobe: Wildfang
MUAH: Kelli Thomsen
Timber Press – a publishing company here in Portland, that specializes in gardening books – contacted me a year ago. Stacee explained that they wanted to publish a journal on medicinal herbs and was I interested in illustrating it? Of course the answer was a resounding yes! What an honor to be invited to participate in this project…
I had a lot of home work to do as I was not familiar with medicinal herbs at all. Talk about a very pleasant surprise: when doing research I found out that just about every plant has medicinal properties… Which meant that the sky was the limit when it came to the choices of flowers and textures that I could design with. And to make the project even sweeter, Timber Press gave me total creative license… Stacee mentioned the woodlands; I interspersed them with some botanical couture, designs with fruits and veggies and a few hand-tied bouquets. And to sweeten the experience even more, I got to choose my photographer: Theresa Bear, who sees through her lens what my eyes see, was my number 1 choice! Thank you Theresa for the magnificent pictures!
“The Herbal Recipe Keeper is a beautiful, keepsake item that allows users to record the ways in which they have used healing plants—whether as medicinal formulations or as essential oil blends. It includes space to record botanical and common names, plant descriptions, harvesting notes, preparations uses, and details on dosage and safety. Additional features include an index that will help the user easily find recipes by plant name and undated monthly calendars. With 240 color photographs and a removable belly band, The Herbal Recipe Keeper is indispensable for fans of herbal medicine and essential oils and a thoughtful gift for anyone seeking a new path to health and wellness.” Timber Press
If you would like to purchase the book, click here
It was the 7th time that I taught at Cohim last month. It was a small group this time, only 4 students, and the unusual part about it was that they all were fluent in English! First time that my lovely translator Liz didn’t have to be a go-between.
The greatly talented ladies were from Russia, Indonesia and Hong Kong. As always it was a true delight to witness what they all created!
Here is a sample of the gorgeous designs that they made during those 6 days.
Beautiful imaged from one of the photographers at Cohim,
Here is a selection of designs that I made for demos for a woodland workshop last summer.
Many thanks to Gwen Severson for the great pictures!
A few weeks ago my photographer friend Theresa Bear asked me to collaborate for a photo shoot at Heim Bakery. She just had discovered this fabulous new shop, on Sandy and Fremont in NE Portland, OR. Owner Jennifer who trained in Europe opened this gem last summer.
Models: Jennifer Splitzko and Jeri Casey
Make-up and hair: Katerina Tiley
Last this summer I had the honor to do the designs for the annual fundraiser for Literary Arts at the Portland Art Museum. I was so delighted that they invited me again! How to incorporate something that was related to books was once more an interesting and fun process. And when clients give you complete creative license, it makes it even better!
Thank you Theresa Bear for the beautiful photography!
