I am using cuttings from my garden as one-of-a-kind stamps on paper to prepare unique foundations for paintings. The spontaneous organic marks made using this technique provide endless inspiration. The nature of the method is uncertain and creating with it is challenging even with planning.
The stamps are ephemeral, delicate and perishable, providing no opportunity for repeat printing with the same stamp. Sometimes natural pigment mixes with the ink when I press the plant onto my paper or a fragile bit of petal or leaf will cling and stay attached when I lift off the larger piece. It is as if the cutting is leaving some of itself behind, inserting its living essence even deeper into my art.
Using spent flowers from my garden as tools in my art is satisfying even if it is unpredictable. When my creative pursuits inform one another their interactions are based as much on chance as on intention. Chance controls my intention to create beauty leading to hesitancy in my process but also, more importantly, to lovely, distinctive results. So rather than trying to control chance, I’ll trust it and work with it as a partner. Because the risks involved with accepting chance, like the risks that come with coloring outside the lines, might just result in surprises that render the ordinary extraordinary.
