I’ve discovered a new passion project! I had no idea it had a name but in researching after squishing, pressing, rolling, hammering and delightfully finding the wild array of pigments inside flowers and plants, I have discovered that biochrome is the actual name of the pigments!
My current fascination has evolved over the summer as I try out various methods on a huge drop cloth canvas. The beauty of the impressions created like watercolors and I have a vision of this giant canvas hanging in my studio at the end of the flower season!
After hammering until I got tendinitis, I got to thinking and in my thinking I pondered different ways to press the pigments, the biochrome!, out of the flowers without causing lasting damage to my wrists and hands. Last year I was really into embossing paper with metal dies. What if I used the same method with the flowers, taking a hand roller and pressing directly onto watercolor paper? Deckled watercolor paper even! That truly is my favorite .. the roughly hewn edges of handmade paper is just delightful.
The impressions lead me to impressionistic impressionism.. and I’m impressed! These look exactly like watercolor paintings! Croscosmia, lavender and pansy are my absolute winners. I’ve smashed day lilies, roses, love in the mist. I’ve wrung the life out of more hydrangeas than you would think possible. Passion flowers, hibiscus, raspberries! My number one in all my art is always the elderberry. The impression almost made me cry. The intricate beauty of an elderberry blossom, whether on the bush, pressed and dried, or rolled and hammered has brought more beauty to my art than I could have ever imagined.
