Dried Flowers and Leaves

Do you remember my flower press? (click here) It is about time I let you guys know how this experiment turned out. I let the flowers and leaves dry a few weeks, and when it was finally time to open the press and see the results, I was very exited and curious! But my excitement died a little when I saw that the previously pretty and colourful flowers had been turned into fade, dirty looking and rippled ones. :( I knew they would loose some of their colours, but I didn't know they would become quite that fade, and didn't think the white would become quite that brown!

As you can see, the pretty red poppy flowers are now a dull pink. The pure white flowers became brown and spotted. The rich pink ones and the purple ones became dark fade violet.
However, the tiny blue/purple ones are the ones who survived the drying process the best by keeping both a nice shape and a vibrant colour.
I also made the mistake to use rippled cardboard. It was not rippled on the surface, but once pressed, the texture showed through and as clearly visible on the far right of the picture, printed itself on the delicate flowers. What a sad result. :( Lesson learned!

But all was not lost! The leaves, which are by nature more robust to start with, turned out pretty well! They dried nicely and retained most of their lovely green shades.

These are now stored safely for future use. I'm sure I'll be happy to get a little taste of summer by finding and using them in a project somewhere in the middle of the cold season. We'll see.

I will of course try again with different flowers and with even more leaves. I think some flowers react better to drying than others, so it will be a little quest to find out which ones give good results, and which ones should be avoided.

Extending the flower joy

I absolutely love the warmer months, from the moment the first flower blooms, until the fall of the last few leaves in our trees. I enjoy them not only for the warmer temperatures, but also for the palette of colors Spring, Summer and Fall has to offer. It is a delight for the eyes and an inspiration for the artist's mind.

When I moved from Canada to Denmark, I lost a bit of heat in the summer months, as temperatures don't go quite as high, and the danish (near constant) wind tends to cool the air down. However, I did gain longer Spring and Fall seasons, and milder winters, which suits me juuuust fine.

But it doesn't matter how short or mild winter can be, it will always be too cold and too grey for my taste. This must be the reason why my motivation to paint usually resurfaces at Fall, after a break during the warmer months. I love colors and can not be long without them!

I got (and still get) so much joy out of my yard / garden this year, that I wondered how I could carry this joy with me through the winter time. I know it's still early, and summer is still here. August and September tend to be really nice here in Denmark, but still... I have to be prepared. And if I want to preserve a bit of summer, it is now that I must act. My solution: Flower pressing.

Like most of us, I have tried pressing leaves here and there between the pages of a book, but this time, I wanted a proper press. So, a new project was born, carried out and completed, and this is how it went:

I took a leftover piece of hardwood floor and cut it in two. I drilled wholes at the 4 corners of each panel, for eventual bolts.

I sanded the backside of the panels, which I then painted and varnished to make them more appealing.  The smooth hard wood becomes the inner sides of the press. There's no real technical reason, I just liked it better that way.  :)

I cut out pieces of cardboard and sheets of papers to fit the press. The layering should be as followed:  "Wood, cardboard, paper, flowers, paper, cardboard, wood". Many layers of cardboard and paper can be added.

 I then went around and clipped pretty flowers and leaves, and placed them in my flower press, which I tighten using bolts and wing nuts.

The bolts I had at my disposal are not quite long enough. They work fine for now, but I will eventually get longer bolts, which will allow me to add many more layers to my press. 

In 2-3 weeks, I should be able to take the dried flowers and leaves out and use them in artistic creations. This will be a first for me, and I am very much looking forward to it, as ideas of what to do with these pieces of nature are already forming in my head. :)

What would you do with dried/pressed flowers?