How to Create Botanical Art
Making Pictures from Nature Using Flowers, Leaves and Other Plants
Nov 11, 2008
As botanists began to discover more of the world, unusual and exotic plants were brought back to Europe from foreign climates. Some plants were preserved in exhibitions and collections such as those at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, England, originally organized by the botanist Joseph Banks; others ended up as objects of botanical art in a herbarium, that is an organized collection of plant specimens.
Where to Collect Plants for Making Your Own Herbarium
Today the concept of a simple herbarium has grown to incorporating live plants on display in contemporary art projects; however, it is easy to create simple art pictures from plants and flowers, for a herbarium, with a few basic materials. Firstly, the collection of plant species from public lands is prohibited within the USA by the National Park and Forest Services, unless prior permission is granted ; collecting plants from the backyard is probably the easiest and safest alternative.
For those who want to connect with like-minded plant collectors, a lot of US states have a native plant society which connects amateur plant enthusiasts with each other; as well as meeting other plant collectors, it is often possible to learn about native plants of a region from a professional botanist and help in the preservation of indigenous plants.
Materials Needed for Plant Collection
The following basic materials are needed to collect plants for a herbarium:
- Newspaper – can be made into folders for the plants; large, broadsheet-sized pages are cut down the fold and folded across the middle.
- Cardboard Separators – allow the air to circulate between plant specimens in the press and also diffuse moisture; the cardboard should be corrugated, cut the same size as the newspaper sheets and placed between them.
- Plastic Bags – are used to keep plant specimens fresh until ready for pressing; food-storage or garbage bags are ideal.
Other materials which may be useful for collecting certain species of plants include:
- Foam Rubber – can be used to press plants with thick stems or fruit (varying thicknesses can be used).
- Felt Paper – can be used to press plants with thin stems; the paper should be equal in size to the cardboard separators.
How to Create a Plant Press
Materials needed to create a plant press are:
- Press Backs – strips of wood lath or two pieces of plywood (quarter inch) are used to construct the plant press; these should be the same size as the newspaper folders (approximately 11 by 17 inches).
- Cord or Straps – used to tie the press together.
How to Press a Plant
Plants should be collected in dry weather for easier pressing and to preserve color; when collecting the plant the location, habitat, date and collector's name should be recorded for future reference. A number of plant specimens may be pressed together. The collected plant specimens should be pressed as follows:
- On one press back, lay the cardboard separator.
- Lay the plant specimen in the newspaper folder on top.
- On top of the newspaper folder, lay a piece of felt paper or foam rubber.
- The second press back should be placed on top and tied with the cord or strap.
How to Complete a Botanical Art Picture
Completing a herbarium is easy and cheap to do; any number of species of plants can be collected including simple flowers, grasses, trees and leaves. Botanists use a number of materials to finish a high-quality piece of botanical art including:
- Mounting Sheets – to display the pressed plant.
- Labels – to record and display data on the plant.
- Gummed Paper - to tape the stems and ends of plant specimens to the sheets.
- Plastic Cement – to glue plant specimens to the sheets.
- Needle and Thread – for thicker plant specimens.
References:
DiNoto, Andrea, Winter, David 1999 The Pressed Plant Canada: General Publishing Company Ltd
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