My Watercolor Process

I use dried and pressed plants, leaves, flowers, grasses and feathers to create my paintings. I enjoy foraging for interesting textures on walks around my neighborhood and on hikes. I also pillage from floral arrangements.
Living in the Pacific Northwest there are endless amounts of flora found year-round.
Generally I begin by selecting my color palette. I love mixing colors and studying trending palettes.  Once I've settled on my colors, I paint the entire paper, intuitively placing my colors and use generous amounts of water.  I use a special paper, called Yupo, for my work. Yupo is not plant based, does not absorb water and is very slick. The paint swirls around on the surface. I then lay out my chosen flora on the surface of the wet paint. The paint naturally grips the edges of the plants. I may, at this point, add additional colors. The painting is left to dry (the water evaporates) with the flora in place. Once dry, I peel off the plants. What remains is a completely unique, textured and defined print! For a more detailed painting I repeat this process several times. Additionally, I often add my own, hand painted, details.  Sometimes a painting looks great with the leaf or flower left on the painting.  It's really just up to my personal preference for that piece.