New, from the Gardener’s Almanac of Irreproducible Phenomena, The Hellebore Suite, available as prints and blank greeting cards.
The hellebore is a complicated flower. Appearing in late winter, it rises up from drifts of snow and bracken, with leaves that unfold like carved marble. The blossoms hang from delicate arched stems, often hidden in shadow. When the hellebore looks up at you, you see a face both innocent and knowing, and you understand why this flower has been a key player in the world of potion and myth. This is a flower you should admire — but never eat. I have many varieties of these in my garden scattered among the ferns and hostas. They also grow wild in the woods nearby, where I captured the pale lavender specimen above, in a print called The Meadow.
I did the first portrait of a hellebore as part of a series called “Sweet Old World” that came about as I sorted family papers and photos going back to the 1800’s. The style of this work is inspired by vintage tintype. I love the ragged borders and soft organic focus of photography in the early days of its invention. These pieces are a modern interpretation of tintype’s vintage haze and inexactitude, using watercolor, photography and digital printmaking. Click on any image to be taken to my shop.
