Botany and Art workshop with artists Claudine Marzik and Tijn Meulendijks, joined by a botanist from the Australian Tropical Herbarium (ATH).
Learn how to mount a plant specimen professionally as it's done in a Herbarium, followed by transforming your mounted specimen artistically with a contemporary approach.
- Identifying your specimen with the assistance from a Botanist.
- Collect and press your own specimens about 14 days prior and bring these to the workshop.
Guide to collecting, drying, and pressing specimens
Collect your plant specimens:
Collect any plant in your garden or fields that “speak” to you including flowers, foliage, stems, leaves, weeds, sticks, plant seeds. During the workshop, you will be supplied with a folded 61cm h x 43cm w thick cartridge paper. The size of the specimens needs to stay within these dimensions. It is easier to press flowers that are not too wet and moist, therefore, best to avoid collecting after the rain or watering.
Press your specimens:
You can do this without a flower press. Lay a piece of absorbent paper (newspaper, tissue paper, parchment paper, blotting paper) on a flat surface (plywood or cardboard) and place the specimen on the paper. Then cover it with a piece of absorbent paper which will draw the moisture from the plants. Keep going that way with several specimens (paper-plant-paper-plant).
Lastly put a cardboard or plywood on top. Once your stack is done, place heavy books, bricks, or stones on top of the cardboard to ensure that the plants will be pressed firmly and evenly. Sit your press somewhere dry and airy. Inspect the absorbent paper regularly and change it if it gets too wet or mouldy. It typically takes about a week to ten days for plants to dry. Do not worry if your plants are not fully dried or pressed by the time of the workshop, they can be semi-dry.
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