Casting Flowers
A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Beautiful Botanical Art
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected May 20, 2025
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- $14.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Artist Rachel Dein introduces readers to botanical bas-relief, an innovative and exciting technique developed by the author, one that anyone—gardener, parent, weekend crafter, or artist—can try at home in every season.
Casting Flowers introduces botanical bas-relief as a rewarding method that encourages even the most basic beginners to revel in the ability to record a plant's texture, pattern, and delicacy in fine detail, creating compositions as small as a single stem or as complex as a field of wildflowers. All it takes is clay, flower, plants, and plaster. Artists can leave a finished piece bare and elegant, or experiment with painting on its surface, bringing the plants to life in color.
From small plaster tiles featuring a single flower portrait to large panels that suggest an entire garden full of blooms, botanical castings reflect every artist’s desire to capture the ephemeral in nature. A meditative activity that encourages artists to explore their gardens and natural spaces for materials, botanical bas-relief teaches readers how to track the progress of the seasons, immortalizing the plants at the moment when they are most alive. With accessible instructions, stunning photography of the process from start to finish, and insights into the artist's own garden, readers will discover:
·Step-by-step guidance on the tools and equipment needed to set up a simple workspace
·What plants work best in botanical casts, and which to avoid
·How to arrange flowers and stems to make well-balanced artistic compositions
·Tips on creating unique pieces of artwork as mementos of a season or records of special occasions
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This pleasant debut from Dein shows how to create bas-reliefs of plants. The basic process involves using a rolling pin to press flowers into clay, removing the plants, and then pouring plaster into a wooden frame placed on top of the clay, which is later peeled off to reveal the relief image. Breaking down each step, Dein offers pointers on arranging flowers, recommending that readers position stems at slight angles to make them look more naturalistic. When working with plaster, Dein advises plugging any leaks in the frame with clay and contends that leaving some of the clay on the finished cast can help accentuate finer details. The process for every seasonal project is virtually identical, differing only in which plants are recommended for the designated time of year. For instance, an early summer project involves positioning circular nasturtium leaves face up to create something resembling a polka dot pattern, and one autumn piece entails filling the lower half of a clay slab with an oak branch, fern leaf, and blackberry bramble. The comprehensive instructions provide all readers need to get started casting, and explanations on how to create reliefs from concrete or layer different colored plasters highlight the creative possibilities of the medium. Crafters will be inspired.
