Art Journal Using Wild Flowers

If you do not live in a city or an apartment, you may or may not have the opportunity to find wild flowers growing right outside your door. In this case, it will be necessary to take yourself on an artists date. Otherwise, this project is as simple as gathering some supplies and heading to the backyard.

Materials:

• Basket or plastic container (large enough to hold flower cuttings)
• Sharp scissors
• Pieces of waxed paper
• Very thick and heavy book

Instructions:

1. Using the scissors, clip the flowers so the stems are two or three inches long. Collect a dozen or so of each species. Be sure to collect flowers that do not have a very thick head or seed bud (like Black-Eyed Susan’s, for example) or they will not press properly.
2. As soon as all the flowers are all collected, trim off any cumbersome leaves and wangling stems. Cut a piece of waxed paper so it is large enough to cover both sides of the page spread of the large book chosen to press the flowers in. Press several flowers per page spread over night.

The next phase of this project involves use of your art journal. Consider working on your pages outdoors so nature will continue to inspire your creations.

Materials:

• Art journal
• Tweezers
• Pressed flowers
• Glue stick
• Decoupage or gel medium
• Watercolor paints, neutral colors
• Small containers of water
• Sponge brushes
• Sharpies

Instructions:

1. Open your art journal to the first blank page spread.
2. Do a neutral color wash over both sides of the page spread, creating dark and light areas, as well as mottled. Allow the pages to dry completely before moving on the next step. (You can speed up drying time through use of a heat gun or hair dryer.)
3. Using the tweezers, carefully remove the flowers from the waxed paper. Place them on to the page spread where desired. Apply a thin layer of gel or decoupage medium to seal the flower to the page spread. Repeat this step until all the flowers have been used.
4. Fill in the blank areas of the page spread with text using the sharpie.

Variations:

• Use clippings from gardening magazines for collage work.
• Use empty seed packets to create a scrapbook styled page spread.
• Press leaves, as well as flowers, to add more complexity to the page spread.

This art journal idea can also be easily incorporated into altered book projects, greeting card projects, and art card projects. You may also wish to explore use of wild flowers in mixed media paintings, shadow boxes, and altered objects. Because decoupage medium or gel medium is being used to seal the project as well as an adhesive, it is very important to allow the piece to dry thoroughly before closing the books or, if another project is being created, allowing the tacky pieces to touch anything else.

Pick additional wild flowers and leaves, press them, and use them for future projects. You will be surprised how many other things you will want to work with once you start working on these art journal pages, altered book pages, greeting cards, art cards, or altered objects. The inspiration will grow as quickly as the flowers seem to return!

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