Better Homes & Gardens USA – September 2019

116 | September 2019

At 71, the former bon vivant and

self-professed party girl now leads a

disciplined life. She rises daily at

6:30 a.m., makes strong coff ee,

putters around the house a bit, then

starts working at 8:30 a.m. and

continues without stopping until 4 or

5 p.m. “I don’t like working at night,”

Marian says. “I like the light of day,

the birds singing, you know, that

whole thing.” She is well-positioned

for light and birdsong. Her work

space, a tiny shed behind her small

18th-century house, sits in a colorful

garden overlooking the Hudson River

north of New York City. In addition

to solo projects, she is working on

plate designs for interior designer

Christopher Spitzmiller and a collection of fabrics with

designer Kerry Joyce.

In the evening she has people over (cooking for and

entertaining groups of friends at least once a week) or works

on her illustrations, covering paper or paper lampshades

with felt-tip images of fantastical, graphic, sinuous, entirely

fi ctional plants. “I’ve always liked to do things with my hands.

I’ve got good hands,” she says. “I’m a do-it-yourselfer— always

have been—but now I’m able to do it full blast, which

is wonderful. It’s absolutely wonderful. I’ve never worked

harder or with more pleasure.” ■

At an antique table

she transformed with

lacquer paint,

opposite, Marian

creates fl oral

illustrations using the

felt-tip pens she stores

in chipboard canisters.

She found the

lamps on eBay and

trimmed the shades.

Storage baskets

and hanging tassels,

left, off er easy access

to materials. She

sources pressed

fl owers and leaves

from around the world

via Etsy.

PRESSING

FLOWERS

Hover your

smartphone camera

over this code

for our how-to on

pressing flowers. PHOTOS: (FRAMED ART) PETER ARDITO, (LAMPSHADE AND CORKILLAGES) COURTESY OF KRB

PRESSED

BOTANICALS

Marian’s pressed-fl ower-

and-leaf collages might

feature a rose from Arizona

and a Latvian oak leaf.

“It’s whatever strikes me as

a nice combination.”

“CORKILLAGE”

Acorns, pinecones, and

sliced wine corks

decorate objects like fi nials,

boxes, and mirrors.

Marian’s creations are

available from krbnyc.com.

ILLUSTRATED

LAMPSHADE

Floral motifs applied with

paint or felt-tip pens adorn

vellum lampshades.

Nature

Inspired,

Artfully

Arranged