Country Homes & Interiors – September 2019

Sarahfinds

inspirationon

walksaround

the Isle of Skye

FreelancewriterSarahHardmanmovedtotheIsleofSkyein 2017 withher

partnerandlittleboyinsearchofthequietlife.Anavidplant collector, she

usesherforagedfindstocreatebeautifulnatureprints

I’vealwayslovedplantsandflowers.

Mymumtaughtmea lotoverthe

years,andnowI’ma realcollector.

I havelotsofoldbotanicalguides

(usefulforidentification)andthere

arepotsofseedheads,feathers

andbitsofwoodalloverthehouse.

Livingseasonallyis veryimportant

tome,sotheideaofcapturingand

preservingnature’sbeautyinthe

formofprintmakingfeltlikea

naturalprogressionfromforaging.

I firsttriedbotanicalprintmaking

afterseeingartistStefMitchell’swork

onPinterest.I contactedherandshe

waskindenoughtoteachmethe

basicsofmakingprintsbyhand

usinga brayer(inkroller)and

water-basedinks.It’ssosimple

tomasterandtheequipmentis

inexpensive, too – you don’t have

tobea greatartisttoproduce

beautifulresults.I wouldrecommend

tryinglinoprintingaswell,and block

carvingis veryrelaxing.

Theprocessstartswithidentifying

andcollecting.SometimesI goout

lookingforsomethingspecific,

butoftenI’llspotsomething

interestingandwanttotakea closer

look.I’ma bigadvocateofthe‘green

therapy’approachtolife;spending

timeoutdoorsona regularbasis

givesyouopportunitiestotruly

appreciatenatureandallit hasto

offer.I dohavetobea littlepractical,

however– wiltedstems,leavesand

petalsarenouseforprintmaking,

soI doheadhomequicklywith

particularlybeautifulfinds!

There’ssomethinglovelyabout

foraging alone, the freedom to

wanderatwillandobserveand

gatheris reallyrelaxing.Havingsaid

that,it’salsoanactivitythewhole

familycanenjoytogether.Mylittle

boy,Joe,oftencomeswithme.He’s

areallittleoutdooradventurerand

I takesomuchpleasurein nurturing

hispassionfornature.

Creativityis a bigpartofmylife

andprintmakingoffersmethe

chancetoexpressthatina relaxed

way.Next,I wanttomastertheart

of making inks from plants!

Beinspiredbymoreof

Sarah’sbeautifulprints

andstoriesofher

foragingfindsonher

blog,Frond&Feather

(frond-and-feather.com)

MY COUNTRY PASSION

Botanical printmaking

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COUNTRY HOMES & INTERIORS 127

FEATURE

TARA KING

LIVE LIFE WELL