I have been making these botanically inspired paper cut graphics and cards since 2005. What began as a desire to combine my interest in the Chinese folk art of paper cutting with my love for the small flowers I saw emerging in my spring backyard has now determined my career as an illustrator and artist. Those first studies of Bloodroot, Mayapple, Trout Lily and Wild Geranium blooming in my garden have opened me up to an appreciation for plants native to this region – some widely found and thriving while others are rare, threatened by habitat loss.
I am originally from the West Coast of Canada and my resume is in painting and printmaking. 
While studying traditional landscape painting in China in the early 1990′s I discovered the folk art of Chinese papercuts – red paper silhouettes created during the Lunar New Year celebration to bring fortune and happiness to a home. I have adapted this technique in a way that combines my graphic sensibility, cultural heritage and an appreciation for the beauty of form and pattern in the natural world.
The most wonderful thing about making botanically based images is the observation, the time spent looking, of paying attention to a part of the world. Slowing down in this way creates space in which I can begin to think and feel. Though I do work from photographs I prefer to draw from life. The connection it gives me to the physical presence of a plant, how and where it grows, is more clearly expressed if my observation begins with direct experience. I like working with paper because of its implied fragility; the interdependence of a papercut’s shapes and border reminds me of the relationships we depend on in the natural and social world.
In addition to the handmade cards, prints and calendars I make based on plants native to the Great Lakes region I also enjoyed doing illustration and design work that features locally grown foods
Working in the Studio
I keep a sketchbook for my design ideas and observations. Each image starts out as
a drawing or brief sketch with notes on form, colour and texture.
The next step in my working process is to sketch the design onto the back of a special paper used for Chinese papercutting. It is dyed red on one side, and I use it not only for its cultural reference but also because it has a lot of structure . It also gives a good contrast between the positive and negative space and helps me see my design clearly while I work. I use a small x-acto blade to cut out the image,sometimes making precise, sometimes spontaneous decisions about which parts to leave in and which to cut away.
In the final stage of the design process I work digitally. I scan the papercut original,like this Pitcher’s Thistle, then working in Photoshop I add colour in layers and can also make small changes to the image. I realize now that this is very similar to printmaking with its use of separate blocks or plates to build a colour image. I like the way my work brings together handmade and digital processes.
To make my handmade cards I laser print the image onto a Japanese woodblock paper and hand apply it to an acid free vellum finish card. Each card has small descriptive text about the plant, how and where it grows and a bit about its ecological, historic or cultural significance. This writing is one of my favourite parts of the creative process.
