I don’t usually finish a piece all at once.
Most of my work begins with several days of creating cyanotypes—coating paper, laying botanicals, exposing, rinsing, repeating. It’s a quiet, physical rhythm. All of my cyanotypes are embellished in some way—some subtly, some more fully—but those layers don’t always arrive at the same time.
I like to give the work space.
Sometimes that means letting pieces rest for days. Sometimes longer. I live with them for a while—seeing how they feel on the wall, noticing which ones keep drawing my eye. Over time, I’ve learned that each piece asks for its own pace, and part of the work is listening for that.
When I return to a piece with more time—and a clearer sense of what it’s asking for—that’s when watercolor, collage, and other marks enter the conversation. These layers aren’t planned in advance. They grow out of what’s already there.
These two pieces took shape during my three-week Mixed Media Botanicals class. Over the course of the class, we created cyanotypes, added watercolor, and built a collection of collage papers to return to as the work evolved. One of these pieces found its finish during our final session, shaped by shared energy and steady momentum.
The second piece needed quiet.
After the class ended, I continued layering it slowly in the studio, letting it settle. A few days later, when it felt complete, I added the final gold embellishments—those small moments of light that often arrive last.
Both pieces include collage papers from my personal stash, where I keep fragments that carry meaning—texture, pattern, and sometimes music. These hold lines from Gordon Lightfoot’s If You Could Read My Mind, not for the heartbreak, but for its reflective storytelling—the way a song can feel like a gentle conversation over time.
That process—making, pausing, listening—is something I love teaching just as much as I love practicing it myself.
✨ If you’d like to see the finished pieces, or learn more about upcoming classes where we explore this layered approach together, you’ll find both linked below.