broken botanicals; beauty in imperfection.

Flower petals, by nature, are delicate. They break, bend, crack, & dry — even in their natural habitats. But that shouldn’t devalue their beauty.

In my artistic practice, I will sometimes discover that my botanicals have broken at some point during the process — either during pressing, or as I am working on the piece. I will also sometimes collect botanicals that I’ve found in a “broken” state while I’m gardening or out on a hike.

Broken botanicals also open up an opportunity for me to use new & unique shapes in my pieces that I might not have expected or anticipated. They serve as surprises that make my artistic journey all the more rich & exciting.

So often, we fall into the trap that art is not “beautiful” unless it is perfect. And, with a tendency to be a perfectionist myself, I have to remember that Nature itself is not perfect. A flower doesn’t care if one of its petals is broken! It wouldn’t throw it away! Instead, the petal stays on the flower, serves its purpose, then falls. And then, indeed, decays! But it is not wasted. It becomes nourishment for the flowers of next season. And the cycle continues…

And so, I see broken botanicals as lessons. These cracked & bent petals still have a beauty in their imperfections. It reminds me that, we too, as people, are imperfect — but still beautiful. Still have purpose, and worth, and value.

Art, Nature, & Humanity are all full of nuance.

🍂
~ j