In the Studio with… Heather Sandifer

 

Extraordinary Botanicals

 

Heather Sandifer’s art combines printing images directly from natural objects with techniques of traditional monotype. The Greenwich Branch (Connecticut) member presses plant material to extract moisture, administers color to the plant material via a glass plate, and employs frottage (pressure from bone tools and soft tortillons) to transfer the impression from the plate onto vellum.

Sandifer sometimes includes brushwork, drawing, and additional color on top and beneath the vellum, utilizing its semitransparency. Finished pieces may include actual plant material with the layers of color.

The end product is the result of intense, active collaboration between artist, plant, and paint.

Sandifer places leaves under the glass plate to be inked.

 

Sandifer uses a “tortillon” to press down and transfer detail from the inked leaves to the vellum.
Last, she cleans surface imperfections with a moist cotton swab.

About the Artist

Heather Sandifer’s background includes a career in textile design and as a garden writer. She has a certificate in botanical art and illustration from the New York Botanical Garden. Her art has been featured in several galleries and design showrooms. heathersandifer.com