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P I C K I N G
Starting out on this project this spring I had little experience in pressing flowers. So I foraged what I could from my dads garden and from the hedgerows when out on walks. Going forward its important to me that I source my flowers in a sustainable way and hope to be working with local sustainable flower farms here in Cornwall.
I will press what I can, when I can, and release the pieces as ‘flash’ (more on this below) but I’m also so open to you bringing me your own pressed pieces to tattoo, I love the idea that you might pick something from a special place or plant to you or from a special moment in time.
P R E S S I N G
I try to get the flowers into the press as soon as possible to avoid any wilting which can make the delicate flowers really hard to handle, although a little softening can be handy if wanting to manipulate the shape at all. I’ll have in mind what will translate well as a tattoo and remove any excessive leaves or rearrange bits to fit them into the press to then re construct once out of the press.
I’ll press most delicate things for two weeks and try to keep the press in a dry, warm place. Its so tempting to open the press before the two weeks is up but I have learnt from many a ruined flower that this is not a good idea!
P H O T O G R A P H I N G
Once out of the press the botanical piece may be be manipulated to suit a certain body part or just photographed as it is.
S T E N C I L I N G
From the photo a stencil is made and transferred to the skin ready to be used as a guide to tattoo by.
T A T T O O I N G
Lastly we tattoo! Using the stencil as a guide, I keep the physical pressed botanical in front of me as well as the photograph so that I can refer to these for the detail and shading. My aim to make the tattoo a true representation of the pressed botanical. A piece of nature picked in a moment of time and truly unique to you.