Hot Summer Days

It's the kind of summer
that reminds me of playing on the beach and swimming in the lake when I was a
child. It was not unusual for me to have quite a collection of shells by the
end of summer vacation. I put some shells in my garden several years ago, and
I’m watching them weather through the seasons. Right now they are peeking out
between the hostas and the lilies of the valleys.

This pulp
painting was made with 100% cotton rag fibers.

I used to consider the traditional heart shape too trite to be bothered with, but I've been using it in my work more and more lately. First as a geometric shape in cards for valentines, weddings, anniversaries, showers and love notes. More recently as the organic shape found in nature, since my stay in the cardiac unit of the hospital. In this piece, which didn't quite fit on my scanner, I repeated the bleeding hearts and added a hollyhock petal that split into a heart shape, placing it above like a winged sun in the sky. Because I incorporate the pressed botanicals into my paper, I drew in the stems and covered portions of the leaves and petals with Graphitint, graphite pencils tinted with soluble pigments. I like the effect of drawing on my handmade recycled paper.