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.