I wasn’t ready for an early sunset, but the moon was rising large and orange,  the temperature slid lower, my nose ran more freely,  I was knee deep in prairie grass and surrounded by the woody remains  of an old train station  in ever  increasing darkness.

Heading home in dark night (at 6:00), the huge expanses of ancient prairie were barely visible.

Because the gravely, flint-laden soil make the land suitable for ranching, not farming, the plants here are botanical descendents of what’s been here for millions of years – the tallgrasses like Little Bluestem and Switchgrass.

This particular area has the largest untilled tallgrass prairie in North America.

It’s not the best picture – the color is actually rich and green. It hasn’t changed much in the six years I’ve had it.

Lavender is one of the most powerful herbs and is widely used, from treating stress and depression, to speed healing, and kill bacteria.

Historically it’s been used in cleaning and as a perfume. During the peak of the Roman times, one pound of good lavender was sold for the price of an average worker’s monthly salary.

Now it’s known to have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties.  It can aid sleep and relaxation, treat burns and helps acne. Dried lavender is a highly desireable fragrance and deters moths.

I’ve loved this piece of lavender for years, but I never framed it. I was happy to let it go as part of a series to a new home.

Traveling around a bit is great, and I’ve also developed a better appreciation for what’s here.

Pictured in this post are several small 3″ x 8.5″  matted pieces, that all use native plants, and are great examples of eco art.

To the right here are Sea Oats and Little Bluestem.

Below are Wood Fern / Paw Paw, Lamb’s Ears / Paw Paw, Sea Oats / Hydrangea as layered pieces (in that order).

Below are Pin Oak (after a huge storm in April 2008) from my yard, Red Clover from an overgrown lot in downtown KC, and Compass plant from the home of famous agricultural researcher Wes Jackson.

This is a giant elephant ear leaf (from The Kansas City Community Gardens, one of my favorite places), native grasses from Parkville, and spent Canna blooms near the center spine.

It’s about 34″ by 42″ and is framed.

Everything is coated with a polymer varnish which enriches the color and seals out any ambient humidity.

This layered piece has a section of an orange tree root on top of a winter dried piece of canna, laying on top of winter dried grass.

Sometimes I like the winter beaten look to plant parts, so I’ll clean them up and re-hydrate them, and then press and dry them. Even though I clean them off wet, they don’t lose much of their shape. When they do, I can’t recreate the interest that natural shape has.

This is 28″ x 32″ framed.

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This piece is Lamb’s Ear, two large Castor leaves, Canna, Willow, and a grass on top.

It’s 28″ x 32″ framed.

Click on any image below to see it larger.

This label is for a plant specimen that’s not only from the famous national herbarium, but it’s also a “type specimen”  (from Paris, 1921) which indicates it’s the best possible representation of that plant. It’s the reference point for scientists when attempting to identify plants. Type specimen are among the most valuable pieces in an herbarium.

The specimen to the right was collected by Rod Simmons, who at the time was the City’s Natural Resource Specialist. Each herbarium develops its own label, but they all generally include the date of collection,  collector’s name, scientific (latin) name of the plant, the family that plant belongs to and some collection information like location conditions, which help when identifying plants in the future.

This plant is in the Sedge (Cyperaceae) family, which grow worldwide.

There are large seeds like coconuts and other formations of plant material that need special handling when collecting them and when preserving them for long term study.

Most plants though, are collected and dried with printed or unprinted newsprint, and well ventilated botanical cardboard (which is exactly what I use). Below is picture of  a specimen that has identification information on the newsprint, and is waiting to be moved to storage. Also pictured below and some specimen waiting to be organized.

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The trip to this lovely, historic town was long and hot and did not involve a single  decent snack, but the people were amazing and the filtered water was refreshing and free. And the director of the herbarium couldn’t  have been more kind,  more knowledgeable, better connected, or more professional. It was well worth the trip! Thanks, Rod!

Most of my inspiration comes from historical preserved specimen. The two here are especially nice.  I love seeing plant material that is not otherwise accessible to me.

The Astragalus, left,  was collected in Wyoming in 1971.  The Trillium, right, is from Ohio, 1983.

Early American collection equipment were often metal containers meant to protect the integrity of the plant material (and retain bits that come loose).

The ones in this picture are probably from the 1940′s, under the direction of curator Russell Brown. Both Norton and Brown collected throughout Maryland in the 1940′s.

There’s lots of different ways to collect plant material. One a hot day, the heat generated inside the metal containers would cause loss of original shape, which I like to maintain. Nature has much better ideas than I do about how something should look.

The herbarium is now under the direction of Dr. Christopher Puttock (shown in the picture below), who was previously with the  Bishop Museum  in Hawaii as the collections Manager of Botany and the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance.

Some of the collection still needs to be mounted and then organized into cabinets.

Seeing art from the Shinto era was really special. The prevailing religious practice, or more like world view, prior to the arrival of Buddhism in the 6th century, was Shinto. It lacked intellectually complex doctrines, formality, and organization. But, there were many groups of people devoted to the spirits (Kami) of nature that were found everywhere, in plants, animals, mountains, seas, and all natural phenomena. The realms of earth and the supernatural world were so closely integrated that they were seen as part of the same.

Shinto sees divinity in everything, and practicing it is designed to bring us into communion with the Divine.

The image posted above is a Shinto shrine gate, or Torii, marking the shrine entrance. These gates mark the division between the spiritual world and the physical world. The shrines / gates were always located outside.

The form to the right was one of the best things I saw while in D.C. It’s a 10th century bronze depiction of Shiva Nataraja in the Freer Gallery. 

It represents the profound belief that Shiva Nataraja (Lord of the Dance) dances the world into existence. The depiction shows the expression of the rhythm and harmony of life. He dances closely to the flames of destruction while balancing on the dwarf of ignorance.

Everything rests on a lotus pedestal, the symbol of the creative forces of the universe.

It might be my most perfect metaphor for life. Everything’s a dance. If you’re not dancing close to flames and destruction, you’re not really in the dance of life. It’s action (dance) that brings life into existence. Our entire physical world rests upon plant life – it provides our life force in the air we breathe and in the food we eat – either directly or indirectly through the animals we eat.

It’s amazing to see historical artifacts that were at one time symbols of the highest reverence.

In general, I love the style of image placement and arrangement I notice in Asian art. The image below is a good representation of that style.

(Top image is a stock photo and the other two are photos I took at the Freer. I contacted the gallery and they I could use any photos I took while there and I didn’t have to credit the Freer.)

When I’m looking at plant material, there’s always something I love about it or have some idea about. I never go to the presses and say “let me find something that looks like…” It’s also really ineffective to try and change the shape of something. Looking at these grapevine tendrils I’m aware of how delicate and lovely they are. I don’t do anything to make them that way. How you see them is exactly how they occured in nature.

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When I visited Negril (Jamaica) a few years ago, I noticed the gorgeous leaves everywhere. I brought a plant press with me and did preserve some, but there are heavy restrictions about transporting plant material internationally.

The stunning image of the leaf stayed with me.

While visiting a friend one day I was taken aback when I saw a Papaya tree growing inside his house! He let me collect a few gorgeous leaves. This is one. Totally legal.