A Lasting Impression

Wish you could turn your garden’s ephemeral blooms into an everlasting artwork? Artist Rachel Dein has found a way, and here she shows us how

- Mirjam Enzerink

FOR CENTURIES, THE ONLY WAY to hold onto the fleeting freshness of a flower was to paint, photograph or draw it. That is, until London-based artist Rachel Dein developed an art to not only recreate the beauty of a plant mid-bloom, but capture it and “preserve nature, like a fossil”. She came up with the idea while taking a glass molding course. “We printed shapes in sand and poured liquid glass in,” Rachel recalls. “I found it fascinating and experimented at home with clay.” Her method involved pressing items into the clay, making an impression, carefully prying them out, then pouring plaster into the mold she’d just made. After using this technique to immortalise her wedding bouquet, she knew she’d found a way to print nature. What sets her plaster and concrete works apart is their delicate, true-to-life detail and the way she picks flowers from her garden based on season and shape – not price. “I use plants that people call weeds. Suddenly they see beauty in what they thought was worthless.” Love the idea? Read on for tips on how to m