For all interested artists of nature: this workshop on Wednesday September 30 at 6pm is an opportunity to create a pressed botanical composition using your own previously pressed materials from our earlier workshop. For anyone who did not attend the pressing workshop, Marguerite will provide a beautiful selection of pressed botanical specimens. Depending on each participant’s pace, a design may be completed or well underway by the end of the session.

Space is limited to 10 participants. 

About Marguerite Alpert

My artwork transforms pressed and dried botanical materials into compositions that invite close observation. I deconstruct flowers into their smallest components – individual petals, sepals, and fragments and use these elements as building blocks for larger designs. Through this process, I aim to present familiar natural materials in unexpected ways, encouraging viewers to see them with fresh eyes.

Viewers frequently mistake my botanical compositions for watercolor paintings or pen and ink drawings, only to discover with delightful surprise that they are observing actual plant matter. This moment of revelation consistently draws people closer to examine the work more carefully, a response that lies at the heart of my artistic intention.

My practice centers on revealing the extraordinary within the ordinary, highlighting the intricate details in nature that we often overlook. The transformation that occurs during the pressing and drying process is itself a form of artistic alchemy. Fresh flowers and leaves give up their three-dimensional form, becoming flattened through the application of pressure and time. This metamorphosis reveals hidden structures: the delicate network of veins threading through petals becomes visible, colors also shift and intensify in unexpected ways, and textures emerge that were previously obscured by the plant’s fresh form.

My work celebrates both the fragility and resilience of botanical life. My goal is to slow down the viewer’s gaze to foster a deeper appreciation for the complex beauty of nature that surrounds us every day.