Edible Flower Print Series

I am happy to announce that my edible flower watercolor series is now available as prints in my shop. I really enjoyed painting this collection of flowers. I have printed them in my studio on beautiful paper. I mean paper so nice that you will want to sit there holding it instead of putting it in a frame. Or at least I would. Because I love paper that much.

A little while ago, I wrote about how I am trying to paint more series. I did it! These six edible flower prints are compatible with my herb series. I hope by having related images available that it will be easy for people to mix and match to create a collection of prints that is just right for their wall. 

Viola + Pansy - The flowers of these charming plants are edible. They can be added to salads or crystallized and used to decorate cakes.

Crabapple - The petals of crabapple blossoms are edible (apple blossoms too). I was delighted to learn this! They can be used in small quantities to garnish a salad or try floating them in a drink.

Borage - I grow borage from seed every year. It's such a pretty addition to the garden. I love all blue flowers! The flowers are edible and can be used to garnish salads and cold soups. You can float them in beverages or freeze them in ice cubes. The young leaves are also edible but I don't really enjoy how prickly they feel so I leave them on the plants.

Chives - The stems of chives are a great, mild substitute for onion in foods. They are nice with egg and cheese dishes and are lovely baked into biscuits. I never used to think of eating the blossoms until I saw a photo on my friend Sonia's beautiful Instagram feed a couple of years ago. She was preparing toast topped with soft cheese and chive florets. I tried it and not only is it delicious but also beautiful! 

Nasturtium - This is another beautiful flower that I grow each year from seed in my garden. I line the sides of my square-foot garden with nasturtiums. The flowers have a peppery taste and are great in salads or as a garnish. The young leaves are edible too.

Violet - Wild violets are edible. I'm lucky to have some growing wild in our back lawn. Many people like to crystallize them and use them to decorate cakes and cookies. 

I really hope that like my new edible flower series. You can also find smaller versions of these images in my 2017 calendar.

I should mention that it's important to be sure that your flowers and herbs are pesticide-free. Eat in small quantities and always consult with a health professional if you have particular health issues or are serving to small children. The basic rule is, if in doubt about a plant, don't eat it. If you want to learn more about edible flowers, there are some good guides online. You can find two here and here.

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A Soft Spot for Pansies

One of the things I have been trying to do as often as possible the past couple of years is to create sets of images when I paint. It's not something that I necessarily find to be intuitive. Often I want to paint one thing and then for the next painting, do something quite different! But by trying to offer more sets of images which I think is helpful to customers, I am finding that I do enjoy painting series. This is one of my favourite sets of prints that I currently offer in my shop: my set of four pansy prints. I introduced this set a few months ago but I have pansies on my mind these days because of all of the planting I am doing in my garden!

Anyone who has known me for a while is aware of what a soft spot I have for pansies. One of my grandmothers was named Viola. Here's a photo of my recently planted herb pots on our back porch taken in the late afternoon light. Of course, I had to add a pot of sweet little violas!

You can view all of my print sets here. I hope to introduce more sets this year. I have several paintings in my studio just waiting to be converted into prints. As with all of my sets, you can also opt to buy the prints individually or to make your own grouping.

And now back to planting!

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My Herb Watercolor Collection

I have been working so hard the past few weeks on introducing new prints to my shop. I had a stack of paintings just waiting for me to spend some time with my computer and printer. Today, I listed my Herb Collection prints in my shop. I am such a perfectionist and I am thrilled with how they turned out. It always matters to me to get the details right. The paper I chose to print them on is really lovely. I don't think that the photos do justice to the delicate detail of the watercolour images and the beautiful texture of the paper. You can have a closer look at the six images in my shop. They are: basil, sage, thyme, lavender, summer savory and mint. I hope you like them!

The herbs in the top photo are from my garden. I picked bunches of them a few weeks ago to dry. I hung them from a big, beautiful branch that I had trimmed off of my spindle tree. That branch now hangs on my dining room wall right above the computer where I am typing this post.

I love having herbs in my garden and I will really miss them this winter.  Here is one of my favourite recipes from this past summer. I formed soft goat cheese into balls and then rolled them in a combination of fresh herbs. I put them in a jar full of olive oil and kept them in the fridge. They were absolutely delicious on slices of baguette. A real hit! The leftover olive oil had bits of herbs and goat cheese in it and was perfect in salad dressings and in pasta recipes.

While I am itching to get back to painting, I have a few more prints to make. Next will be a set of four pansy prints based on paintings I did a few months ago. After that, I will be framing a selection of my small watercolour paintings to sell in my shop. They will be perfect for holiday gift giving!

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I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for the overwhelming response to my last blog post. It was difficult yet comforting to know that so many of us have been feeling the same things about our Etsy experience, especially during the past year. Thank you for your support. It means so much to me.