After many years as a garden photographer, I began using my scanner to preserve and enlarge the flower pressings I saved as an herbarium. This opened up a new world to me. Not only could I make digital images which were exact facsimiles of the flowers that I had pressed, but I was also able to increase the resolution of my scans to capture detail at a macro level. Now I could print extremely detailed, larger than life images. I was hooked. I collaborated with Cindy LaMar to create A Gardeners Herbarium, a collection of high resolution prints of our pressed botanicals which we exhibited jointly.

For the past few years I have also been experimenting with translucent scanning using fresh flowers, vegetables and seaweed. Using the scanner a light source is similar to using a camera with a macro lens and a light box. The scanner’s light source shines through the flowers from above, creating translucent images. I layer the plants on the scanner’s glass platen freely overlapping them or placing them on their sides and scan at high resolutions. This results in natural, detailed, realistic images that can be printed at a large scale.

Recently I have been experimenting with creating digital negatives from my seaweed scans which I then print as cyanotypes.

I print on archival watercolor paper and mount the prints on birch panels. I then brush on multiple layers of varnish which brings out the mid tones and enhances the color creating a painterly effect. It also provides a protective finish.

My meanderings in Marin, my own and friends’ gardens, and  farmers markets provide me with a surfeit of flowers which have a way of finding themselves onto my scanner becoming the medium for my art.   

My mandala collection, a photographic collection, grew out of my love of The Marin Farmers Market. For the past several  years I have created mandalas using the seasonal fruits and vegetables that I have just bought that day and then photographing them in natural light.

I have contributed numerous images to UC Marin Master Gardeners website and publications, the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and local garden organizations highlighting garden design and illustrating best gardening practices.

exhibits

Mill Valley Arts Commission, City Hall City Council Chamber, Mill Valley, CA 1st Tuesday Art Walk, August-October 2023

Sausalito Center for the Arts, Sausalito CA October 2022

Marin Health, Greenbrae CA July 2022 - present

Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens August 6-7 2022

At the Top Gallery and Salon, Mill Valley, CA May 17-July 30 2022

Gail Van Dyke Atrium Gallery, Marin Cancer Center, Greenbrae CA November, 2021-present

Marin Health, Greenbrae CA September 15-November 17, 2021

Agricultural Institute of Marin administrative office, San Rafael, CA April 2019 - present

Agricultural Institute of Marin Food Farm and Art, Marin Center Bartolini Gallery December 4, 2019 - January 30, 2020

Agricultural Institute of Marin Food Farm and Art, Studio 333, Sausalito, CA December 12, 2018

Golden Gate National Recreation Presidio Gallery, 2014

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IN COLLABORATION WITH CINDY LAMAR:

San Francisco Botanical Gardens Helen Crocker Russell Library, From Sand Dunes To Forest, San Francisco CA September 2022

Gail Van Dyke Atrium Gallery, Marin Cancer Center, Greenbrae CA April 2021-May 2022

Gallery 305, Mill Valley CA January 14 - April 14, 2020

Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae CA January 15 - March 18, 2020

The Redwoods Retirement Community, Mill Valley CA July - September, 2019

Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae CA May 15 - September 18, 2019

Mill Valley Public Library Art Walk Gallery, First Tuesday Art Walk, Mill Valley CA February, 2019

San Francisco Botanical Gardens (SFBG), Helen Crocker Russell Library, San Francisco CA September - December, 2018

Mill Valley City Hall City Council Chamber, Mill Valley Arts Commission Selection, 1st Tues Art Walk  December, 2017 - January, 2018

CVNL Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership Marin-Napa, San Rafael CA  December, 2016

Falkirk Galleries, Spring Open Juried Exhibition, San Rafael CA  June - July, 2016

At the Top Salon, First Tuesday Art Walk, Mill Valley CA  September - October, 2016

Mill Valley Public Library Art Walk Gallery, First Tuesday Art Walk, Mill Valley CA  March, 2016

Falkirk Galleries, San Rafael CA  May - July, 2015

publications:

  • The California Wildlife Habitat Garden by Nancy Bauer, University of California Press ©2012

  • The Leaflet, online newsletter University of California Cooperative Extension

  • Marin Master Gardeners online Water-Wise Plant Selection Guide

  • The Outdoor Art Club  Through the Seasons, Mill Valley CA 

  • Marin Independent Journal "Ask a Master Gardener" column

volunteerism:

I have had the privilege of being the team photographer on numerous medical missions around the world. In this role I find myself in the operating room documenting cleft palate and lip surgeries. I have also contributed pictures of patients and their families interacting with the medical team for blogs, publications and publicity.

  • Team photographer, Faith In Practice, medical mission Antigua,Guatemala 2011-2019

  • Photographer, Mercy Ships, medical mission Benin, Africa 2017

  • Team photographer, Alliance for Smiles, medical mission Chifeng, China 2016

  • Team photographer, Alliance for Smiles, medical mission Wenzhou, China 2016