Carrie Garrott, "Pressed Bloom in Blue", Watercolor on paper, 18" x 24". 2022.

Carrie Garrott, "Pressed Bloom Multi-color" Watercolor on paper, 9" x 10", 2021.

Carrie Garrott "Imperfect Bloom Rainbow", Watercolor on paper, 9" x 9", 2021.

Carrie Garrott, "Pressed Bloom in Lilac" Watercolor on paper, "9 x 10", 2020.

Carrie Garrott, "Patience" Watercolor on paper, 18' x 18', 2020.

Carrie Garrott, "Balanced Petals", Watercolor on paper, 7" x 9", 2018.

Carrie Garrott, "Imperfect Bloom One" Soft pastel on paper, 18" x 24", 2016.

My inspiration for this series is like most of my work, an exploration of fragility, and impermanence. It started as an experiment with drying and dyeing flowers in an attempt to preserve the individual beauty of each bloom. I go through a process of dyeing and pressing my reference blooms. (These are the actual blooms that I look at as a guide for the shape and color of my paintings.) My goal is to have a painting that is a slight exaggeration of the bloom. During the dyeing and pressing process the flowers have natural flaws that become more noticeable. They are often damaged in a way that creates new or more intense irregularities or scars.  When I paint a bloom I try to focus on these irregularities. I do this by intensifying them with more detail or color and texture than is found in the rest of the painting. I feel this intensification creates a more poignant work.