About Flower pressing

The concept of pressing flowers has been in practice from decades and even though modern world has a

loose grip on cultural practices and traditions, flower pressing has always been found to be fit for every

time and era. Flowers serve great purposes like creation of medicine, dyes, herbal teas, decoration or art

and pressing flower is a unique craft or simply a unique way to preserve a memory. Flowers have been

used by artists to create a story and personality in their art for centuries, from color and mood to their

hidden language, and artists have worked to capture the rich symbolism in flowers. Either as a

background detail or as the focal point, flowers can represent a multitude of emotions and feelings: from

love, passion and desire to purity, innocence or even death. Throughout art history, nature and art  have

cultivated an intimate relationship. The natural world has so much to teach us about ourselves and

where we come from, leading to deep explorations of the meaning of life through art. These

resilient, seasonal symbols have had a massive influence on art, and are still commonly used in the

contemporary pieces of today.

History and Origin

The art of pressing flowers originated in Japan during the 16th century. Oshibana is the art of using

pressed flowers and other botanical elements to create an entire picture from these natural materials. It

consists of drying flower petals and leaves in a flower press to flatten and exclude light and moisture.

These pressed flowers are then used to “paint” an artistic composition. Samurai warriors in Japan were

said to have created Oshibana as one of their disciplines to promote patience, harmony with nature and

powers of concentration. As trade with Japan increased in the mid-1800s, western countries became
fascinated with the use of pressed flowers as an art form. By the late 1800s, flower pressing had taken

hold as a favorite pastime in England and the U.S. There were many reasons that an individual might

collect flowers during this time, from the sentimental (preserving a flower given as a gift from a loved

one) to the scientific (keeping a botanical scrapbook to aid in identifying native blooms). Flowers of the

time were often found framed behind glass in elaborate arrangements, sometimes with pieces of ribbon to

complement the blooms, or meticulously organized in scrapbooks with their taxonomic descriptor written

next to them. Specimens were housed in researchers’ personal collections, and extra specimens were

traded with other botanists. This convergence of art and science deftly wove together cultures and gardens

from across the globe. The preservation of pressing has allowed plant life to be admired, studied, shared,

and loved by people from different places, with different specialties, and even, from different centuries.

Most people alive during this period of history were illiterate, so artists used plants and flowers in their

works of arts to communicate with their audience. Floral motifs, which mark this period of art history, are

rich in symbolism.

Species and variation

Over millions of years on earth, flowering plants have duplicated and evolved into approximately

400,000 different species, creating stunning variety in shape and color that are absolutely mind-

blowing to compete for the attention of bees, butterflies, and ants. Every flower might not be

suitable to compress due to its structure and strength to hold its shape, moreover smaller flowers or

leaves are mostly pressed to keep it personal. Bigger plants have been used to press for the purpose

of larger art. The best flowers and foliage to press are daisies, pansies, ferns, or similar. These press

well as they have single petals and are already flat, allowing more control over how they will press.
If a flower has a stiff structure or rounder bud then weight should be put gradually over it to

compress it without crushing the petals, one example of this would be a long stem rose that has a

chunky structure, instant heavy weight could break down the flower and not press it efficiently so

checking in every 2 days to add more weight would be the correct way to compress it.

How to press flowers

1. Choosing your flowers: 

 Pick your flower right when it blooms to preserve the best color. The color of the flower is prone to

fading when pressed.

 The best flowers for pressing include ones with a single layer of petals and flat faces. Some

examples: violets, pansies, single-petal shrub roses, ferns, single daisies, cosmos, larkspur, small

herbs, California poppies, queen anne's lace or other wildflowers with flattened blooms.

 Make sure the flower is in its best condition, meaning no blemishes or tears.

 Avoid using wet flowers, since they are prone to mold.

 Pick a flower that has a flat bud. If the bud is globe shaped, try cutting it in half, that way it is easier

to press. 

1. What to use to press:

 You can use a heavy book or a standard flower press.

 To absorb the moisture of the flowers, use an absorbent paper such as parchment paper in between

the page/paper and the flower. 

 Flower presses have screws that tighten the press to flatten the flowers.

 When using a book, depending on the weight, you may need more books to stack on top to better

press the flower. 

1. Extracting the flowers:

 After letting the flowers press for about 3 to 4 weeks, they should be ready to be removed and used. 

 We recommend using tweezers when removing the flowers since they are delicate. 

Modern day Artist Ignacio Canales Aracil

Ignacio Canales Aracil is a Spanish sculptor who’s very interested in the possibilities of botanic
elements used in artistic creations. These vessels, made from dried pressed flowers, are some of
his first works, where he tries to celebrate spring and preserve it. He used the concept of pressed
flowers to create different 3 dimensional forms of vases and it was his modern take on the art of
pressing flowers.
Ignacio created these flower sculptures in collaboration with some famous European landscape
designers, who allowed him to hand-pick every flower from their private and public gardens and
then place those bouquets in big molds until they’re dried. They also had to use some varnish
spray to protect the pieces from humidity. Although the finished sculptures look gorgeous and
rigid, in fact, they are so fragile that they can be easily crushed with the lightest touch.