The Book of Leaves

My artwork for a group show with 3 other artists who live in & around Rocchetta Palafea, my village in Italy. The show was called ‘Forestieri’ which means ‘Outsiders’.

Hanging Mobile with Drawings & paintings in vintage album

Ink & gouache on paper. Ink & leaves.

This vintage leather-bound sketchbook was just blank pages when I found it at a local antique market. I had an idea to draw all the different leaves I love but how to see these leaves, if the book remains closed? They would remain hidden.

I decided to draw & paint all the pages then cut leaves of different shapes from the pages & turn them into this hanging mobile, whilst leaving a ‘shadow’ of each leaf inside the book.

Leaves are like people. They are the same, but not. Each species of plant, like every human, has a different story, a different path, a different purpose.

The olive from Asia Minor, the hazelnut from the region of the Black Sea, tomatoes, chillies, potatoes from the America’s, breadfruit from the South Pacific………Throughout history plants, leaves, seeds & people have been moved around the earth. Through tropical, temperate, desert, arctic, across seas & continents; a hardworking crop, a valuable fruit, a weed, a poison, a healing herb.

We all land in different places. On the outside, like a closed book, we are often judged by our cover.

But if we tell our stories, if we open our pages, if we learn the language of our different leaves, we can each show our own bigger tale. In each place we can grow, adapt & can offer something new & wonderful.

I am interested in the natural environment & the history of botanicals & their connection to the history of the world. Flora & fauna is the starting point of all my work.