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Welcome.

Explore the Art and the Journey of Pressed Flower Artist Susan McChesney. 

Eyeing an unused flower press in my studio, I began pressing flower petals and leaves from a local flower farm. I found the pressed petals to be vibrant and alive visually, and began to collage them into landscapes.
 

Oshibana, a 16th c. Japanese floral preservation tradition of pressed flower art, grappled then with preserving color in the flower petals, and the challenge continues today.
 

The contemporary techniques to remove oxygen, the fading culprit, include lamination and sealing, both of which I am using.
 

Work is sealed upon completion, and it should hold its color for years to come.

 

Pressed petals are collaged to represent landscapes and bouquet memories.

I am constantly producing new work.

Contact me to view and purchase originals, prints and notecards. 

COMING SOON: PUZZLES

The Artist

The Artist.

“I marvel at the unfurling of a petal, the opening of a blossom pod, a seed head flinging its bounty. The transformation has always sparked wonder in me, since being sent as a child of a farm to the garden to pick whatever was ready for supper that night. I find creative inspiration and joy in the flow of being from seed to blossom to …

Layers of translucent colored pencils, chalk pastels on a gritty surface, watercolor in soft washes, pressed petals playing together. 

Flowers, landscapes of color and texture, petals, bouquets, abstractions of all these things:

All are before me.

 -Susan McChesney

Having drawn for all my life, my vision shifted to include pressing flowers and leaves from Western North Carolina and collaging them into landscapes.

So many of the same elements come into play: color, shape, texture, value… but transformed by the fragility and variety presented by nature.

Surrounded by flowers, I am grateful for their bounty.

Susan McChesney
The Art
The Journey

The Journey.

Education & Work

Diploma, School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

M. Ed, Antioch University
 

20+ years teaching and administrative positions in Department of Education, MFA Boston
 

30+ years private studio art instruction with a concentration in Drawing, all ages, and abilities
 

Susan lived and worked in mid-coast Maine 2001 – 2014, and now works in a studio and offers instruction in a variety of classes in the Asheville/Madison County NC area; including as an Adult Studio Instructor at the Asheville Art Museum.

Susan has explored many art mediums and you can see some of her art journey in this gallery.

PetalPassages
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PetalPassages.

Preserving memories of some of the most important occasions in a life.
Visit Petal-Passages.com to learn about Susan's special occasion bouquets including weddings, births and memorials, pressed and collaged into fine art pieces on commission. 

News

Find Susan's originals, prints and cards at Flow Gallery in beautiful Marshall, NC. (14 S. Main St.)

Article in Asheville Made:

June 1, 2021

Art Instructor Helps Cut Flowers Reach Their Full Potential

by Tom Kerr

READ

Honered as a finalist by Our State magazine Made-in-NC Awards 2021

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Find Susan's originals, prints and cards at Mountain Made Gallery in Grove Arcade, Asheville.

The News-Record & Sentinel's Spring & Summer 2022

Visitors Guide for

Madison County NC
Cover image by Susan McChesney

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