Nature is the best inspiration for creativity. It does not only tell stories, but also shares materials: you can draw pictures not with colors, but with flowers, petals, plants, berries. This art even has its own name — "oshibana" — and it is developing in Japan. Recently, the publishing house "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber" has published a book "A Year in the Forest", all illustrations are made using dried flowers, petals, berries and other natural materials. We have decided to learn about the intricacies of oshibana and secrets of flower drying, and ask Ludmila Solod, a real guru of Japanese art.

Ludmila has been engaged in the art of oshibana for many years, she runs her own studio, she is also a member of Pressed Flower Guild (Great Britain), Pressed Flower Art Society (Japan) and Ikebana International. She has written several books about magical flower collages, and also received a European diploma in "Florist-Collagist". Of course, she knows everything about it.

Ludmila Solod

— Ludmila, why have you chosen oshibana? How have you come to this technique?

— "Oshibana" in Japanese means "pressed flower". This flower, dried under pressure, keeps its color, shape, but becomes flat. In Russia, the creation of greeting cards, paintings from flowers has been called "flat floristics" for a long time. The international name for this technique is "the art of pressed flowers".

Many years ago I began to study Japanese art of ikebana. The philosophy of simplicity, clarity, nature, incompleteness in the basis of ikebana, suited me. Later I learned about oshibana and found out that many people of different age from around the world do it.

Here are the illustrations in Japanese technique of oshibana in the book "A Year in the Forest"

— In what month is it better to start collecting flowers and plants? How to choose what you need?

— Plants that will be colors for the creative palette of an artist-florist, may be collected during all seasons. In April, you can start collecting spring primroses, young leaves. In summer, blossom of various herbs, cereals, shrubs, forest and garden flowers changes quickly. All summer is a great period for collecting. Autumn adds bright colors when we dry autumn leaves. In winter, for example, you can dry something from indoor and greenhouse plants.

An artist chooses the flowers that he/she likes, and those that cause memories or are needed for art. Of course, it is better to choose fresh, unusual plants. They are better preserved, and their color will be brighter.

It is hard to believe, but these flowers are not painted. It is oshibana in all its glory

— What plants do you usually use?

— I use many different dried plants. I try to make the palette diverse and suitable for different styles of work. I often like to work with ferns, hydrangeas, roses, orchids, chrysanthemums, violets.

— Could you share some of your secrets on how to dry flowers?

— The main secret is to dry the plants quickly. Then they remain colorful. To do this, the plants are spread on a single sheet of A4 newspaper and covered with another sheet of the same size — the botanists call it a "shirt". They lay "mattresses" between them: they absorb moisture, they should regularly be replaced with dry ones. The simplest version of a "mattress" is a newspaper folded in 8-16 layers. Drying is a process that a person should see once, then practice, and gain his/her own experience.

— What equipment does an amateur florist need?

— To dry the plants, you will need a lot of newspapers, napkins, knives and scissors for the preparation of plants. Presses for drying may be small portable and stationary installed at home. They are easy to make yourself. It is convenient to use tweezers to take dried plants. To make collages, you will need paper, rubber glue, frames, and paint.

— Where do you store your dried blanks?

— I store them in transparent files, grouped into folders. The folder can contain one of plant species (a folder with peonies, a folder with pansies), or plants of the same color (a folder with white flowers, a folder with raspberry flowers), or plants of the same season (a folder with primroses, with autumn leaves, with winter pine materials).

The owl is also made of dried plant petals

— Do you have a dream project?

— I would really love for this kind of art to develop in Russia. For herbarium, as a traditional form of this art, to be presented in our urban and suburban interiors. Not many people in our country know about the art of pressed flowers and its design possibilities. I have written books about it, but it seems to me that it is possible to show readers more interesting things, to teach to create flower pictures, botanical ornaments, souvenirs. It is possible to tell the readers about oshibana principles, to write a book for children to learn how to make a bouquet not in a vase, but in a frame.

— Ludmila, what advice can you give to amateur florists?

— Being in the art of pressed flowers, we become florists, artists, and ecodesigners. This activity belongs to the category of art therapy. It is called a dynamic meditation as while working with flowers, the rhythms of the brain reach the harmony. Those who get interested in it and begin doing it, will definitely feel the beneficial effects of oshibana.