I meant to make texture plates last year, but somehow the summer got away from me. I had time in winter, but of course nothing is blooming then. This summer I finally had both the time and plenty of flowers and leaves ready in the garden.

The idea behind these texture plates is simple, they’ll be bisque fired and become reusable tools for creating textured slabs in future pieces. Instead of using fresh plants every time, I’ll be able to press clay into these molds to capture all those beautiful natural details.

My garden is overflowing this time of year, but I had to be selective. I looked for plants that weren’t too thick, since bulky stems and flower heads can push right through the clay. As much as I love my echinacea and Black-eyed Susans, their large blooms just aren’t a good fit for this process.

This first plate is ferns.
Here is a look at everything I pulled from the garden. Some grape vine, dill, a few types of fern, thai basil, small elephant ears, shiso, petunias, violas, and some thyme.	And some more ferns, mint, lupine, and lavender.
Here’s a before-and-after of the grapevine. I think this texture is really going to pop on a mug!
This is a mixture of mint, lupine, celosia, and petunias.
A mix of everything. I missed the after on both of these!	This is a mixture of a bunch of different types of ferns. I wish I had more fiddleheads, but this was the only one in my garden.
One last giant texture that mixes everything.