By Millie Farley
Kate Punnett is a floral artist, mother of three, and business owner. She is also a passionate gardener. Over the years her neighbourhood has lost a lot of green space to construction.
Choosing to look on the positive side of things, Punnett made a pressed flower print titled ‘Woodpark Gardens’ to appreciate the beauty of the floral greenery in her community.
“The pressed flower piece is not about loss. It is about hopefulness, moving forward, and the renewal of the spirit in each of us from the simple act of gardening,” Punnett wrote in an email. “The loss of these spaces make our individual efforts of gardening even more important as we continue to feel hopeful, heard and seen as individuals living in a city that has its own plans for development and intensification.”
Construction of light rail train stations at Lincoln Fields and New Orchard caused Punnett’s neighborhood to lose many of the mature trees it once had — including an urban forest of cherry blossom trees.
Punnett said that gardens are not only for just those with green thumbs, but for the community at large. The process of making her print started with collecting flowers. Neighbours filled up a bucket placed outside her house with floral donations. After two months of pressing and drying the flowers, they were arranged.
Fifteen per cent of profits collected from her sales will fund a community agreed upon project in her neighbourhood.
“Combining my pressed florals with community is a social art project that intends to bring about change through aesthetics. It is our hands, the people, our imagination brought together to fuel a feeling of personal empowerment towards change. This is my work. And this pressed floral print speaks to that,” said Punnett.
Punnett’s pressed flower print can be purchased here.
