Sheaf of Barley
I started making botanical casts in 2020 as a hobby and then, in 2021 started selling them as
The Castaway.
I’ve always liked to be outside, preferably somewhere that I can hear the birds sing and be
amongst trees, flowers and foliage, all the things that I can see and hear when I’m
outdoors. I enjoy walking and gardening and like to gather material to work with when I’m
out.
Casting shows (and preserves) the natural beauty of plants enabling the form and structure
of all the different parts to really be seen and appreciated – details that might not otherwise
be noticed. its easy to miss the the intricate underside of a leaf or the delicate patterning
found on a petal. These are picked by the clay into which I press the flowers or foliage and
then use to create a mould for the plaster of paris from which the cast is created.
I prefer to work with single specimens to focus on their individuality but I also work with
different plants together – pretty garden annuals for examples or different meadow grasses
moving in the wind.
Hopefully my casts portray the natural, sometimes unseen, beauty of plants, showing people
things they haven’t seen before in a lasting way
