Help Requested - Looking for Plants

It's that time of year again - time to photograph the shadows of endangered and threatened plant species! If you have suggestions on where I can find and photograph a threatened or endangered plant, please contact me. My only requirement is that it be located in direct sunlight (not shade) and that it is in an area that is somewhat accessible so I don't disturb the natural habitat.

Here is the list of plants I have photographed so far:
compass plant (Silphium laciniatum)
cream wild indigo (Baptisia leucophaea)
cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
prairie smoke (Geum triflorum)
prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum)
rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia)
long-bracted spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteata)
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
white or prairie false indigo (Baptisia lactea)
pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri)
side-oats grama grass (Bouteloua curtipendula)
starry campion (Silene stellata)
squarrose sedge (Carex squarrosa)
wild oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)
goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans)
lakeside daisy (Hymenoxys herbacea)
prairie golden alexanders (Zizia aptera)

There are others I've tried to photograph at the MSU W.J. Beal Botanical Gardens, but because of their location, I can't get direct sunlight at the right time of day to cast a good shadow. I'm especially interested in finding purple turtlehead, downy sunflower, and Queen-of-the-Prairie.

Another Lesson in Letting Go

I feel so deeply privileged to have worked at Lansing Art Gallery with such amazing co-workers, artists, and volunteers over the past two and a half years. Unfortunately, due to recurring health issues related to thyroid cancer and fatigue, I have decided to leave my position as Education Outreach Coordinator. It frustrates me to no end not being able to do my job as well as I'd like. My doctor said life would return to normal after surgery. How I wish that were true! Instead, I continue the process of learning to let go - not an easy task for someone who likes to be in control all the time. 

My last day at Lansing Art Gallery will be May 20th and I will so miss seeing my co-workers each week. If there is a silver lining in any of this, it is the opportunity to spend more time on my endangered plant project, which has, ironically, also been teaching me how to let go through the use of organic materials and imperfect paper. 

If you know of anyone who may be interested in applying for the Education Coordinator position, send them to http://lansingartgallery.org/join-our-team/. The deadline is May 1st. Whoever they hire will be lucky to work with such incredible and hard-working co-workers in the best gallery in town!  

No Lye

I'm drawing the line. I've boiled this pot of invasive Dame's rocket FOUR times now and the stalks are still tough. It may be one of those plants that will only break down using lye, and I don't want to go down that road. I love that the majority of steps involved in this photography project are organic and don't require the use of anything stronger than soda ash and hand sanitizer. However, lye is another story. For now, I'll stick with the more user-friendly invasive plants phragmites and garlic mustard for my paper-making.

Phragmites Paper

The pulp I blended at Out of Hand Papermaking Studio makes a beautiful paper! Last week I made ten sheets and this weekend I made twenty. I can't wait to see what it looks like after an image transfer!

Pulp Happy!

Karen O'Neal, the owner of Out of Hand Papermaking Studio, continues to be my guiding light in this project. I drove to Ann Arbor yesterday to pay her a visit and to rent her glorious machine! (I want one.) What would have taken me weeks to chop in my broken-down blender only took six hours! I left with a big bucket of beautiful, finely beaten Phragmites pulp and will pick up the garlic mustard pulp on my next trip. Looks like I'll be making paper today!

I couldn't help but snap a few shots of her wonderful studio. So much to look at (and pine over), like the heavy duty paper press and drying rack. It's such a peaceful and inspiring atmosphere. Thank you Karen for all your help, the great ideas/tips and for a wonderful day!

Blender Blues

I received the replacement part for my blender and have been busy beating invasive plants. A few weeks ago, I beat the first round of Phragmites and last week round two of garlic mustard. Today I was on round three of garlic mustard when my blender started smoking. I don't know the name of the part, but it melted. There has to be a better way of doing this without spending $5,000 on an Oracle Hollander Beater.

Garlic Mustard

Here's the pot of garlic mustard I boiled over the weekend. I'll beat it next week and then see what kind of paper it makes.

While the garlic mustard was boiling, I cut up a big barrel of phragmites, which will be boiled next weekend.