Come to the Guild on Sunday April 2nd for the first exhibit in our newly painted POP-UP GALLERY!
“Pressed Flowers & Calligraphy” by Simone Sheppard
There will be a reception for Simone Sheppard on Sunday April 2, 1-4 PM.
Light refreshments will be served.
Simone Sheppard was born in England with an adventurous spirit, which brought her to New York in 1966. The plan was to stay for a year, but one thing led to another, as things tend to do. She has embraced the arts her entire life as a dancer, actress, author/illustrator, poet, calligrapher and more. Her pressed flower creations now hang, or stand, in at least 49 states and 24 other countries.
In 1977 she married and moved to Fair Lawn, NJ where, for the first time since coming to America, she had the joy of her own garden, and in 1978, wishing to share flowers with relatives in England, she began experimenting with ways to preserve them. Since then, she has been gathering flowers and drying them out in a traditional flower press. Once dry they are sorted and saved for use with calligraphy, around wedding invitations and in other framed arrangements.
Many of these beautiful creations have been reproduced, using today’s “state of the art” technology to make prints so lifelike that it is hard to distinguish them from the original. The color and delicacy of the original is captured and will last forever, making these exquisite prints a very desirable alternative for all those who enjoy the beauty of flowers. Today’s technology has also allowed her to upload her designs to sites which now print them on all manner of everyday items and gifts, spreading the joy further and further.
Over the years, Simone has exhibited in hundreds of fairs, festivals and special events. She demonstrates her techniques for clubs and groups and her consigned works have found their way into some very distinguished hands including HM Queen Elizabeth II, Presidents Reagan and Clinton, Margaret Thatcher and George Lucas. She defines her work as “Flowers from my garden, words from my heart.”
“I believe that, in a world where we are constantly bombarded with horrific images and sounds, every act of violence we witness (fiction or non), every stream of profanity we hear, blow we are dealt, takes away from our well-being, physical and mental. I also believe that to reverse this effect we must feed our senses with the opposite… positive, loving, heartwarming images and sounds. There is nothing more nurturing and dependable than the natural beauty of this planet and nothing more beautiful in nature, than its colorful variety of flowers.
One of my favorite compliments came at a craft show one day when a customer remarked, “The world would be a better place if everyone were to spend five minutes a day in your booth.” I love that! It puts me exactly where I want to be. My work has now spread across the world, and I thrill to hear of items being sent further and further abroad. It could be said that what I do and the effect it has is just a drop in the needed bucket, but I prefer to see it as mist in the air and if I can get enough out there and touch enough people, who knows, maybe I could actually make a difference. It’s certainly something worth working for.”
Simone Sheppard