Celebrating the architecture of nature: The story behind my daylily collection

The Daylily collection began as many of my botanical illustrations do: from everyday walks around the beautiful city of Boston. Although I love to get out of the city and into the middle of nature, Boston is full of green spaces, meaning you're never too far from seasonal blooms and interesting forms of plants and flowers. The daylilies I photographed for this project were discovered earlier this June along the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

I love it when I come across these unexpected pockets of planting, especially when, like these daylilies, there are so many different shapes together, ranging from tightly closed buds to full blooms.

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Left: Daylily Photographed in Boston's Greenway, right: The finished 'Bud' art print

The first in the collection, 'Bud' (pictured above), was inspired by the side-on view of the flower head and the way the petals turned under, forming soft, layered shapes. The clusters of buds surrounding it created a lovely contrast between the delicate petals and the sculptural, three-dimensional forms of the unopened blooms.

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A behind-the-scenes look at the stages of the hand-drawn 'Bud' illustration

When deciding on the scale and positioning for 'Morning Light' (pictured below), I chose to turn the reference photo upside down so the bloom would face to the left, always considering how the collection would look together while also making sure each piece is just as striking when styled on its own. I added a few long, slender leaves to bring extra interest to the composition while keeping the overall proportions balanced.

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'Morning light' Art print process: From inspiration, to initial outline, to the finished art print

The final piece in the collection, 'Bloom' (pictured below), was actually the first illustration I completed. From the beginning, I knew I wanted this piece to be the 'star of the show'!

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Left: the inspiration photo, captured in Boston's greenway, right: the finished 'Bloom' art print

I very rarely create illustrations that fill an entire page, but with this one I really felt the need to capture both the scale of the flower and the beautiful contrast between the striped veins of the leaves and the fully open bloom. 'Bloom' brings together the essence of the other two illustrations into a single artwork.

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The in-progress photos from the hand-drawn 'Bloom' illustration

All of my artwork is drawn entirely by hand to preserve the authenticity of my line work. I always work with black fine-liner pens on paper, using different nib sizes to create a variety of textures and fine details. Once the drawing is complete, I digitally adjust the tones into my signature charcoal and ivory palette so that each collection complements calm, contemporary interiors.

Some of my artwork begins with an idea before I seek out the perfect plant to observe, while others begin just like this Daylily series, where a summertime evening stroll turns into me taking countless reference photos wherever I happen to be. Many times I've dragged my husband out for a walk and an evening coffee, only for it to end with me discovering the inspiration for my next project. (He's very patient... or so it seems!)

One thing I've noticed more and more is that I'm often first drawn in by the colors of the seasons whenever a flower or piece of foliage catches my eye, especially here in New England, where every season brings something completely different and offers endless inspiration. However, once I get closer, it's always the architecture of nature that captures my attention most. I think that's why I'll never tire of creating monochrome artwork. It encourages me to look beyond the obvious and really study the intricate forms, patterns and structures that make every plant unique.

The daylily collection of three finished art prints framed

The Daylily collection is available to purchase now, with each unframed fine art print available in a choice of four sizes. Click the image above to explore the collection.