{{Short description|Pressed flower art}} {{italic title}} alt=Dried flowers and cards on a desk|thumb|upright=1.3|Dried flowers and cards at an {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}} (dried flower art) workshop in Osaka, Japan [[Image:Chairminiature.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Pressed flower decoupage on a miniature chair.]]
{{nihongo||押し花|'''Oshibana'''}} is the art of using pressed flowers and other botanical materials to create an entire picture from these natural elements.<ref name=Townsend>{{cite journal|last1=Townsend|first1=S. P.|title=Oshibana|journal=Bulletin - Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden|date=1987|volume=17|issue=1|pages=12–13|url=https://www.nal.usda.gov/agricola?Search_Arg=oshibana&DB=local&CNT=25&Search_Code=GKEY&STARTDB=AGRIDB|access-date=19 March 2015}}</ref> Such '''pressed flower art''' consists of drying flower petals and leaves in a flower press to flatten them, exclude light and press out moisture. These elements are then used to "paint" an artistic composition. The origin of this art form has been traced to 16th century Japan, but it is now practiced worldwide. The resulting artwork is referred to as an {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}}.<ref>{{cite web|title = Art Floreo|url = http://www.artfloreo.com/oshibana.html|access-date = September 26, 2015}}</ref>
==Historical background== As early as the 16th century, samurai were said to have created {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}} as one of their disciplines to promote patience, harmony with nature and powers of concentration.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}} Similarly, as botanists in Europe began systematic collection and preservation of specimens, art forms with the pressed plant materials developed, particularly during the Victorian era.{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}
The art form became popular in the Holy Land in the late 1890s and into the 20th century when elaborate souvenir books combining photographs of the holy sites and the pressed flowers gathered at these sites. These photographs and pressed, dried flowers were artistically formatted and bound between olive wood covers to be sold to visitors.<ref>{{cite web|title = Flowers and Pictures of the Holy Land|url = http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/digital_collections/notable/holy_land.html|website = The Getty Research Institute|access-date = September 26, 2015}}</ref> American actress Grace Kelly, during her years as Princess Grace of Monaco, practiced oshibana and helped promote the art of pressed flowers worldwide, employing pressed botanical materials sent to her from abroad. ''My Book of Flowers'', published in 1980, includes chapters on her art.<ref>{{cite web|title=A Celebration of Grace|url=http://acelebrationofgrace.visitmonaco.com/passions.html|access-date=November 17, 2015|archive-date=October 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024142043/http://acelebrationofgrace.visitmonaco.com/passions.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Kelly|first1=Grace|last2=Robyns|first2=Gwen|title=My Book of Flowers|date=1980|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=0385140762|pages=224}}</ref>
==Outside of Asia== Outside of Asia, the art gained popularity in Britain during the Victorian era and experienced a revival from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Some artists outside of Asia have continued to use it.<ref name=Phillymag>{{cite news|title=Home: Pressing On|url=http://www.phillymag.com/articles/home-pressing-on/|access-date=20 March 2015|work=Philadelphia|publisher=Metrocorp|date=22 June 2007}}</ref>
Pressing flowers makes them appear flat, and there is often a change in color, ranging from faded colors to a greater intensity of vibrant colors. The pressed flowers and leaves can be used in a variety of craft projects. They are often mounted on special paper, such as handmade paper, Ingres paper, Japanese paper, or paper decorated by marbling. Each leaf and flower is glued onto a precise location. With a creative approach to the use of materials, a leaf becomes a tree and petals form mountains.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}
Washes of watercolor painting are sometimes applied to the backing paper before the pressed material is attached. Pressed material may also be mounted on fabrics, such as velvet, silk, linen or cotton.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bookofpressedflo00blac|title=The book of pressed flowers|first=Penny|last=Black|date=1988|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=0671660713|location=New York|oclc=16712180|url-access=registration}}</ref>
Petals and leaves can be applied to wood furnishings using the technique of decoupage.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/decoupageeasyway0000unse|title=Découpage the easy way|date=2001|publisher=Sterling Pub|author=Plaid Enterprises|isbn=0806936371|location=New York|oclc=44763945|url-access=registration}}</ref>
== Emerging methods == {{transliteration|ja|Oshibana}} artists are employing various new technologies in pressing methods, framing techniques and color enhancing to help the pressed materials keep their beauty through the years. Nobuo Sugino, pioneering figure in contemporary {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}}, and his father used dessicant papers to press flowers, helping hold color.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Maruko|first1=Mami|title=World of freeze-framed flowers at Mitsukoshi|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2000/04/22/arts/world-of-freeze-framed-flowers-at-mitsukoshi/#.VhBMb0uE5g2|website=Culture|date=22 April 2000 |publisher=The Japan Times|access-date=October 3, 2015}}</ref> A method of vacuum-sealing frames to lock in color, texture and clarity of the petals and leaves and help prevent moisture and fungi intrusion was also developed in Japan and is now practiced by many {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}} artists worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oshibana Art: Japanese Pressed Flowers|url=https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pt&u=http://www.oshibana.com.br/&prev=search|website=Oshibana Art|access-date=November 17, 2015}}</ref>
==International organizations== ===International Pressed Flower Art Society=== The IPFAS in an international pressed flower organization that promotes pressed flower art and offers education and holds competitions. It has members from over 20 nations ({{as of|2010|lc=y}}) including Japan, the United Kingdom, United States, France, Germany, Mexico, and Australia. It was founded in 1999 by Nobuo Sugino, a Japanese pressed flower artist and President of Japan Wonderful {{transliteration|ja|Oshibana}} Club.<ref name="Phillymag"/>
===Pressed Flower Craft Guild=== In the UK, the Pressed Flower Craft Guild was established in 1983 by Joyce Fenton (a pressed flower artist) and Bill Edwardes (who devised the method of framing pressed flower pictures adopted by the guild). It claims to have an international membership.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pressedflowerguild.org.uk/|title=The Pressed Flower Guild - Home|website=www.pressedflowerguild.org.uk}}</ref>
===Worldwide Pressed Flower Guild (WWPFG)=== The WWPFG was established in July 2001. In November 2008, the guild was incorporated in North Carolina as a public educational non-profit organisation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wwpfg.com/|title=World Wide Pressed Flower Guild|website=www.wwpfg.com}}</ref>
===Others=== In recent decades, the emergence of several international art associations and schools have helped popularize and increase the recognition of {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}} as a unique art form through classes, conferences, international exhibitions and competitions. Among them include: * Philadelphia Flower Show, organized by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, host of the annual {{transliteration|ja|oshibana}}/pressed flower art competition. * {{transliteration|ja|Oshibana}} Art, a Japanese pressed flower organization and school founded by Mirian Tatsumi in 1996 in São Paulo, Brazil
== See also == * Illustration * Graphic design * Gold dipped roses * Herbarium, a scientific plant collection, usually of pressed plants
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Burkhart, W. Eugene Jr. ''Pressed Flower Art: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Learning the Craft''. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2008. *''[http://www.artfloreo.com/oshibana.html Oshibana]'', by Natalia Kishigami. 2013.
==External links== *[http://www.ipfas.org IPFAS] *[https://blogitwell.com/flower-pressing-kit-for-adults-buying-guide/ Adults can also make flower pressing as a hobby]
Category:Flowers in art Category:Japanese art Category:Japanese words and phrases