Claire Bailey
Studio
Digital Work
Giclée on Kozo (Mulberry) Notecards
Back to front, respectively: “Mountain Laurel,” “Mohr’s Barbara’s Buttons,” “Wild Meadow,” and “Before Rain.”
Wildflower Notecards
These photographs reveal the beautiful, wild flora of the Bibb County Glades in Alabama in the lush spring of April. Home to some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the United States, Alabama is home to a myriad of rare wildflowers, fireflies, birds, mussels, (and even a rumored cougar or two)! But like in all wild places now, these treasures are becoming increasingly endangered. Through these photographs I pay homage to and honor my grandparents’ work to conserve and defend the sacred wildflowers of Alabama and hope to inspire their continual protection.
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The images are printed onto folded Japanese Kozo paper made with subtle cloud-like, swirling strands of natural mulberry fibers. The paper is extremely both thin and strong, exquisitely textured, and especially beautiful when held up to the light. It is pH neutral, and made with sustainably harvested materials.
Mountain Laurel
The mountain laurel speaks to me in dreams
She says,
“When you are weary come lie down
on the mossy earth
until home finds its way back to you.
When you get quiet, you can hear the forest
singing with you,
calling to you: blossom.
Sink into this rhythmic swelling of your heart
begging to burst forth like rain.”
Giclée on Cotton Rag
Limited Edition
Exhalation
September’s sun set into November’s fallen leaves in
one exhaling breath.
And in that blink of time,
this precious stretch of water
and the forest that surrounds it
was protected.
And so, I can happily forget the way the time slips
through my fingers like sand,
knowing this act alone makes up for lost months
and wasted centuries.
