Jennifer Lee Smith

Jennifer's artwork has focused on dye-painting, Shibori, quilting, metalwork, glass mosaic, and for the last 15 year, on botanical printmaking.

Inspired by her daily hikes in the Pacific Northwest, she has been drawn to botanical printmaking as a way to reflect the beauty of the trees that surround her. Her process begins with the seasonal gathering of leaves and the search for wool and silk to upcycle.

In her studio, she intentionally places the leaves on the wool, covers them with her hand-dyed silk to transfer the background color, tightly rolls the fabric around a copper rod for direct contact, and submerges the bundle in hot water to cook for several hours. This process extracts the pigments contained in the leaves, transferring their prints and coloration onto the fabric.

When unwrapping the bundle, she feels a sense of excitement as she discovers the unpredictable and unique results. Even with her careful choices in leaves, placement, and background, the outcome is always a surprising discovery. Her desire is to share the rich beauty she sees in nature and to honor the varied patterns, colors, and textures found in trees and leaves.