Han Christine - Handmade Houseplants: Remarkably Realistic Plants You Can Make With Paper

CORRIE BETH HOGG

FOREWORD BY DAVID STARK
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRISTINE HAN

Timber Press Portland, Oregon

The kinds of artists who are shamans have always transfixed me. They make magic out of thin air. Their art looks untouched by human hands. Its as if the work just appears from the skynever labored over. It just is.

Corrie Beth Hogg is one of those artists. For fourteen years, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with her under the auspices of my company, David Stark Design and Production. Over those years, our team invented many things that on paper might sound crazy, but brought to life were beautiful, often outlandish, full of whimsy, and made with the utmost attention to craftso much so that even the wackiest idea was ultimately chic. Whether transforming the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel with a suspended canopy of tropical paper foliage for a Carnegie Hall jungle-themed gala or, swinging in the opposite direction of scale, creating intricate flowers and bumblebees from the pages of recycled books that live within the intimate confines of glass cloches, Corrie creates magic by transforming the everyday into the extraordinary.

How does she do it? Of course, its hard to pin down exactly where an artists golden touch comes from, but one of the things that I have always marveled at is Corries ability to break down process and create a system that provides a logical, methodical path to the desired outcome. I suppose its a learned skill that came out of necessity. The events we produce at my company are often on a grand scalefor sometimes thousands of people; making every element of these environments and centerpieces would be impossible for one person to manage single-handedly.

Corrie, over the years, has become an expert at creating beautifully lucid, step-by-step instructions that empower each of our talented elves in the studio to create their own magic. Its so exciting for me to see how Corrie has honed those skills to create this book, packed with such generosity, tips and tricks, her own brand of quirky humor, and, most importantly, great ideas.

For those of us who love nature as well as the handmade, this charming book, filled with gorgeous photos, will become a favorite in our library. I suggest you use it not only as a fine tutorial to create your own version of Corries brilliant botanical garden, but also as inspiration. Do you line up five plush paper rex begonias interspersed with shimmering candles to beautifully appoint your Thanksgiving table? Do you create a window box for an inside ledge with your own garden of combined paper plants? There are thirty projects here to explore and perfect, but Mother Nature has waved her magic wand at many more species to explore on this earth. Take the methods that Corrie has so abundantly shared and apply them to your own favorite specimens or invent your own breed! And dont forget to have a good time. Corrie infuses fun and whimsy into everything she touches. Beyond her extraordinary artistic talents, I am lucky enough to be swept onto the fun train she conducts daily. That energy is infectious and is felt throughout this delightful book. You are in for a treat!

DAVID STARK

author and president and chief creative officer of David Stark Design and Production, a world-renowned event design, planning, and production company

My love for nature and my passion for making art are intrinsically intertwinedand they always have been. As a child growing up near the Gulf Islands National Seashore in southern Mississippi, I spent many afternoons canoeing in the bayous and wandering trails in the woods. Id construct giant dream catchers by pulling up ivy from our garden, twisting the vines together, and adding whatever treasures I found that day: feathers, shells, or acorn caps. I started art lessons at just eight years old, planning my artistic future at a young age. They led me to study painting at Memphis College of Art, before I moved to New York City to follow my art world dreams.

Although I love urban life, I took a break from the city a few years ago to work for a season on an organic farm in northern California. My tent dwelling allowed me to wake with the dawn each morning, and my days orbited around plants. I picked basil in the morning, weeded arugula after lunch, and patiently waited for tomatoes to ripen day after day. My favorite moments were once again merging nature and art together by creating mixed floral bouquets for the farmers market and arranging the farm stands vegetables in an appealing way.

I brought that state of mind back with me to Brooklyn, where I currently live and work just a few blocks from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Prospect Park, both of which I visit nearly every weekend. These outdoor spaces are invaluable to me for inspiration, fresh air, and a much-needed respite from city life. Theyre also where I discovered many of the plants that youll find in this book.

Nature fuels and inspires me... whether that means backpacking the Appalachian Trail, taking a stroll in a park, or even just finding some small corner of my apartment where a few houseplants can survive. I began making paper plants because I wanted a fiddle-leaf fig tree in my windowless living room. From their verdant hues to their whimsical gestures, these paper creations give me the same joy as my live plants. Though the paper is temporary, especially when compared to a plastic plant, I believe the care and attention I put into each leaf while creating the plant makes me appreciate it even more.

Paper wasnt always my medium of choice. For many years, I made paintings, collages, and fabric sculptures. I began working with paper at the request of my longtime mentor and friend, David Stark, who wrote the foreword for this book. Davids always known and trusted that I was a person who could make things. Even if I didnt know how, he knew Id figure it out. Ive worked at his company, David Stark Design and Production, for many years, and its become my second home. My job gives me endless opportunities to be ambitiously creative, and I never know what Ill be inspired to make from one day to the next. This exciting variety at work gives me freedom to discover new ideas in my own studio, sparking inspirationlike my current obsession, paper plants!

A fiddle-leaf figthe plant that started my paper plantmaking career!