Turner - The fine art of paper flowers: a guide to making beautiful and lifelike botanicals

acknowledgments

Writing this book was a staggering amount of work, so difficult that at times I wondered if I was doing it right. It was an experience my family and I will never forget. There are a lot of people who helped along the way and I need to thank, each one from the bottom of my heart.

Windy Dorresteyn, thank you for your expertise and your ear. There wouldnt be a book to begin with without you. We love you.

To my team at Ten Speed Press. I dont believe I couldve been in better hands. Thank you to my editor, Kaitlin Ketchum, for your way with words and your way with me; to my art director and designer, Ashley Lima, for hearing and seeing my vision and sharing yours; and to editorial director Julie Bennett, for taking a chance on me.

Thank you to photographer, Aya Brackett, and her assistant, Alvina Wang, for the stunning photographs and finding such beautiful locations to take them. You helped to tell the stories I wanted to tell. Thank you to Natasha Kolenko, for your A+ styling skills and impromptu modeling, and to the people at Scribe Winery in Sonoma and the Starline Social Club in Oakland for letting us use every inch of your special facilities.

Thank you to Mason Hunt, who made essential, beautiful bits to help me fill these pages. To Aida Hassani for modeling with Stella, to Eleanor Gerber-Siff for THE URN, and to Michael Merritt for making the beautiful vase on .

Monica Lomas, friend and florist. Thank you for all the specimens, advice, and for listening to my exhausted ramblings about flowers.

To my brides, Courtney Cochran and Lilis Wu. Thank you for pushing me, and for lending me your treasured wedding items for these pages.

In no particular order, I need to thank these friends for all of the support they have given me in so many ways. Randy Wiederhold, Catherine Martin, Anna Branning, Robin Jakery, Kindley Walsh Lawlor, Marie Murphy, Paul Bibo, Stacy Shartzer, Kim Blake Prause and Mike Prause, Shannon Fairchild and Tom Randell. Thank you!

To Grace Bonney, Kevin B. Chen, Giselle Gyalzen, Jan Halverson and Danielle Krysa, the curators of and writers on my work, who have taken chances and helped to bring more attention to the fine art of paper flowers. Thank you all.

Marie Muscardini and Handcraft Studio School, thank you for holding up the craft community and being a friend. Brittany Watson Jepsen and The House That Lars Built, I have always kept my eye on my own paper, except when it comes to you. Thank you for all the beauty you give the world.

Mike and Chrissy Benson and Carte Fini Fine Italian Paper, the amount of support you have given me in exchange for so little amazes me. I will always be indebted to your generosity.

Thank you to my mother, Alexis Brown, a creative person and artist in her own right, who taught me endurance and commitment. I love you.

Thank you to my closest advisor and husband, David Vazquez, who gave so much so that I could become the artist I wanted to be. Thank you for everything, David. I love you.

And finally, to my beautiful daughter, muse, critic, and idea person, Stella Vazquez, and to my wonderful son, photographer, snuggle supporter, and paper scrap cleaner, Oliver Vazquez. Thank you for playing at my feet and skipping a summer while I wrote this book. You are part of everything I do, and I hope you feel it. I love you both much, much more than paper flowers.

about the author

TIFFANIE TURNER is a fine artist specializing in botanical-based sculpture, a Zellerbach Family Foundation grant awardee, and the creator of the large-scale crepe paper flower head. She is also a licensed California architect, an amateur art exhibit curator, and an instructor in the art of paper flower making across the United States.

Her work has been exhibited at Tower Hill Botanical Garden, Bedford Gallery, Jack Fischer Gallery, the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, and at the de Young Museum in San Francisco during a month-long artist residency.

Tiffanies work has appeared in Vogue; American Craft; the San Francisco Chronicle; and O, The Oprah Magazine and been featured online on Design*Sponge, The Jealous Curator, and Poppytalk, among others.

Raised in the woods of New Hampshire, Tiffanie now resides with her husband and two children in San Francisco, California, where she has lived for the past twenty years.

all about crepe paper

Crepe paper is like candy to me; I cannot resist it. I love the feel of it in my hands, and my love of the colors drives my work almost as much as my love of flowers. I also love using it because it is incredibly durable, which ensures that the flowers I make will last. Each tutorial in this book calls out the weight and color of crepe you should use, along with alternate suggestions, but keeping rolls of white, yellow, and green crepe on hand will ensure you can make some version of almost any flower in the book.

Paper color-naming conventions are not consistent from supplier to supplier. Italian 60 and 180 gram crepe papers are identified by a number assigned by the manufacturer. I use that manufacturers number along with a general color name I have assigned each when specifying Italian papers. Chinese 100 and 180 gram papers are called out by the manufacturers color names and have no color numbers, so when you see 100 gram or 180 gram followed by a color name with no color number, that is Chinese paper. German 90 gram doublette and 160 gram crepe also have no color numbers and are called out by the suppliers color names.

CREPE PAPER TYPES

The following are the types of crepe paper I use in my work and are used throughout this book. Sources for each type of crepe paper are listed beginning on .

180 gram Italian florist crepe

Specified by weight, manufacturers color number, and a general color name (for example, 180 gram #600 white).

This is the heaviest and thickest crepe I use. The colors are vibrant, with a huge selection to choose from. It is the only crepe paper currently available in ombr colors, which I adore. It is almost impossible to rip without a struggle. Because it is so rigid and durable, I use it for the giant paper flowers at the end of this book. Many of the life-size flowers are made from it as well, either left textured and thick or stretched to be smooth and thin.

180 gram Extra Heavy Chinese crepe

Specified by weight and the manufacturers color name (for example, 180 gram white).

Seemingly lighter in weight and more muted in color than its Italian counterpart, I use 180 gram Extra Heavy Chinese crepe primarily for a few unique colors it comes in that are hard to find in other weights.

160 gram German florist crepe

Specified by weight and the suppliers color name (for example, 160 gram white).

Lighter weight than the 180 gram Chinese crepe, but slightly stiffer. The colors are bright but natural. This crepe has the widest selection of greens.

100 gram Heavy Chinese crepe

Specified by weight and the manufacturers color name (for example, 100 gram white).

This paper is great for flowers that demand a thinner petal but still require texture and durability. Please note that 100 gram peach is somewhat beige, so I refer to it as peach/beige, and that 100 gram brown is quite gray, so it is called out as brown/gray throughout the text.