Short Bio
Aleka Artemis Munroe is a Dover, New Hampshire based artist, photographer and author, working on two other projects in addition to her Botanical Pounded Art.
Statement
I created the concept of botanical pounded floral art on high quality watercolor paper through experimentation. The result appears to be a watercolor or pressed flowers; however the image is made from hammering the pigments of flowers, stems & leaves into the paper! Botanical names of flora are written on the front of the piece and signed. I do take special orders but not all flora is suitable for botanical pounding, and not all flora is available year round in New Hampshire. For example, roses, lilacs and white flowers do not release pigment. Please do not permanently display artwork in direct sunlight.
Biography
Chronic illness and disability left the artist, Aleka Artemis Munroe feeling that she had less to offer the world. In early spring 2020 she heard of flower pounding and researched it. Finding little information about the work on paper, Aleka Artemis developed her own technique of botanical pounding, in which she places live plant material—flowers, buds, leaves, and herbs—on watercolor paper, covers them with paper and pounds the flora with a hammer, imprinting the pigment into the watercolor paper. She began giving them as gifts and was encouraged by people ordering the unique artwork. Only black or gold archival art pen is added to delineate the floral colored print.
Original botanical pounded floral art on high quality watercolor paper. It looks like a watercolor or pressed flowers but the image is made from hammering flowers and leaves pigments into the paper! A gift within a gift, as it is suitable for framing. Botanical names of flora listed on front of card, signed by artist. Please do not permanently display artwork in direct sunlight.
Resume / CV
Aleka Artemis Munroe has always needed to express herself with words and art. At age 10, as her father forced his narcissistic interpretation of reality on his family, she began photographing with her grandfather’s Brownie camera, recording reality and writing poems expressing her perspective. Aleka’s linguistics and foreign languages education etched words into her soul. After careers in banking, training, then teaching, and raising a theatrical and musical family where words were essential tools, her fifties hit hard with the chaos of a failed adoption and multiplying autoimmune illness. Her creative and comedic family and friends, and prayer pulled her through. Aleka believes God gives us the strength to get through pain, sorrow and suffering, to live, love, laugh, and especially to reach out to others who are struggling to choose between despair and courage, connection and disconnection. Mindfulness training sparked a renewal of using photography and words to envision alternate interpretations of scenes in her limited physical world with her camera lens and lyrical mediations. This developed into Compasspoints: maxims for clearing the chaos in our cages and Compasspoints Perspectives motivational speaking. Aleka is finishing a photographic book entitled “I am Water”, an allegorical tale of being the water that constantly flows on toward the unknown of the ocean, despite the obstacles in its path. During one of her physically limiting illnesses, Aleka began experimenting with Botanical Pounding, using a hammer to pound flowers and leaves into paper, imprinting the pigments permanently into designs. It grew from a connection with nature and expressive art into a business.
