31 Days of Living Local

Sarah’s Lavender Cottage {31 Days: Day 24}

Meet Sarah Samsel
A Pressed-Flower and Cornhusk Doll Artist


A multi-media artist since the time she could glue construction paper together and an avid gardener, Sarah Samsel combines her excitement for creating and creation through pressed flower art. In addition to flower petals, Sarah uses foliage, seeds, bark, fruit and vegetable peels and a variety of other natural materials to create her pictures. In 2005, Sarah got her start in pressed-flower art when she was 10 years old by making greeting cards.

Ocellated Turkey  
banana peel, money plant, orange peel, smoke tree, corn husk, delphinium, spider mum, aucuba, zinnia, cockscomb, Georgia blue, cotton, mulberry, luffa, oak, parsley, chrysanthemum,
various other plants and
 mica
Sunny Day
gray poplar, black hollyhock, tiger lily, fern, birch, 
aucuba, banana peel, pampas grass, seaweed, tulip, cornsilk, hornet’s nest and mica

Manipulating cornhusks is also one of Sarah’s favorite activities. She’s been bending cornhusks since she was 12 years old. Sarah has made cornhusk sheep, camels, flowers, guys and dolls.

The Messenger

Field Gatherer

Joyful Noise
From Sarah..

Bringing hundreds of tiny pieces of plant material together to make a picture is one of my favorite things to do. My hometown, Clarkesville, is a great place to find a wide variety of botanical supplies. Most of what you see in my pressed-flower pictures once grew in a Georgia garden, field or forest. I also enjoy the challenge of seeing how far I can push the limits of my cornhusk dolls. Lately I’ve been making a flock of cornhusk birds. North Georgia is good about supporting its artists through its many galleries and art shows. I’m very thankful for where I live!


For more information on Sarah’s talent and to visit her shop visit Sarah’s Lavender Cottage online.

For all my posts in this 31 Days series on Living Local click here.


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