Waverley Elementary

12 classes ranging from Kindergarten through Grade 7 were immersed in the subject of Indigenous, invasive, and introduced plants in the Victoria-Fraserview neighbourhood. We learned how to identify plants by studying the branching pattern, the flower, the leaves, the stem, and the fruit, while touching on their traditional and contemporary uses. We highlighted the importance of botanical illustrations for creating scientific records for identification purposes and used herbarium sheets as direct reference for our own careful drawings. Inspired by the cyanotypes of Anna Atkins (1843), students created their own prints from indigenous pressed plants, photographic coated paper, and the sun. Delving into historical botanical design from the Art Nouveau movement (1890-1905) and inspired by contemporary Vancouver-based artists like Nicole Dextra, Brigitte Potter Mael and Sharon Kallis, we created elegant botanical designs from embossed foam plates, scratchboards, stamps, stencils and offset printing techniques.