DSBG

   DSBG is a commissioned artist's book created for Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, North Carolina. Constructed as a

    sculptural carousel book, it unfolds into a panoramic sequence of immersive scenes that celebrate the Garden's distinctive 

    architecture, cultivated landscapes, and seasonal displays. Original photographs are combined with hand-cut paper engineering

    to transform familiar views into layered environments that invite exploration from every angle.

   Rather than presenting the Garden as a traditional photographic record, the book interprets it through dimensional paper 

   construction. Conservatories, garden rooms, winding pathways, and iconic landmarks emerge from the pages, while strategically

   cut openings create depth, shadow, and changing perspectives. As the structure expands into its circular form, individual 

   spreads become part of a continuous visual journey, encouraging viewers to move around the work and experience the 

   landscape as a complete environment.

   The imagery reflects the Garden throughout the year, revealing moments of quiet winter structure, vibrant spring growth, lush 

   summer foliage, and the rich colors of autumn. Architectural elements and natural forms are woven together, emphasizing the 

   dialogue between designed spaces and the living landscape.

   Created from archival papers and original photography, DSBG serves as both an artist's book and a visual tribute to one of North

   Carolina's treasured public gardens. The work invites viewers to experience the Garden not as a single destination, but as a place

   of continual transformation, where every unfolding page reveals another perspective waiting to be discovered.

   Artist Statement

   Gardens have always been places where I slow down enough to notice. They remind me that beauty is not a single moment but

   a continuous cycle of emergence, abundance, rest, and renewal. Long before I was invited to create this book, Daniel Stowe 

   Botanical Garden had become woven into my own life. It was a place where I wandered with my children as they grew, returned 

   with my camera through changing seasons, and found quiet moments that became lasting memories.

   Receiving my first commissioned artist's book from the Garden made this project especially meaningful. It allowed me to

   preserve not only a remarkable landscape, but also my personal experience of returning to it again and again. With each visit, I 

   discovered something I had overlooked before—a bloom that had quietly opened, light filtering differently through the trees, the 

   unexpected appearance of a butterfly, a turtle, or a bird carrying on its daily routine. The garden taught me that attention is its 

   own form of appreciation.

   As I assembled this book, I wanted to capture more than recognizable landmarks. I hoped to convey the feeling of walking 

   through a living place that is never truly the same twice. Every season leaves its mark, every visitor carries away a different 

   memory, and every return offers another opportunity to see with fresh eyes.

   This work is both a tribute to Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden and a reminder that the landscapes we revisit often become part of

   our own story. Like the garden itself, the book invites viewers to pause, to look closely, and to recognize the quiet beauty that 

   reveals itself over time.

   Year: 2013

   Medium: Mixed media artist's book

   Structure: carousel

   Materials: Archival papers, original photography, PVA  

   adhesive, mixed media

   Dimensions:    closed, 7” x 5” x .5”        open, 7” x 10” x 10”

   Edition: Edition of 50

   Status:  Private Collection