A Well-Deserved Honor
Martha Marsh
Cathy Miller has been made a Botanical Arts Judge!
Botanical Jewelry, as it was called in the beginning, became popular in the East in the late 1900’s. Our own Dotty Elliott first saw it at The Philadelphia Flower Show and was so taken with it that when she got home, she invited a woman from the Wissahicken Garden Club to speak at our joint meeting with Garden Club of Cleveland. Cathy, already a jeweler and metalsmith, was immediately smitten with the art form.
Cathy began making floral jewelry pieces (the only category that existed then) and sending them off to shows to be judged. She did very well indeed, most always bringing home the blue ribbon, and often The Best in Show. As many of you have seen, her pieces are stunning indeed, intricately put together with tiny dried petals, twigs, and seeds, with never so much as a string of glue showing. Then they are painted and repainted, layering colors and sheens of nail polish to get the right luster (e.g. a pearl.)
In “the olden days” when Botanical Jewelry was just getting a foothold in flower shows, the division was tucked under the the wing of the then “Flower Arranging” division. The judging was usually done by “Flower Arranging” Judges, but sometimes Horticulture or Photography Judges were needed to fill out a panel. More often than not, these judges had no experience making Botanical Jewelry and might not appreciate the fact that one decorated seed (no matter how rare the plant it came from) was not the equal of a rose blossom with a bee on one side which had been made from hundreds of dried grasses and twigs. Nor did they necessarily know that a blob of glue showing was just as major a fault as being able to see the mechanics in a design. The “Jewelers” were not always happy with the judging results.
As Botanical Jewelry gained popularity across the country, it morphed into Botanical Arts in order to include creation of creatures, and embellishment of objects, couture, etc. For those with a steady hand and great patience, it is very rewarding to do.
From the first days of Botanical Arts, GCA artists and Judges alike have lobbied for a separate division with its own judges to include those who actually create these magnificent pieces to judge their work. The “Flower Arranging” Division had by now become the Floral Design Division.
At long last their wish has come to fruition. As of July 2021, Botanical Arts was approved as a separate GCA judging discipline with its own judges.
After some serious arm twisting Cathy submitted her name to the Judging Committee and has just been notified that she will be one of a handful of new Botanical Arts Judges in the GCA. She will, of course, continue her work as a Floral Design Judge. What a wonderful honor for Cathy, and what an honor for Shaker Lakes Garden Club to have her talent in our midst!