I love flowers.
I spent the summer afternoons of my formative years foraging for petals and stems,
stowing away my favorites in shoeboxes,
captivated not only by their beauty,
but by all that they stood for — that something as ordinary as a flower could possess its own language
and serve as a symbol of resilience, hope, and health.

A bout of ill health in 2018 ultimately led me to begin using pressed flowers to create art.
I was undergoing treatment for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma when bouquets began to show up at my doorstep from coworkers, family, and friends — each petal, a ray of hope during a difficult chapter.
I was determined to find a way to preserve the love and kindness of each petal before they wilted, and began adhering the petals to my canvases, and that’s what I do today – dried petals are infused with layers of acrylic paint to create mixed media pieces that are full of feelings. Every petal has a story, and I like to think that the love behind each petal transfers to you.

As you view my work, I invite you to feel and let the images whisk you away to
somewhere meditative, somewhere lively, somewhere old, or perhaps somewhere new.
I invite you to find shapes in the clouds and explore a wide range of feelings,
from nostalgia to trepidation to sometimes joy–
the images are unified by threads of hope  ….rain or shine.

Stacey is represented by Firebox Studios in Carnegie, PA.