Meet Eilidh.
She can often be found in her natural habitat, searching for small mushrooms, flowers and leaves in the shady undergrowth.
Sharing my appreciation for tiny botanical things, she takes it a step further, immortalising these natural curiosities in crystal clear resin which shine in daylight.
Remember that sun dappled daisy chain you wove when you were wee, wearable for years to come. This is the reality that Eilidh creates, yes resin daisy chain bracelets are within her repertoire.
Deep in the heavy shadow of depression, Eilidh held tight to one small truth; time in green spaces can help with mental health and alleviate the weight on her mind. So she persuaded herself to explore forests and find glimmers among the trees in Aberdeenshire.
Eilidh recalls sinking flowers into resin moulds, an attempt to preserve and immortalise these fleeting wonders gathered during her mental health wanderings. But memory, fickle at the best of times, becomes cruel when depression plays its endless game of hide and seek. Sadly this has resulted in the finer details of her first experiments lost to the murk.
Remaining memories of frustration that these chunky blocks of resin did not embody the flowers true nature, feeling more like prisons than allowing the nature to shine. This sparked a wondering if it was possible to encase them individually, each petal and leaf.
Through this mindful botanical art therapy Eilidh developed her own way of preservation. A way to immortalise nature without locking it in a prison block. Each leaf, each petal fully encased and sealed in resin. A tiny time capsule which, if cared for, will stand the test of time.
When I approached her with the idea of immortalising tea leaves picked in the Highlands, it was a natural extension of her expertise.
Imagine wearing the very tea you drinking, a piece of emerging Scottish tea culture immortalised. How could anyone not need this?
When you look closer at the tea leaves she worked her magic on the details are surprising. In sunlight they shine, each tiny serration along the edge of the leaf are clear, the veins that once carried water into each cell of the leaf are preserved in perfect clarity.
Eilidh pairs these botanical treasures with sterling silver chains and clasps, she ensures that quality materials are used.
I’ve worn my tea leaf and flower necklace daily for well over a year now. It has endured my daily sunscreen application, the fiery intense heat of Bulgarian summer and the biting, and sometimes soggy, chill of Scottish winter in the Highlands. It still shines, tea leaf and flower immortalised in crystal clear resin.
