Ron Nicole - Floral Inspired Fossils

Ronni has always had a fascination with flowers. Growing up in the middle of Philadelphia, she remembers obsessing over drawing them, pressing them, drying them: anything to capture their beauty. It wasn’t until she started experimenting with clay did she realise that she could truly capture all the flower’s delicacy and intricacy. Creating what she describes as “Floral Inspired Fossils”, Ronni gently presses hand-picked flowers and plants into meticulously hand-rolled clay to provide a base for their natural imprint. She then pours a plaster and cement mix over to create a permanent impression of the flowers. It is left to slowly set for weeks then the clay is carefully peeled back to reveal the preserved florals.

We love the subtle tones Ronni picks for her artworks: the soft pinks, sage greens and cornflower blues highlight the delicacy of her reliefs perfectly.

Perfecting this technique took years of experimenting. From foraging in local parks and farmers markets to even knocking on people’s doors for a snippet of their beautiful blooms in their garden, Ronni has been all over Philadelphia trying out a variety of flowers for her art. She creates her floral reliefs by delicately deconstructing the flowers petal by petal with tweezers then arranging in intricate patterns, as if directly found in nature. This technique takes a lot of patience and skill, but is a great outlet for stress for Ronni. She loves getting lost in the repetitive process, allowing her thoughts to wander freely and daydream while arranging the petal patterns.

Every design I create is purposeful. My Floral Inspired Fossils are meant to make you feel a certain way when you look at them.

With the success of Ron Nicole growing, Ronni and her husband decided to follow their desire to move out of the city, to seek out a more peaceful and attune to nature lifestyle. Finding an 1860s outhouse in Upper Bucks County (approx 60miles outside Philadelphia) last year, the pair put in the hard work to transform the grounds into a garden that provides Nicole all the flowers she needs to create her Ron Nicole Plaster Reliefs.

Summer is not quite here yet, but our yard has already grown lush and wild with all sorts of exciting beauty and life.

There is a calm and slow process embedded into each art piece created by Ronni. She describes her work as the art of preservation, allowing a fleeting moment like a fully blossomed flower to be captured in her work forever. Her art takes time to bloom, as does nature itself: there is a beautiful symmetry between her art and her garden. The selection of the flowers is a considered process and the work is decidedly seasonal. From hydrangeas to magnolias to wildflowers, it is really important for Ronni to work with the seasons, not against them.


Every Ron Nicole artwork is unique and limited edition, and no two relief pieces are the same. She describes her artworks as being created to give you permission to slow down. The subtleties in her artworks make you stop and take the time to appreciate all their small details. We love seeing Ronni’s truly personal love story with nature and her meditative approach to art. The concept of slowing down to fully appreciate her floral fossils is such a lovely idea, one that we could definitely have more of in our lives.

You can follow Ronni’s beautiful work on her Instagram or sign up for updates on her website. We’d love to hear what you think!

***All images are a curated selection from Ronni’s website or @iamronnicole on Instagram: