Wallflower Fairies, Wallflowers And Cards, Lisa Davis, Gardens

Artist's Missions:

to share beauty and spread joy
to encourage an appreciation of the the florae that share this earth with us
to promote a closer look at the natural world

Scannography, also spelled scanography and sometimes called scanner photography, is a relatively new art form. It is a type of non-traditional photography, but instead of using a camera to capture an image, a scannographer uses a flatbed scanner.

My pictures are designed by gathering pieces and parts of my garden flowers, natural plants and other elements of nature that surround my country home. I arranges the materials face-down on a scanner. After multiple previews, rearranging each time, I obtain an image to work with.

The pictures are refined in a graphic arts program. There, I remove the background, making it true black. I also remove pollen and brown spots, and correct damaged areas.

My processes are always evolving as I experiment and learn. When I began, I considered my medium strictly scannography, but now I consider myself more of a digital artist.

I use a graphic arts program (photoshop elements) and my original digital images to create new images. Utilizing transparent backgrounds, layering, melding and shading, I design intricate new images and fairy-eye-view gardens. I also compose mesmerizing kaleidoscopes/mandalas from my floral designs.

You will have to visit me at shows to see my latest creations as I have so many new images and ideas they could never fit on one website.

The Art Process

Mandala Making Tutorial

Scannography Fairy Tutorial

I live in rural New York State in the snowbelt region southeast of Lake Ontario. Happily married with three adult offspring and 2 grandsons, I am also an enthusiastic gardener and nature lover.

I was a registered nurse by education and trade, and after working for fifteen years, became a stay-at-home mom after my 2nd son was born. Designing and planting numerous gardens became a creative outlet.

I began drying many of my flowers, and sold arrangements for several years, but dried flowers lose their vibrancy with time. Upon looking for a different way to preserve them to retain their beauty, in 2004 I came across the relatively new art form called scannography—using a flatbed scanner as a camera. I was computer illiterate and technologically challenged at the time, but had plenty of subject material to play with. My husband Mark showed me how to use a scanner, and the basic workings of a photoshop elements program. I spent several years experimenting with scanner techniques, designs, and teaching myself how to use the graphic arts program before I started getting anything artistic. But when I did, I was hooked and have not looked back.

Turning my flowers into art boosted and fine tuned my observational skills, and one day I discovered I could see whimsical heads, fanciful clothing and delicate wings among my flowers. Little fairy figures were born. They inspire and encourage my evolution in the creative process.

I could not have done much of what I do without the support of my husband. He makes most of my frames, is indispensable during set-up and assisting at shows, and calms me down when I freak out during technological difficulties.

I have won many awards, published several books, became an inspirational speaker for a bit, and am always working on (playing with) something new—either in my art or the gardens.