In an era of digital design, fast decor, and AI-generated everything, there’s something profoundly grounding about art that’s slow, tactile, and deeply human. One Kentucky-based artist, Jennine Greaves, is helping to revive the spirit of centuries-old craftsmanship by marrying nature with nostalgia. Through her work at YSF Intaglio Art, she’s reimagining the timeless elegance of Wedgwood pottery with a modern, botanical twist.
Each of Jennine’s artworks features real flowers pressed into plaster, resulting in graceful, three-dimensional impressions that echo the style of classic bas-reliefs. Colored in soft, chalky hues like vintage blues, pale greens, and blushing pinks, her pieces evoke the delicate romance of English neoclassical design, yet feel well-suited to today’s interiors.
Photo Courtesy: Jennine Greaves
The Wedgwood Legacy
To understand the subtle power of Jennine’s art, it helps to understand her inspiration.
In the 1700s, English potter Josiah Wedgwood revolutionized decorative art by introducing Jasperware, a unique ceramic with a matte, unglazed finish and delicate white relief designs, often featuring mythological scenes or nature motifs. These pastel-hued cameos became highly sought-after among aristocrats and royalty, defining a look that still evokes elegance, restraint, and refinement.
While Jennine’s work doesn’t involve ceramics, her approach reflects Wedgwood’s in spirit: timeless design, attention to detail, and a love of nature as muse.
Handmade Botanical Process
Every piece Jennine creates begins with live botanical material—flowers or greenery she forages herself or grows in her garden. She presses these delicate specimens into clay, forming molds that capture the veins of leaves, the curls of petals, and the structure of stems with remarkable detail.
From there, she hand-mixes and pours a custom plaster blend into the mold. Once dry, she paints and finishes each piece with a painter’s eye and a craftswoman’s touch, sometimes layering color, other times letting the pure white of the plaster speak for itself.
Photo Courtesy: Jennine Greaves
It’s a process that benefits from patience. It can take days, even weeks, from the moment a flower is picked to the moment its imprint is framed and ready for a wall.
Capturing Nature, Capturing Hearts
There’s a reason Jennine’s work is resonating across platforms like Etsy and Instagram, and why it’s being lovingly styled in nurseries, entryways, reading nooks, and wedding altars.
Her art aligns with several cultural and emotional trends:
- The appreciation for slow, intentional living. Her process and pieces reflect a growing shift toward craftsmanship, sustainability, and mindfulness.
- The appeal of personalization. Each piece is one-of-a-kind. Some customers even send Jennine flowers from weddings, memorials, or gardens to be pressed and preserved in a bespoke piece.
- The reconnection with nature. In a digitally saturated world, people crave the grounding presence of natural forms in their homes.
- Emotional resonance. Whether used to memorialize a loved one or celebrate a season of life, Jennine’s pieces carry emotional weight.
Bridging Past and Present in Home Design
Photo Courtesy: Jennine Greaves
Designers and homemakers alike are drawn to Jennine’s work because it bridges eras and aesthetics. Her art speaks equally to fans of French country chic, modern farmhouse, English cottagecore, and even minimalism, thanks to its simple palette, organic forms, and timeless charm.
Whether displayed solo or as part of a gallery wall, each piece holds its own presence. You’re not just decorating—you’re curating something soulful.
A Living Legacy in Plaster
Jennine Greaves’ work doesn’t just pay homage to a historical art form; it reinterprets it. By pressing real plants into plaster and reviving the gentle palettes of Georgian-era decor, she’s carved out a niche all her own. Part botanical, part historical, all heart.
In a world that often rushes to the next trend, her art invites us to pause, look closer, and appreciate the things that are quietly beautiful, softly fading, and deeply meaningful.
And in doing so, she suggests that even the most fleeting flower can become something lasting.
You can explore Jennine’s collection at ysfintaglioartbyjenninegreaves.com and follow her process on Instagram @ysfintaglioart. Commissions and custom memorial pieces are also available upon request.
Published by Joseph T.
