Margaret Shipman moved to Vermont in 2004 with her husband when they fell in love with the community of earth and art loving people living here and making their voices heard. They live with our son and various pets in an old farmhouse. Shipman spend her time painting herbs, flowers, weeds, leaves, and seasonal changes. Her husband is an avid beekeeper and gardener, which keeps our land always evolving and interesting.
I am not an herbalist, though I would love to be able to call myself that some day. I’m an artist and a wannabe herbalist for now. I am on a path using the tool I am most comfortable with, visual art, to make sense of the beautiful chaos of the world around me. I’m using art to connect to the magic and gorgeousness of the land and plants around me, and give expression to the emotions I feel when I’m in the woods or a wild meadow. I think that the kind of art I am doing is a co-creation with the land and plants.
MANDALAS -- In August of 2020 I finished a series of flower and plant mandalas. Painting that series was part of my own set of rituals I decided to follow for at least a year. It was my way of honoring the Earth, my local land, and the spirits who reside here. I had been making mandalas like these for a while, but I had never painted them or photographed them until I started the series. The mandalas I created were left out on the land as offerings.
