The exhibition takes place at The Ballroom, Fenton Town Hall in Stoke-on-Trent. It brings together artists from Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire. This year, more than 140 artists are taking part.
Now in its 30th year, the Three Counties Open brings together artists connected to Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire, showcasing a wide range of work including painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, sculpture, textiles and installation. This year’s exhibition features work from more than 140 local artists, making it a wonderful opportunity to see such a diverse range of contemporary art from across the region.
I’m particularly pleased to be exhibiting Flora Imprinted, a collection of delicate botanical prints exploring the quiet beauty and fragility of plant life.
Flora Imprinted
The collection began with a simple interest in the natural forms found in the landscape around me. Leaves, flowers and stems become both source material and subject, with their shapes, textures and delicate structures captured directly onto paper.
Each piece is created through a combination of natural dyes, imprinting and pressed botanical elements. Rather than simply representing plants, the process allows the plants themselves to leave their trace. The resulting marks are often delicate and unpredictable, preserving fleeting impressions of organic forms.
The works are held within a soft, muted palette of ochre, blue, green and earthy neutrals. Subtle variations in pigment, texture and composition mean that no two impressions are quite the same.
Arranged together in a structured grid, the individual works reference the tradition of botanical specimens and collections, while the tactile surfaces and imperfect impressions give the work a more contemporary quality. Seen as a whole, the individual fragments become a quiet, meditative study of nature, repetition and preservation.
For me, the work is about slowing down and paying attention to things that might otherwise be overlooked. A leaf, a stem or a small fragment of plant life can seem insignificant, but through the process of imprinting it becomes something to pause and look at more closely.
A practice rooted in nature
My wider practice as a mixed media artist is rooted in an ongoing exploration of natural forms and the processes used to translate them into visual language.
I’m drawn to the shapes, textures and patterns found within plant life and the wider landscape, often using these as a starting point for repetition, fragmentation and abstraction. I work primarily with paper and natural materials, embracing processes that balance control with unpredictability.
Imprinting and dyeing are particularly important to my practice because they allow the materials to play an active role in the making of the work. There is an element of chance in how a leaf transfers its shape or how pigment settles into the surface of the paper. These unexpected variations become part of the finished piece.
This balance between precision and organic chance is something I return to throughout my work. Small, detailed elements accumulate to create larger compositions, reflecting the quiet complexity and layered nature of the environments that inspire me.
Visiting the Three Counties Open Art Exhibition
It’s exciting to see Flora Imprinted included in an exhibition that celebrates artists working across the Three Counties region. As a Staffordshire artist, opportunities to exhibit alongside such a broad range of local creative practices are particularly meaningful.
The exhibition will be held at The Ballroom, Fenton Town Hall, Albion Square, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, and is open to the public from Saturday 8 August to Saturday 29 August 2026, Tuesday to Saturday, 11am–3pm. Entry is free.
The exhibition launches on Saturday 8 August from 11am–3pm, with additional artist workshops and special Open Lates events taking place as part of the wider programme.
I’m looking forward to seeing the exhibition come together and to sharing Flora Imprinted with visitors.
If you’re visiting the Three Counties Open this year, I hope you’ll take a moment to find the work and spend some time with the delicate botanical impressions that make up the collection.
Find out more about the Three Counties Open Art 2026 at Keele University