Big Mama

Big Mama was first created in 2020 and she's evolved since then with many layers through many seasons of gourmet yard debris from my community. She is a marvelous swirl of natural wonders that remind us to slow down and notice what is growing at our feet.

All of these natural art supplies live on in their dried phase, and eventually get shaken out and returned to the earth when they're ready to fully disintegrate. She shrinks as the old is pulled out, and expands as the new is built in... Just like the hearts beating and lungs breathing inside our chests.  

The process of pulling out the old and replacing it with what’s new creates an ever-evolving art piece that demonstrates the phases and changes we all go through.

Being made from a bundle of branches and stems, she is the perfect base to slide new blooms into without any need for glue.  Everything holds onto each other.  Even the fresh layers of flowers are simply tucked in so that they can be easily removed for art classes and updates. Big Mama is the most magical flower dispenser! She smells fabulous when she's being worked with, as her rosemary, roses and other fragrant herbs wake up to waft around her.

The Original sculpture still lives on and travels to different events. A fleet of additional Big Mamas, Little Mamas, Dragonflies, Snails and Swirls continue to sprout up in different spots around Oregon… BEAUTIFUL places like Newberg, McMinnville, Carlton, Sherwood and now Portland, all with great communities who add to the abundance she grows with!

If you would like to invite Big Mama to your special event, we’d love to attend! I’ve got a variety of sculpture options for photo booths, event stages and community building activities.

Submit a Big Mama Inquiry and we’ll talk!

Big Mama at the 2026 Spring Home & Garden Show

For the Home and Garden Show, Big Mama is showing us how fun it can be to create beauty in the breakdown.  On one side, you'll find a yard debris bag and bucket swirling into the air. Baskets have been embedded into her body to hold live pansies and waves of dried willow, cypress, rhododendron, sedum, laurel and fall leaves.  On the other side, the swirl of yard debris settles into a basket on the table which is full of dried flowers.  This side is loaded with a spiral of whites and yellows, a heart of reds and pinks, and splashes of blues, purples and greens throughout.  Take a close look and see how many different varieties you can identify!  The diversity that grows in the PNW is so amazing to play with.

Check out www.soulseeds.me or follow me on Instagram/FB at @soulseedsflowerart to learn about my sculptures planted around Yamhill County.  You can take a class with me and use some of these botanical treasures in your own creation, and you can even rent Big Mama for your celebration.  She loves making appearances!  We can also build something new out of what you have growing in your space.

Big Mama at Sherwood Center for the Arts

The kids at Sherwood Center for the Arts helped to pull all of her flowers out last summer and then used them for their projects throughout art camp.  They helped me re-wrap her with more twine, as she has been wrapped over and over again, to hold her growing foundation tight and secure.

BIG MAMA at the 2025 Lavender Festival in Newberg

Big Mama was called on to grace the lobby at the Chehalem Cultural Center for the Lavender Festival. She had a small table next to her with blank pieces of paper for people to write their wishes on. These were tossed into Big Mama’s wish-collector, and then turned into seed paper hearts to be planted and grown.

Big Mama at bloom tour PDX 2025

I was SO EXCITED to hear the location I had been paired with for the Portland Bloom Tour! The Joinery is an amazing furniture company that makes handcrafted pieces from a wide variety of natural woods. The finish on these pieces is like butter!

The process of installing Big Mama and then also building a brand new heart in the other window has been so cool. I recently acquired a gorgeous Manzanita branch and now it’s got a scattering of blues, yellows and reds.

As for OG Big Mama, she’s got an amazing view of such a kick ass spot in Portland! She’s shooting her vibes out the windows of this historic building in the heart of the Pearl District.

While the new heart has fresh flowers, Big Mama represents the wisdom, abundance and variety that comes with age and experience. She has been filled over and over again with flowers from very special events, and this latest layer is no exception. There are so many beautiful roses, amaranth, straw flowers, hydrangea, peony, delphinium, teasel, nandina, mushrooms and more. Come see! And smell, of course. Take it alllll in.

This installation has a very special guest, it’s Davey the Dragonfly! He was first created for a community grief sculpture in Newberg in 2022. He got a fresh swirl of color for the Botanical Couture Fashion Show!

Big Mama at the 2025 portland spring home and garden show

The Original Big Mama was recently shining in all her glory at the Spring Home & Garden Show in Portland, Oregon! She was covered with an amazing of dried collection of goodies from my flower friends, along with some shiny new camellia leaves and nandina on her back. She had a big week and now she’s tucked back in at Chehalem Valley Dance Academy in McMinnville.

The Big Mama Love is growing and the fleet has increased to many giant flower hearts living among us! These sculptures are all made from recycled botanicals and facilitate community crafts and gatherings. Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to hang out with Big Mama! I wonder where this adventure will take her next.

How Big Mama Began

When my friend Jen said she had some rosemary for me, I threw my baskets in the van and headed over for some trimmings. I couldn’t believe how big these branches were! I thought about cutting them down to get them home, but decided they needed to stay big. Thank goodness for my trusty minivan.

I saw a heart in one of the biggest branches and started to let the inspiration swirl about how I could use the whole thing as one big piece.

Rosemary is one of my absolute favorites. Since Big Mama was going to be displayed for a month at Coffee Cottage, I harvested a bunch from the gigantic bushes around the building. I used twine to add a solid layer of rosemary to the heart for flowers to slide into. I find that their dried stems stay put easily among the needles, and the smell is AMAZING any time I work with this piece!

Each of these blooms had come to my workshop from someone in my community. Iris from Maryfrances. Bee Balm from Myj. Hydrangea from Elizabeth. Buddleia from Lance. Rose from Melissa. Lilac from Kristina.

This heart was the beginning of many amazing connections with people I would have never otherwise met. I have walked around so many beautiful yards and spaces and gotten to hear about what flowers are personal favorites and why. We share stories and fresh air. I receive gorgeous piles of yard debris and get to process it all with my friends and scatter it back out into the world with the art we create.