About

Hi there! I'm Karly Murphy, the artist behind kmpressed. Starting in my home garden, I first tucked a few summer flowers into a book in 2014, wanting to save them from withering away as the growing season came to an end. Upon rediscovering them on a cold and gray winter day, the seed of kmpressed was sown.

I've now been pressing flowers and turning them into artwork for about ten years now, filling dozens of presses hundreds of times, and handling thousands upon thousands of flowers. My first works were simple greeting cards with ferns and wildflowers attached, and sets of glass and copper coasters with blooms inside. Since then, the little seedling of kmpressed has sprouted and bloomed to be so much more.

At my home in central Virginia, I grow, forage and source a wide array of unique, seasonal and regional flowers and plants to press for my work. Using traditional wooden flower presses we build in-house, I carefully prepare and press plant material almost all year long (yes, even in winter there is greenery, dried materials, and even flowers to work with) before organizing everything in my studio to become artwork.

Over the years, my creations have expanded from paper-mounted specimens and simple glass and copper pieces to hang on the wall, to versions with wooden stands for tabletop or bookshelf display, to art prints and cards, to cyanotype prints made in the sun with my pressed botanicals, to mixed media works with watercolor. All of this work has been focused, at its core, on celebrating the beautiful forms, textures and often symbolism of the flowers I press. I continue to experiment and grow and love getting the chance to share my work with folks locally and beyond.

Outside of this body of work, I also do custom pressings for events like weddings, memorials, engagements, and more, as well as preserving flowers from your garden or space. I've been doing this work since 2017 and have worked with hundreds and hundreds of couples and individuals to help them hold on to their meaningful flowers forever.