Our plants are so edible!
Added detailed botanical illustrations, created by Hélène Trouvé of Atelier P'tites Boussoles, to accompany the plants in our database.
One of our “amazing” projects for the coming years is to create customizable content in which you can include the plants of your choice. This customized content will include the traditional uses of the plants you have selected, as well as how to prepare them, while emphasizing precautions for their use.
Why, you might ask…
Well, the answer is simple: to avoid drowning in books that overwhelm us with information about plants that are sometimes impossible to find and that we will probably never see. So that everyone can focus on the plants growing in their garden, whether outdoors or indoors, on a balcony or a windowsill.
To complete this project, we need illustrations not only to support our explanations, but also to represent the plants you have chosen. Hélène Trouvé, illustrator at Atelier P’tites Boussoles, has joined our project. She is working to draw, with the greatest possible accuracy, all the plants represented in our database. You will find illustrations of the corresponding plants on our website.
About Hélène in her own words 🙂
My drawing journey began in the corridors of the Muséum d’Histoires naturelles of Rouen, when I was 7 or 8 years old. I admired the plates, now called ‘vintage’, of insects and plants. In these corridors, I also developed a taste for scientific knowledge of nature, botany and entomology (related disciplines). Passionate about horses, I participated in a drawing competition, which I won when I was only 13 years old, to illustrate a poster for the Ligue de la Protection du Cheval. During my biology studies, I maintained my drawing practice during dissections. I then went on to train as an agricultural engineer in Dijon, followed by an apprenticeship in aromatherapy and homeopathy. Drawing then became a secondary activity, as I didn’t need it in my job.
Having settled in the Vosges since 2018, with 2 young children, and having some time for creativity, I took up drawing again with the desire to make a book for my eldest child’s 6th birthday. Today, I am both an illustrator and a self-publisher of children’s books. In particular, I created a board book about Nature for young readers, and an album revisiting a traditional Asian tale for 5-8 year olds. In addition, in my region, I participate in projects focused on parenting and childhood, in which I contribute my skills in illustration and graphic design. I also run drawing workshops for children and adults. My portfolio includes, among other things, botanical plates and scientific posters made for an essential oil distillery, as well as watercolors created from photographs (portraits and animals).
My preferred techniques are watercolor and India ink, which allow me to add softness, poetry and finesse to the details. Details are indeed essential in identification charts and popular science, and what’s more, they bring richness to children’s illustration. I think children understand and appreciate a certain level of complexity in the images in their books, which helps to train their eye for observation. Although I am proficient in computer illustration techniques, I prefer the contact with paper, pencils, the pleasure of testing a new color…
I am very happy to contribute to the Phyto-Info project, because creating botanical illustrations mobilizes and enhances a wide range of my skills!
And we too are very happy to welcome Hélène to our project. We’ve already added the illustrations for our three birch trees and our two elder trees, here’s a sneak peek 🥰
To discover our plant finder, head to this page.
If you are interested in our search tool, more info at phyto-info.com
And if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us 🤗