Hi, my name is Laura Luttrell and I live in Homer, Alaska with my husband and two young children. I grew up in northern Virginia, where I also received a Fine Art degree. I later met my husband, who grew up in Homer, when we were both in the Peace Corps in Morocco. Then, after receiving a masters degree in nonprofit management and working in that sector for about 10 years, I am in school again to become a K-8 teacher.
My husband received his undergrad degree in botany and has been educating me about the world of plants since we met. Throughout this time, I’ve been developing a great deal of appreciation and interest. When he was getting his masters degree, I audited some classes including a dendrology class and a tropical botany class, where I greatly increased my knowledge and understanding. I enjoy foraging (especially berries), knowing the names of the plants I see, gardening, and sharing my love of plants with my children. My daughter is named Linnea, after Linnaeas and we love finding twin flowers on our walks (This is probably now my favorite flower, just for that reason – image attached). My 3 year old son is already an amazing identifier or various plants, berries, lichens, and flowers. I am looking forward to also sharing the world of plants with my future students.
Welcome Laura,
sounds like you are well positioned to make the most out of this class. There is a lot of overlap between art and botany. I find that artists do real well in botany since you really have to have a good eye for details, especially when you are working under the microscope and sketching out what you are seeing is always very helpful. To this day, I always have my little notebook next to me when I am dissecting flowers and sketch out what I see and it helps me make sense of the keys for identification. Linnea is a gorgeous flower and I have heard from a few people who have named their daughter Linnea. She will always have a very special connection to nature. Below some pics and sketch from my notebook on Salix pseudomyrsinites Andersson (Tall Blueberry Willow) identification.