Nature-loving friends capture life cycles in Trinity exhibit
The show titled “Two Ways of Looking: Botanical Perspectives in Drawing and Photography” runs through November 3.
Symbiotic.
How else to best describe the relationship of Alice Rosa and Serena Crosina?
Expats from northern Italy, one a botanical artist and the other a photographer, grew up in the foothills of the Dolomites, in towns just a few hours apart by car. They live on the same Acton street, their youngest children are in the same grade, and both are gardeners and nature lovers.
Rosa, an award-winning artist, creates exquisite colored pencil renderings of flowers and fruit. Crosina is a photographer fascinated with “the aesthetics of senescence,” which in plants is the process of aging — when flowers are spent and leaves are changing.
They are collaborating on a show titled “Two Ways of Looking: Botanical Perspectives in Drawing and Photography” at Trinity Church Gallery through November 3.
Complements and compliments
The women, fast friends for many years, regard their work as complementary. “It’s based on our love of nature,” says Rosa, “and the different ways we portray it.”
From the “very first day we met,” she says, “Serena was so generous. She sent me home with a whole bunch of quinces from her garden.” Rosa drew the fruit, and the result earned her a distinction in her Distance Learning Diploma course through the Society of Botanical Artists. The piece was later shown at the Mall Galleries in London, home of the Federation of British Artists.
Crosina says of Rosa’s work, “Her amazing focus and talent are in the accurate botanical portrayal of one flower or plant, whereas I like to frame plants as a part of a community.” Her white backgrounds “bring her amazing pencil work to the forefront, whereas I use the blurred backgrounds to provide color and texture.”
Crosina, who has recently begun to show her work, makes simple, often overlooked elements of nature “seem magical,” Rosa says. “She uses composition to tell a whole story. That draws me in, and I want to keep looking at every detail.”
Seasonal harmony
Seeds, stems, and leaves “are just as important to our ecosystem as flowers, and they should be just as important to the eye,” Crosina says. Without senescence, she notes, “there would be no new seedlings, no overwintering for insects, no food for birds going into winter.”
Watching plants “move through their various stages naturally, in harmony with the seasons and their environmental community, makes me feel much more grounded,” she adds.
Rosa, who teaches a course in botanical art at The Umbrella, where she has a studio, is “constantly inspired by the colors and shades of petals,” particularly those of dahlias. “This is a time when colors shift and fade, and I want to capture every single stage of this transition.”
She received an Exhibiting Excellence award in 2024 from the SBA in London, where her work was included in its Plantae 2025 exhibit this past spring. The 2025 Botanical Art Worldwide Project accepted one of Rosa’s pieces for an exhibit in Missouri this spring that was focused on cultivating diversity in the garden, farm, and field.
Rosa says she and Crosina “support each other in many ways, like sharing calls for art and workshop opportunities. But the best part of our friendship is how we inspire each other through conversation and shared ideas.”
“Two Ways of Looking” runs through November 3 in the gallery at Trinity Church, 81 Elm Street, with a reception at 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 26. Hours are Tuesday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Enter via River Street.
