Environmental horticulture student illustrates the beauty of nature

alexandrou illustration — A watercolor image of a traditional Native American food source, Apios Americana, aka groundnutRachel Alexandrou

August 22, 2017 College News, School of Food and Agriculture, Undergraduate students

alexandrou bobolinks — Rachel AlexandrouA watercolor of bobolinks in their natural habitat.

Rachel Alexandrou, a senior in the Environmental Horticulture program, has been completing her degree’s field experience requirement by working with the Damariscotta River Association (DRA) as their resident artist this summer.

As part of the ecology and science-focused Kids Camp, she led a drawing workshop with children ages 5-11 teaching them how to focus on identifying features of plants and draw them.

She helped create a foraged meal for about 60 participants in an educational and artistic event sponsored by the DRA. Dishes served included sautéed young milkweed pods, black trumpet sauce over locally grown greenbeans, wild rice stuffed grape leaves, blueberry apple crumble with rosa rugosa whipped cream, cattail relish, pickled glasswort, sumac-ade, and candied calamus as an aperitif digestive.

She catalogued and foraged for edible plants, including elderflowers, wild grape leaves, groundnut, glasswort, cattail, and blueberries.

Rachel AlexandrouAn illustrated diagram of the difference between poison ivy and wild sarsparilla.

In her studio Alexandrou created several “personal project” pieces.

Alexandrou hopes to go to graduate school for science illustration after completing her Environmental Horticulture degree. Her work with the DRA helped her gain experience as similar to that of a freelance science illustrator.

The DRA, a nonprofit conservation land trust, connects community and the Damariscotta River estuary, and works in Damariscotta, Newcastle, Edgecomb, Nobleboro, Bristol, South Bristol, Boothbay and Bremen.