The Terrarium Series basically began on July 7, 2006 with an e-mail invitation from the Indianapolis Art Center to participate in a group show called Other Worlds/Altered Visions, in early 2008. With so much advanced notice, I wanted to create a new body of work for the show. I began searching my books and the Internet for inspiration, but found it in a copy of Better Homes and Gardens I borrowed from a coworker at the Rosewood Arts Centre. In the magazine I found a brief article about terrariums and how they were again gaining popularity in home decorating.
Dr. Nathaniel Ward accidentally invented the terrarium in 1829 while studying a cocoon in a covered jar. He noticed that several small plants, including his beloved ferns, had begun to grow in the bottom of the jar, unaffected by the London smog outside the container. He named his invention “Fern Cases” but they are better known as Wardian Cases or Terrariums. By the 1860s, most every proper Victorian household had at least one Wardian Case environment. The cases were also instrumental in transporting rare plants and germinating imported seeds. Terrariums also made a comeback in the 1970s with futuristic styles made from glass, plastic or even giant brandy snifters.
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