JULY 8 • 2021 | 35

continued on page 36

plus Somerset Mall and
various print magazines. The
commercial photography
arm of her multifaceted
business became one of its
biggest assets, an area she
has now worked in for more
than 30 years.
Yet working in the
commercial photography
sector meant Tennent was
regularly traveling. She also
photographed weddings
and bar and bat mitzvahs,
making her a household
name in Metro Detroit’s
Jewish community. At one
point, though, Tennent
found herself working seven
days a week to photograph
the events, balancing raising
a family with her blossoming
career.

PICKING BOTANICALS
Then, nine years ago,
Tennent was diagnosed
with breast cancer, which
forced her to slow down
and take time to heal. It was
during her recovery that she
rediscovered her love for
botanical art and made it one
of the core building blocks of
her career.
“I realized being at home,
how healing it was for me
to be back in the garden,”
Tennent recalls. “I really
wanted to get back to my
photography and my series
that I created over the years
on botanicals.”
She took walks, developed
her own garden at home
and traveled to different
botanical gardens around
the country. One botanical
garden in Arizona featured
glass designs in a garden,

which made Tennent realize
what she wanted to do with
her work.
“It was absolutely
amazing,” she recalls. “I
wanted to get this type of
work off the gallery walls
and into the garden, where
people can really appreciate
it back in its natural setting.”
Tennent developed a
marketing plan to showcase
botanical artwork in gardens
around the country. She
partnered with botanists
and different garden clubs to
collect interesting botanical
species that she could
photograph in her studio.
Yet, there was one challenge
she had to solve.
“In order to print these
pieces to be in a garden
setting, I had to experiment
with a lot of materials,”
Tennent says. “I came to
print them on aluminum
so that they are weather-
resistant.” This method of
printing, she explains, allows
botanical art shows (like
City Bloom: Birmingham) to
operate during all seasons.
City Bloom: Birmingham
is the continuation of a
traveling botanical art
installation that Tennent
partners with different
collectors and exhibits
to create. She says its
appearance in Metro Detroit
was the perfect timing, as it
gave people a chance to not
only get out of the house
and walk along the trail but
also provided a COVID-
safe activity that was both
inspirational and fun.
Created in partnership
with the city of Birmingham

Astrantia snow at City Bloom

Milkweed