Esther Davis' intrigue with flower drying began years ago when she, a child of 10 years, dried a rose from her mother's garden using sand from a nearby creek and instructions in a National Geographic magazine. Although flower drying didn't become a full time practice and vocation for her until years later, it was that first successfully dried flower that planted the seed.

A graduate of Washington State University, Esther continued her education in art at Oregon School of Arts and Crafts and Marylhurst College. An award winning artist, her work was represented by the Attic Gallery in Portland, Oregon. In 1988, she moved to the Virginia's Roanoke Valley, where her art took on quite another form. An avid gardener, she began a scientific study of the use of mediums as flower drying agents. Years of work enabled her to develop an in depth understanding of how to turn a fresh flower into a perfectly formed dried one, and April of 1999, her book about this process, Sensational Dried Flowers, was published and is the most comprehensive book on flower drying with agents published to date.

Esther's training as an artist and attention to detail is evident in her finished work which she designs for residential interiors, historic homes, and most recently, the Virginia Governor's Mansion. Florists and brides also frequently enlist her services for bridal bouquet preservation.

Esther, devoted to sharing her knowledge of the process, frequently lectures about her work with entertaining and informative "hands on" presentations. She has taught at Lewis Ginter Botantical Gardens, Longwood Gardens, the Philadelphia and Maymont Flower Shows and has appeared in Southern Lady magazine and on PBS's Cultivating Life. She continues her practice, which includes educating flower enthusiasts on the possibilities desiccant dried flowers afford and elevating this process, in every way she knows how, to the art form that it truly is. Esther is a resident of Salem,Virginia.