About Petals to Stems

Petals to Stems is a fine art studio specializing in ultra-realistic botanical flowers handcrafted entirely from paper. Founded by artist Ingrid Dakoske (Blanco) and based in Woodland Hills, California, in the greater Los Angeles area, the studio transforms the finest German and Italian crepe paper into flowers so lifelike they are routinely mistaken for the real thing.

These are not decorative flowers. They are works of art that happen to be flowers.

Meet the Artist: Ingrid Dakoske

Ingrid Dakoske is a fine art botanical sculptor and one of the most distinctive crepe paper flower artists working today. Her process begins not with paper, but with nature itself. Each creation starts with a real specimen — a rose, a magnolia, an orchid — which she deconstructs petal by petal, studying the geometry beneath the beauty before she ever makes a cut.

Ingrid’s devotion to her source material goes far beyond a single bloom. Working from real specimens and physical tree branches, she studies the natural engineering of a plant to understand how it truly grows, then recreates every developmental stage by hand: the raw seed pod, the emerging buds, the double-sided leaves, the knots in the bark, the sprawling stems. Rather than relying on the factory finish of the paper, she meticulously hand-paints her German and Italian crepe, laminates separate colors together to build true depth into every leaf, and locks in lifelike texture with careful finishing. Nothing is filler. Every element is fabricated individually.

Recognition

In 2026, Ingrid’s monumental four-foot sculpture, The Gracious Grandiflora Magnolia (Italian and German crepe paper on wood, 41 × 24 × 10 in.), was selected for Brand 54: the 54th Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper at the Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California. More than 1,350 works were submitted through the open call, and juror Tracy Bartley — Project Manager and Senior Researcher for the David Hockney Catalogue Raisonné Project — selected just 100 for the exhibition. Organized by the Brand Associates since 1971, the Works on Paper exhibition is one of Southern California’s most respected juried shows.

You can read the full story of the piece here.

Why Paper

Because they are made from paper, Ingrid’s flowers never wilt, never drop a petal, and never ask for water. They hold their color and form for years, even decades, with only basic care. They are also 100% allergen-free and pollen-free, making them one of the very few floral artworks welcome in hospital rooms, cancer centers, and care facilities where fresh flowers are not permitted.

And because Ingrid shapes every element by hand, no two pieces are ever identical. Each flower carries the subtle variations that make it genuinely one of a kind — in the curl of a petal, the gradation of color, the way the bloom opens. You are not buying a product off a shelf. You are receiving a singular work of art that no one else in the world has, or ever will.

The Collections

Petals to Stems offers signature collections in magnolias, orchids, and roses — Ingrid’s most celebrated work — alongside a full botanical range including peonies, lilies, cherry blossoms, poppies, daisies, lily of the valley, pom-pom flowers, and seasonal holiday florals. Custom commissions are available for any flower that grows in nature.

Flowers, perfected in paper.