Tulip mania

 Three days of pinning and 'Tulip mania' begins to take shape

on my studio wall.  On the table lie the fragments of pink and orange

discarded textiles, which make up my pallette

I'm pinning one petal at a time, rather than (as previously)

working over the whole image simultaneously.

I'm enjoying watching the image emerge from nothingness...

 This is the detail of Maria Sibylla Merian's 'Flowers in a Chinese Vase' c.1670 

that I am reinterpreting in other people's discarded needlework. 

Before she devoted her life's work to observing and painting the metamorphosis of the insect,

Maria Merian painted flowers - many of them for embroidery patterns.  

I've chosen to interpret only the tulip at the top of the bouquet, which Maria has depicted fully open,

as if taking its last breath of life.  As winter leaves and Spring enters it feels appropriate

to be embarking on a new body of work which reflects on historical flora painting.

There will be an insect accompanying this work, but not a butterfly....

 And here I am with the work in the studio September 2012

Only two petals undertaken thus far...
(photos of me and my tulip by Gavin Hansford)

Day 6 progress on 3rd petal

Day 7 progress on 4th petal

Days 8-9 progress continues - slowly!