Inspirational Flowers

For a long while now, I've been trying to find time to do some lino prints of some of the flowers that I grow here at Swallows Nest.  Time gets away from me all too often.  But since the kids have all returned to school, there have been spare moments and I'm finally getting some printing done.  I'm starting with some cards, but hope to get some larger artworks done.    

I started with the most common and most numerous of the flowers we grow - the bread-and-butter blooms!  Nothing beats and red Leuco and a Pink Ice Protea.  I use oil-based printing ink and then handcolour with watercolours.  Its a challenge to get the colouring the way I like it, and then to keep it consistent as I start mass producing.  

These designs are available in my online store now at www.trees4thewood.etsy.com.  I think some different varieties of protea might be next ... 

Take a Closer Look

As you may have noticed I'm a bit of a fan of iphone photography, most likely because of convenience.   I always have my phone in my pocket, and the quality of the images you can make with it constantly surprises me.  I recently splurged on a bit of a toy - a special lense called an Olloclip that slips over the phones lense and gives you a fisheye, a wide angle and a macro lense capability.  The macro lense has been the one that has been the most fun so far.  I've been busy checking out the flowers from a completely different perspective.  The structure of the plants is quite amazing.

The first picture is a close up of the styles emerging from the base of a Banksia Baxterii.  

This picture is a closeup of the "pins" of a Pincushion flower - Leucospermum Cordifolium.  So shiny!

Banksia Occidentalis looks like a rib cage, and some tiny droplets of water have been caught.

The hairy tip of a Protea Pink Ice, just as it's ready to pick.  The white "ice" effect is created by tiny white hairs.

 

The base of the Banksia Occidentalis flower.

A closeup of the Brunia Albiflora - they look fierce!

Its been a fun exploration of the flowers as I haven't seen them before.  

What's in the Basket

I picked the first Banksia Baxterii for the summer last week.  In the basket was a selection for some birthday bunches.  There are some late Leucaspermum Cordifolium, bright orange and cheery.  There are also some fresh Protea Pink Ice.  Over Christmas is the only time of year that its hard to get these pink beauties - there are about 3 weeks where they are few and far between.  But they are now returning to bloom.  There is some lovely Tasmanian Myrtle foliage there too - Nothofagus Cuninghamii.  You can also see some Brunia Albiflora in the basket - at its peak of production at the moment, and one of my personal favourites.