Thursday, January 03, 2008

Bottoms Up Moonflowers

Making progress on the bed of leaves and a redo of the sleeping pansies. Gloria was right, they weren't bright enough!

The realization of my idea started with the sleeping flowers in the bed. They are constructed as ribbon flowers with boat leaves as nightcaps. The bed is intended to be covered with leaves. I found a fabric that had exactly what I wanted but it cost $200/yd (ouch). So I decided to make it myself. After some consultation with a knowledgeable sales person at the fabric store, I created wonderful sheer organza leaves with metallic edging using water soluble fabric. When they are cut out they curl up in a wonderfully natural way. I think I'm going to need about 50 of these to make the bed!


The first pansy flowers turned out to be too dull but I've posted them here to show the idea. I can't decide if I should include the nightcaps. These are a bit heavy handed; perhaps something lighter...

And here is the image I drew based on the poem: This piece evolved from a short poem that I wrote this summer. After seeing the wonderfully blooming moonflowers in my friend's garden, I was inspired to write this little ditty:

As the garden tucks in for the night
they drink in the evening light
bottoms up moonflowers