Flowering Lace
Queen Ann's Lace Tile
What does a flower bed and lace have in common? At the Waddesdon Manor , an hour drive from London there is a beautiful old estate which is overseen by a National Trust. Every year artist are invited to transform their visions for the manor and it's gardens. One year the trust hired a textile artist, Philippa Lawrence to study Waddesdon'ts textile collection. The artist chose a piece of Brussel lace from around the 1750 and copied and enlarged the pattern Then she gave the design to the head gardener with the goal to incorporate the lace design into the design of garden beds, making the grounds appear like flowering lace. . The garden crew of the estate planted 28,000 plants Valfredda and Alternanthera ficoidea var amoena and many other species to pull the design off.
I thought it was a pretty clever idea to take a lace pattern and to enlarge it to create a floral design. Of course if that is too much work, picking dainty flowers like Queens Ann's Lace will also help to give the garden an airy, feminine feel.
Waddesdon Manor, UK
After writing this post the painting bug struck and I created this Queen Ann's Lace painting. It has impasto white flowers bursting forth from a dark navy blue background. I added the green border to make it all pop and add a contemporary feel to the piece. You can purchase the canvas print in a variety of sizes through my Etsy store.
