Orchids

Orchids are my favourite flowers because they remind me of my birthplace. This was in the southern part of the Philippines, where orchids grew in abundance, especially where nature was left undisturbed by human activities. I remember memorising all their local names, as every neighbour seemed to be growing one. This sounds morbid, but I…

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Breaking the Hiatus

Hello there. I am finding I am able to write again. I have been gone for quite a long time in the blogosphere due to a lot of reasons. I think, like most people, COVID had a lot to do with it. Like so many others, I caught it last year in my line of…

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Heartbeats

Hello again. This is one of my ‘assemblages’ where I make different ‘objects’ from scratch and arrange them as if to choreograph their ‘dance’. Heartbeats is so titled because of the two hand-woven, heart-shaped central pieces. These are what Filipinos in the central Visayas region call “puso” (literally meaning ‘hearts’). We tend to use coconut…

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Dahlias

Hello again. After the Christmas hiatus, I am continuing my art stories. This is the fourth piece in the sequence from last December’s Wild Wonder show. It measures 29 x 40 cm (unframed). I was nostalgic about the tropics and, hence, the idea of making a kind of floral offering. The backround is an ink…

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Flower Grids 1 and 2

These last two works are small pieces, measuring 20 x 20 cm. This grid arrangement is becoming a tradition. I did a bigger version last winter, so I thought I’d make 2 small ones that are variations on a theme. My mum loves these! I decided to ensconce the flowers in a nest-like shape, a…

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Flower Salad

After a successful Warwickshire Open Studios 2019, I am continuing my exhibits for my local hospital’s Healing Arts Summer Exhibition. The show runs until 30th September, so do check it out (as it is free to see in the hospital grounds in Coventry). My first submission this year is the paper collage above. This work…

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August Wedding

This was an off-shoot of July Wedding. Sometimes the elements of one work flows into another. July Wedding was a much larger piece at 41 cm x 58 cm. This one is approximately half that size. The couple is moving into their new – a houseboat. A more intimate size was thus an important consideration.…

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July Wedding

This was a special commission for a summer wedding. With this in mind, I thought I would create a summer ‘spread’ of flowers, as if in a banquet table. I thought of enlarging my fringed flowers to approximately 8 cm in diameter! I used a Cricut machine for this. The flowers then gave me the…

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Floribunda 4 – Vintage Colours

When making these for my WOS exhibit, I thought of reprising vintage colours. I chose two primary colours, a white accent, and finished it off with a deep green. The see-through yellow flower is a new flower this year. I like how it pops against the blue! This idea has made me think of making…

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Floribunda 3 – Arrangement on Mocca

A five-petal flower is always a challenge. So, I finally made a successful one! The plum shapes fill a pentagon that looks like a bird house. The tri-coloured grey, pink and green flower is a dimensional one that I’ve bent and shaped on my index finger pads. I like how it undulates. The lavender flower…

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Floribunda 1 – Folly Flowers on Pale Blue

This year’s Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower show inspired me to make some new folly flowers. These are now a summer tradition. Those big chocolatey ones look so exotic. The pink one on the left corner is a new ‘quill and pinch’ manouvre that looks good in six petals. The background paper actually has some…

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