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| Alstroemeria |
A sort of stream of consciousness: I had meant to write about Alstroemeria, a delicate Peruvian lily, I bought a bunch last week, and it is a long lasting flower. Delicate, softly coloured, it likes its roots to be dry in a sandy soil. But suddenly it reminded me of harebells, their gentle heads, pale and trembling in the grass. I have seen them on the downs round Bath and up on the moors in Yorkshire, so despite their appearance they are pretty tough.
"I shall copy verbatim what Grigson tells us of the harebell-Campanula rotundifolia, for what he writes belies its gentle innocence.
Bluebell of Scotland or no, it was also the Old Man's bell, the devil's bell, which was not to be picked, the Witch Bell, the Witch Thimble, and in Gaelic the Cuckoo's Shoe bròg na cubhaig. In Ireland this dangerous and fine etched plant is sometimes called mearacan puca, thimble of the puca or goblin; and it was a fairy plant in the South West of England, however much it has now been airyfairy'd. The hare, too, of Harebell is a witch animal" Geoffrey Grigson - The Englishman's Flora.
A Puca by the way can be some sort of animal creature who can either bring you good or bad fortune. There was a Puca stream up on the Lansdown, I wonder if it was good or bad water.
But Grigson goes on to say there was the cleansing effect of 'Our Lady's Thimble added at a later date. Who knew that wild flowers had such history!
So where did my thoughts go next, well to hares and funnily enough Colin Blanchard, artist and printer, and you can see below a video of him working. I bought a couple of his prints a few years back, hares of course, with wording round the edges. When you print by printing machine you have to write backward, no mean feat.
All inspired by a jug of Alstroemeria. I found these two photos along the way.
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| Toadflax |
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| Dyers Weld |
I had no idea that is how prints are made. What a detailed, amazing process that is! I'm so impressed, Thelma!
ReplyDeleteWell I suppose Ellen there are different ways of making prints in this new tech age but he is an artist.
DeleteI love harebells - a few round here but not many.
ReplyDeleteThey are so delicate Harebells Pat, you would think they would survive on the moors.
DeleteThanks for sharing Colin Blanchard's instructive video. So much patience, accuracy, artistic vision and technical know-how. I wonder how many hours he spent on that one project. Most impressive.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure how people react to the videos I put up Neil. It was in Galloway that I came across his work. The fact that he adds words to his drawings is unusual.
ReplyDeleteHarebells are my absolute favourite wild flower, they remind me of North Yorkshire, where they grow on a bank near to what was our family home. There are never many to be found and they look so delicate that I think of them as precious and would certainly never pick them.
ReplyDeleteI think if picked they would die quickly. It is strange to see them amongst the heather of the moors, but I suppose they gain sone protection.
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