Thursday, December 29, 2011

Cynthia Emerlye - Artist

Today I have spent a lot of time on line.  And it all started as a search for photos of thistles (I have some of my own, but I'm not satisfied with them).  That turned into a search for sketches of thistles.  A decent botanical illustration (especially in black and white) has a clarity that photos don't always have. You see, I'm thinking of embroidering a thistle, and it's hard to do that if you don't know exactly what a thistle should look like.  Once you know that, you can "interpret" or "stylize" the flower yet still have it be a recognizable thistle (or lily, or peony, or - you get the idea).

Anyway, I came across a sketch of thistles by Cynthia Emerlye, and I was immediately smitten.  Her drawing is not of the botanical illustration variety, but she clearly depicts the shape and properties I needed to see.  Well, I couldn't leave it at that; then I had to go to her blog, and oh my, you must visit this blog: www.emerlyearts.blogspot.com to see her work.  Her logo calls her work "opulent" and "ornate", and she is right!  And just wait until you see her kirigami (Japanese paper cutting) . . . amazing work. 

Beware, once you begin looking through her blog, you may spend more time there than you think.  That's what happened to me today, and I'd love to pull you in, too!

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