Browsing my pictures i found some photos of old fabric prints. These ones are very special to me, as I actually printed them myself, using original antique wooden blocs from the Zucchi collection in Milan.There was one handblock for the red and another one for the blue part of this pattern. I remember holding those pear wooden blocks in hands and watching the ornamental flowers grow into pattern was like time machine travel. I felt like Austrian hand printer carefully composing pattern on fabric in his 19th century manufacture, taking care to capture the beauty of flowers in his ornament. And today, looking at these ornamental flowers on fabric i feel just the same, thrilled to know how much love for the detail, for the nature is engraved in this old pattern.

The Collection’s 12,000 designs bear witness, over a period which spans three centuries from 1785 to 1935, to a fashion that was both varied and popular. Such tastes were apparent in during one of the most energetic and fertile periods of European culture, which ended with the first stylistic experiments of the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements.
The Zucchi Collection received First Prize, sponsored by the Guggenheim Enterprise Collection for the most outstanding cultural project developed in 1995-96 by private Italian companies. The honour was bestowed “for having saved from impending destruction a patrimony of material invaluable to Europe’s history, for having transformed the largest existing collection of silk printing blocks left in the world into a museum archive open to the public, for having conserved its own business vocation into permanent cultural wealth”. from: http://www.zucchicollection.org/pages/past_intro.php

Forma Viva-Father and Son

Posted on October 21, 2014 by tamara under Nature, Plants in art, Uncategorized

Rose hip abundance

Posted on August 27, 2014 by tamara under botanic garden, Nature, Plants, plants everywhere, Plants in art, Rose garden

Rosehips in a vase - English School

“Rosehips in a vase” oil on Canvas.from: http://www.wikigallery.org/

Still Life with Peach, Grapes and Rosehips - Adelheid Dietrich

“Still Life with Peach, Grapes and Rosehips” oil on Canvas. Adelheid Dietrich from: http://www.wikigallery.org/

Morning coffee landscape

Posted on August 5, 2014 by tamara under Nature, Plants, plants everywhere, Plants in art

My morning coffee is the time to think about the day to come , about plans and new ideas, about things I just have to do and about the pleasant moments I wish to make today, about the sorrows and joy to come. It is the time of a day I need to be completly alone, slowly sipping my coffee to leave the dreams of the night and to enter the new day . This morning my coffee itself was like a dream, painted landscape from the small cup embraced me suddenly, I stepped into a tiny porcelain village, staring at the blue porcelain sea under blue porcelain sky, black dots, porcelain birds flew from somewhere. Then a breeze came, bringing fresh smell from the mountains, smell of the trees, flowers, forest. Staring to the painted landscape on my cup I noticed some trees, bushes, a garden perhaps. It felt like walking in a fairy, and I was wandering what the sorrows of the porcelain people in the morning would be. Tomorrow morning, when I come back to the porcelain land they might tell me……

Growing vegetables, playing vegetables, having fun

Posted on July 27, 2014 by tamara under Nature, Plants, plants everywhere, Plants in art

Today afternoon I’ve been gardening with my friends again. Remember how excited we were this spring? I am happy to announce, things are under control even in the middle of the gardening season. The recipe? I think it is in the fact, that we do not take it too seriously, I mean, we all like to come to our garden, we like to work there much better as going to fitness class, we like learning new skills and green theory, but great part of our gardening is also having a coffee together, talking new sorts to plant and good recipes to try with our harvest. Then we do battle weeds, too, but again, not too seriously, and it turns out to be a good idea-our beds are green (there are some weeds around) despite hot days, a reasonable amount of weeds gives some shade and protection to young plants, I guess. We did some mistakes, too, but that’s learning by doing (mistakes). The biggest was we planted different sorts of zucchini and pumpkins all the place around. We simply were not able to resist to that many sorts and we were even less able to decide which would be the best. The consequence of this liberal attitude is now clear to each one passing our garden, vines of different pumpkins, growing here and there without a logical pattern seem as an alien invasion. By now the broccoli and red beets have already lost their territories, yellow pumpkin flowers shine from all angles of our amateur gardening experiment. But then we planted many flowers, too, and when the sun shines bright all the garden looks as a big bouquet! I wanted to make some pictures today, but it started to rain . By the next time when I make some pics to post, have,please, a look on how versatile homegrown vegetables are !

Lemons and art

Posted on May 14, 2014 by tamara under Nature, Plants, Plants in art

When I remember Capri I remember lemon trees. Blue blue sky, azure sea and yellow, yellow lemons on the trees. I brought some lemons home from Capri. As they were gone I felt so sad not having any good photos of Capri lemon trees. I had photos of Capri lemons, even of ceramic ones, but of no lemon trees. Searching net for nice pictures of lemon trees I’ve found a picture as bright as those lemons from Capri. And I’ve discovered a great American artist,Charles Demuth. His art makes me happy, as those lemon trees from Capri did.