Research: The Fine Details, Garden

After looking at and studying so many gardens, now I want to focus on the finer details, a more close up look at individual plants and flowers. I've always loved botanical illustrations for their minute details and the careful use of pen and ink. Two of the books above, The Complete Encyclopedia of Illustration and Cabinet of Natural Curiosities are perfect fodder for that. The Victorians and their love and discovery of the natural sciences has always been of particular interest. A.S Byatt's two novellas, Angels and Insects illustrates that time so well and in such a creepy, wicked way. Her gorgeously written prose is full of great imagery. Naked: Flowers Exposed is a beautiful photography book full of black and white close ups of flowers. 

I have so much to study and research while I create drawings and paintings and maybe even add a little printmaking. 

Flower Gardens at Hampton Court

Hampton Court is a Tudor castle on the outskirts of London has gorgeous gardens. A large part of the park is open to the public which is pretty cool. The flowers are not too showy with subtle colors and whimsical shapes like the allium pictured above. I'm still feeling very inspired by these gardens and flowers.

Oxford Gardens

The gardens in and around Oxford, England are all beautiful. Their laid out in thoughtful layers and look a little messy. It's that messiness that makes these gardens so fun to walk through and admire.

Cruck-Framed House Interpretations

Wooded Swirl, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2014

 I love cruck-framed houses. The structure looks so beautiful and can be shaped in a myriad of different ways. In these paintings, I combined the flexibility of the wood beams with the organic shapes of flowers.

Beamed Blooms, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2014

Beamed O, watercolor, copyright Nina Leung, 2014

Dressing in Chagall's Flowers

Chagall's Flowers by ninamleung featuring oliver peoples sunglasses

Floral print dress / Band of Outsiders jean jacket / Madewell / Kate Spade / Gem jewelry / Oliver Peoples sunglasses

Can't you just imagine wearing this while exploring the Russian countryside? I was inspired by the post on the Latvian countryside as well as the film The Last Station about Leo Tolstoy.

Marc Chagall's Flowers in the Natural World

Aren't these simple blue flowers beautiful? They were photographed in my front yard. I love the simplicity and vibrant color. The two below are also from the garden and more closely remind me of Chagall's flowers with their long petals, delicate curls, and fine lines.

Objects inspired by Marc Chagall's Flowers

These are a few objects that are inspired by Chagall's Flowers. There's my journal from our trip to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland on the right. The atomizer is from Anthropologie. The blue flower amulet is from my lovely sister-in-law which she got in Egypt (I think it's made of egyptian paste). Above that is a sweet drawing my sister Teresa did for a birthday book she made for me. Next is a book cover from an old Reader's Digest anthology. All of this is on top of a blouse I bought in China.

Travelling in Chagall's Flowers

If Marc Chagall's Flowers were a place it would be.........

the Latvian countryside!

These photos are from the countryside outside Riga, Latvia. The house is Rundale Palace, a baroque palace built in the 1700s. I like to imagine any of the Dukes of Courland and family picnicking on the grounds.

Marc Chagall's Flowers

Flower Still Life Ipad Redo, copyright Nina Leung, 2013

Marc Chagall's work is so expressive. In his Flower Still Life, that I recreated above, his Fauvist background really comes through. He understood the importance of expressing emotion through color and lightly abstracted forms. His paintings have a dream-like quality which comes from the recognizable objects and forms, but he only uses them as compositional objects. They could tell a story, but that was not necessarily his intention. His paintings are very expressive.

I love this particular work for the arrangement of color and quick, seemingly wild brushstrokes, and the rhythm of the leaves and flowers.