Just a bit more about Marianne North, artist for Art Bead Scene June Challenge

Below is the image posted as the June Challenge on the Art Bead Scene Blog.  When I first saw it I grimaced and thought why in the world had a photograph been chosen, and an ugly Christmasy one at that? Looking a little closer and reading some about the piece, I was shocked to find out that it was a painting, not a photo, and by a fascinating woman who traveled the world painting plants in their environments in the late 1800's. Her name was Marianne North.

Trees Laden with Parasites and Epiphytes in a Brazilian Garden, 1873

Isn't the detail amazing?  I became more drawn to find out more about the artist than to create a jewelry piece based on the painting.  There is quite a bit of information about Marianne North in the Wikipedia and 1,034 of her paintings shown on the British Broadcasting Corporation website under Paintings.  Her complete body of work is displayed at The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, England, in a housed gallery specific for that purpose.  

Marianne North Gallery, Kew Gardens

About Marianne North in Wikipedia:

Marianne North (24 October 1830 – 30 August 1890) was a prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist, notable for her plant and landscape paintings, her extensive foreign travels, her writings, her plant discoveries and the creation of her gallery at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew....

The scientific accuracy with which she documented plant life in all parts of the world, before photography became a practical option, gives her work a permanent value.A number of plant species are named in her honour, including Areca northiana, Crinum northianum, Kniphofia northiana, Nepenthes northiana, and the genus name Northia...

Kew Gardens claims that the North Gallery (situated in the east section of the gardens) is "the only permanent solo exhibition by a female artist in Britain". In 2008 Kew obtained a substantial grant from the National Lottery, which enabled it to mount a major restoration of both the gallery and the paintings inside.

Pictures of artist:

Below are three of her paintings I really love:

Chilean cactus

Tasmania

Columbian harbor

After delving into Ms. North's life and works, I decided to create a few beads and pendants using some of her paintings.  I designed pendants as collages using images from her paintings along with photos of herself.  The basic unfinished pieces are in my previous post. Below are two of the collaged images I was going to resize into circular images, mount and seal with resin. But it turned out my printer was almost out of ink and did not produce any workable prints.  This is still the case.  Oh well, I've been wanting to do some work in clay...

Coming back to today, now, I have been spending more time organizing my beads and supplies than beading.  I am swimming in beads, charms and findings.  I think, in general, unfortunately, this is true for me.  Organize, sort, reorganize, start a project, then organize, sort....I am absolutely drowning in beads, charms, chains, findings, and projects in process.

Presence is far more intricate and rewarding an art than productivity.

 Maria Popova, of Brain Pickings, Artist Series