The Many Shapes of Petals

Components of springtime art work often include the pretty petal. There are, of course, many variations in petals, which might make one conclude that many a cane must be made to build a decent collection of possibilities. But this is not necessarily so.  This display of both traditional and not so traditional petal forms and patterning is a sample set by Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg. This image was put together for a class in which Lynne put students through what she called “petal mania”.

Her photo note on Facebook says the canes are “reduced, shaped, torqued, and recombined to make a seemingly endless array of elements that can be used to make all sorts of wearable art. Hearts and spirals, complex petals, wisteria and lotus blossoms are all found along the petal path.”  Apparently in the class, students also exchanged canes so they could continue working on variations. Just imagine what you could do with just a handful of canes in your own studio!

I couldn’t find word of any upcoming classes Lynne is conducting for this; but if you push yourself, maybe using some of the ideas above, I bet you could come up with a dozen new petal ideas of your own. So go shape and torque away!