19 Apr A Fritillary Flower Metal Gate
Natures design in the Fritillary Flower
The Fritillary has to be one of my favourite flowers. It’s because it goes against how you picture organic flowers in nature. It has a square bell shaped head and stands quite straight with it’s head modestly bowed down, nodding in the wind, and it often has a lovely sweep of a leaf flowing off to the side. The purple and green colour of the Fritillary flower against the stark/leaf just look so perfect and harmonious together, they are both secondary colours on the colour wheel. The beautiful chequered pattern looks almost as if someone has painted it on. The name Fritillary derives from the Latin name dice-box which is obviously referring to this wonderful detail.
Surprisingly these stunning little flowers have not a very pleasant scent. It is often referred to as ‘foxy’ it’s like wet fur, feces or cannabis. Also most Fritillary species are poisonous if eaten in large quantities. I love a contrast! Charles Rennie Mackintosh did the most beautiful painting of these unusual little plants.
A number of years ago I cast a small range of Fritillary heads in various different metals, trying to capture the beauty of these plants. I also made a dressing table for a client. On each door I hammer out a Fritillary bell and plasma cut out the little chequered detail.
Fritillary Metal Gate Design
My fascination didn’t stop there. I once sketched down an idea for a gate and waited patiently for the right brief to fit my design idea. Just before Christmas I met my lovely client, who adored my Fossil gate but wanted a flower “to make you smile”.
So between us we designed her Fritillary gate to have all the special details she loved about my work.
Thank you Patsy you were a pleasure to work with.
I will always be fascinated by these lovely little plants and experiment with it in more of my designs in the future.
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