Passiflora Caerulea

Passiflora Caerulea
Original Miniature Watercolour
Altered Art
by Chris Plastic



I have this great vintage anatomy volume
and I was flipping through it one night
when I came across this illustration
of a dissected eyeball.
Only what I saw was a Passion Flower.
So I thought I'd just help other people see that too!



Apparently I'm not the only one who saw the flower,
as this bee appears to have fallen in love with it.



This delightful little piece of mock Victoriana is done in watercolours
and it comes in its own darling little frame.
It is crypically initialed on the front,
as well as dated.
The painting itself is a three inch circle.
The frame is solid brass, so it's a little heavy,
and it has a stand on the back so it can sit
pretty on your shelf or you can remove the stand
and have yourself a lovely wallflower.

As much as this piece feels substantial,
it should be handled with care,
as the bee was not part of the frame and is glued in place,
as is the painting.


THANK YOU for stopping by!

*the first picture is linked to the eBay auction for this piece.

Fresh Cut Valentine

This one sure was fun! I figured I'd throw together a Valentine themed painting, so for the last two days I've been working on this sweet little number. It's something I've never done before, so once again I didn't know if I might be biting off more than I could chew, but what the hell.

Actually, I have drawn flowers before, just never painted them. But I figured it couldn't be too different than anything else I might paint. And there were lots of nice lines involved, which is always a plus. Once I got started on the actual painting, it occurred to me that maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. I mean, all those lines sure look pretty, but try painting within them! Gahhh! So when I finally hit call it a "night", I may not be resurfacing for a little while, coz my eyes are gonna need some time to recover from all that strain.

As far as the style of this painting, I'd consider it to be...Gothic Romanticism? Mock Romanticism? Gothic Pastoral? Well, something along those lines. Basically the idea was to take something benign - something pretty and romantic and juxtapose it with something a little macabre. What could be more fun? Especially for Valentine's day! So without further ado, I give you:

Fresh Cut Valentine

Yes, I know, shite photos. What else is new? I'll get the bloody thing scanned later so you can see all the gory details. What you can't see here, aside from accurate colours, is that I have incised the board numerous times to give a sort of distressed/woodgrain effect. I think it kinda goes with the painting alright.

Ok, enough o my drivel. I gotta either crash or puke and I don't care to have that acidic taste in my mouth for the rest of the day, so I think I'll crash. So come and tell me stories of unrequited love or bring me flowers or cupcakes. Or just come and say hi and ignore the painting. Oh yah, it does happen.

Good night!

Oh! By the way, this painting is 5 1/2 x 7 1/2".

And now night must fall...