Horticulture in Ornament | Gilding, Decorative Painting, Fresco

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The Cradle of the Renaissance
Florence, Italy

FRESCO  
PAINTED ON THE CEILING VAULT.
Breakfast room overlooking the arno river 

HOTEL Consigli, FLORENCE, ITALY  

Most of our trip through Europe was planned but we found this beautiful hotel by chance. We could not have been luckier to land at this historic, charming, and authentic, Hotel Consigli in Florence. The bedroom was the size of four. Windows were three layers of shutters with no glass. The windows opened upon the Arno River and looked over a beautiful bridge. The vaulted ceilings  were so authentically Italian one could imagine Leonardo climbing scaffolding to instructing art students in painting techniques employed to glorify God at the time of the Renaissance. 

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Stylized images from nature were employed during the birth of the Renaissance period. Painters used techniques to ornament beautiful architectural pieces and bring the Glory of God into the churches and cathedrals. Stories are told in a visual sense and embolden with color and art for the appreciation of all.

    A fresco with trompe l'oeil painted ON THE ceiling vault. 

Hotel Consigli, Florence, Italy          

Waking to the sound of the Vespas hurrying to the many artisan shops, Museums and architectural heritage sites visited by the many world travelers, the native Florenians encourage us to find treasures to return with. After breakfast in an adjacent room with the beautiful frescos we ventured out walking to the city that so closely affiliated with the Medici family. The first day we found stylish soft leather shoes to continue our walks and our appreciation of the architecture surrounding the Duomo. Enjoying the customs and local culture we had to shop the gold jewelry shops on the Medici bridge, Ponte Vecchio and find a Gelato shop to cool down on this rather warm day.

The symbolism is replicated throughout the city. Everywhere, the Giglio of Florence is seen in stone, textiles, and tattoos. The Florentine lily is not a lily but a stylized iris, Iris florentina.

The Giglio of Florence

 The Florentine lily is not a lily, 

but a stylized iris.

Painted illustration of Iris florentina
 by Sydenham Edwards for Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1803

The language of flowers and The Gramar of Ornament are two of the best books to understand artisans and symbolism used to evolve from the dark ages to the time of the Renaissance when discussion of science could lead to treacherous situations.

Botanical Art  Resources Tongiorgi, Tomasi L, and Gretchen A. Hirschauer. The Flowering of Florence: Botanical Art for the Medici. Washington, D.C: National Gallery of Art, 2002. Prin Jones, Owen. The Grammar of Ornament. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co, 1972. Print. https://www.italian-frescos.com/

 ~ Grassroots Horticulture ~

2022

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Horticulture's Role in Arts and Crafts | Dyes and Pigments

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Textiles

Tapestry, yarns, and dye theory for color

Traditional natural dyes include indigo and woad for blue; a warm red came from madder and red also came from dried insects known as Kermes, and from cochineal and Brazilwood. Purples were made from the orchilis lichen, and the various mordants available together with blending, gave a wide range of colours. Dyers preferred resources that proved resistant to light so they were always on the watch for botanical discoveries.

José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1737 – 1799).

 Newberry Library

"Indian Collecting Cochineal with a Deer Tail" from Memoria sobre la naturaleza, cultivo, y beneficio de la grana 

Scale insects on leaves, or paddles, of cactus produce a red acidic substance

The cochineal is a scale insect, from which the natural dye carmine is derived. This insect lives on cacti in the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant moisture and nutrients. These insects are found on the pads of prickly pear cacti, then are brushed off and dried. The insect produces carminic acid that deters predation by other insects. Carminic acid, typically 17-24% of dried insects' weight, can be extracted from the body and eggs, then mixed with aluminium or calcium salts to make carmine dye, also known as cochineal. The carmine dye was used in Central America in the 15th century for coloring fabrics and became an important export good. This dye has been an important economic commodity and has created fascinating mysteries and intrigues.

Table I: Natural Sources of Plant Dyes and Ink

Plant Name	Common Name	Part(s) Used	Color	Textile Examples
Acacia catechu see Senegalia catechu	cutch	Heartwood	brown khaki, red (food)
Alkanna tinctoria	dyer's bugloss, dyer's alkanet		red
Annatto	lipstick tree, Annatto, Achiote (Bixa orellana)	seeds	red, yellow, orange
Bixa orellana	lipstick tree, Annatto	seeds	red, yellow, orange
Bixa Orellana Linn	lipstick tree, Annatto/Ornato	seeds	red, yellow, orange
Caesalpinia spp.	Brazilwood sappenwood	heartwood	red (brazilin)
Dactylopius coccus (scale insect)	Cochineal		red (carmine)
Frangula alnus or Rhamnus frangula	alder buckthorn	bark	red with fermentation, yellow
Frangula alnus or Rhamnus frangula	alder buckthorn	berries	green
Indigo dye (Greek indicon, "from India")	indigo	Leaves	Indigo Blue
Indigofera suffruticosa	Añil	Leaves	Indigo Blue
Indigofera tinctoria	true indigo	Leaves	Indigo Blue
Isatis tinctoria	woad, dyer's woad	Leaves	Indigo Blue	The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestry
Juglans nigra	Eastern black walnut	Drupes (fruit)	brownish-black
Morinda tinctoria	Indian mulberry	root bark	red, chocolate or purple
Reseda lutea	ladyer's rocket, dyer's weed, weld, woold, and yellow weed	leaves, flowers	Yellow	The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestry
Roccella tinctoria	archil lichen (fungus)		purple	Tapestries from Grainville-la-Teinturière, Normandy
Rubia tinctoria	madder, dyer's madder	roots	Red (Alizarin)	The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestry, linen in Tutankhamen’s tomb (1350 BC), wool, leather, cotton, silk

References______________________________________

Botanical Inks : Plant-to-Print Dyes, Techniques and Projects Behan

Feeser, Andrea. Red, White, Et Black Make Blue: Indigo in the Fabric of Colonial South Carolina Life. Athens, Ga: Univ. of Georgia Press, 2013. Print.

Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor by Thomas P. Campbell, Pascal-François Bertrand, Jeri Bapasola, Palacio Real (Madryt)., Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)


St, Clair K. The Secret Lives of Colour. , 2016. Print.

Pantone:   https://www.beeghlyandcompany.com/blogs/blog/reveling-in-pure-joy-viva-magenta-is-pantones-2023-color-of-the-year

Pinterest:  https://pin.it/5KwP75Z

Textiles and Dyes On-line Resources: Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving: a Practical Text-Book of Design and Workmanship ... with Drawings by the Author and Other Illustrations. , 1906 CHRISTIE, A G. I. Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving: a Practical Text-Book of Design and Workmanship ... with Drawings by the Author and Other Illustrations. , 1906. A Contextual Study of Brussels Tapestry, 1670-1770: The Dye Works and Tapestry Workshop of Urbanus Leyniers (1674-1747 Brosens, Koenraad. A Contextual Study of Brussels Tapestry, 1670-1770: The Dye Works and Tapestry Workshop of Urbanus Leyniers (1674-1747). Brussel: Paleis der Academiën, 2004. Print. Studies in Western Tapestry Met Publications Smithsonian, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/scientists-are-making-cochineal-a-red-dye-from-bugs-in-the-lab-180979828/ Smithsonian, The Bug That Had the World Seeing Red   How a Mesoamerican insect once created the globe’s most coveted color, Amy Butler Greenfield is a British-based writer and author of A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire. She is descended from a family of textile dyers. Butler Greenfield, Zócalo Public Square December 29, 2016     https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/bug-had-world-seeing-red-180961590/#:~:text=The%20results%20were%20spectacular.,alternatives%20in%20potency%20and%20versatility. Food and Agriculture Organization's official description of cochineal extract https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2015/julyaugust/feature/red-all-over-how-tiny-bug-changed-the-way-we-see-the-world Red All Over: How a Tiny Bug Changed the Way We See the World What makes the best red? The Spanish found out in sixteenth-century Mexico. Peter BG Shoemaker HUMANITIES, July/August 2015, Volume 36, Number 4 Florentine Codex, a twelve-volume encyclopedia of the New World  Huejotzingo codex Padilla, Carmella, and Barbara Anderson. A Red Like No Other: How Cochineal Colored the World : an Epic Story of Art, Culture, Science and Trade. New York: Skira Rizzoli, 2015. Print. Three reds : cochineal, hematite, and cinnabar in the pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican world / Claudia Brittenham -- Red at court : did the Maya at Bonampak know cochineal? / Mary Miller -- The politics of Nocheztli : the Florentine codex and the Nahua world of New Spain / Diana Magaloni Kerpel -- Tradition and innovation : cochineal and Andean keros / Ellen Pearlstein [and four others] -- The cochineal commodity chain : Mexican cochineal and the rise of global trade / Carlos Marichal -- To dye for : the many reds of Asia / Cristin McKnight Sethi -- Five barrels of cochineal : a gift from King Philip III of Spain to Shah ʻAbbas I of Iran / Marianna Shreve Simpson -- Reds in the land of the rising sun : cochineal and traditional red dyes in Japan / Monica Bethe, Yoshiko Sasaki -- Red echoes of enslavement : cochineal red, West Africa, and the slave trade / Emily Lynn Osborn -- Point of origin : genetic diversity and the biogeography of the cochineal insect / Alex van Dam [and three others] -- Crimson to scarlet : from American tradition to European experimentation / Ana Roquero -- Finer than the cochineal of New Spain : painting of the natural, civil, and geographic history of the kingdom of Peru / Rocío Bruquetas -- Proof positive : the science of finding cochineal / Estrella Sanz Rodríguez -- Shades of red : color and culture in Andean textiles / Elena Phipps -- Bleeding threads : cochineal in Mexican textiles / Alejandro de Ávila B. -- Not only red : cochineal in the eighteenth-century European woolen cloth industry / Dominique Cardon -- Dressing red : cochineal red in eighteenth-century garments from the Museo del Traje / Elena Vázquez García, Irene Seco Serra -- Recycled reds : raveled insect-dyed yarns in blankets of the American Southwest / Ann Lane Hedlund -- Wrapped in strouding : trade cloth and the American Indians of the Plains / Marsha C. Bol -- The color of power : red in the portraiture of the Spanish and British Empires / Michael A. Brown -- "One of the most beautiful reds" : cochineal in European painting / Jo Kirby -- Carmine of the Indies : cochineal in Spanish painting and sculpture (1550-1670) / Rocío Bruquetas, Marisa Gómez -- Interweaving Europe and Central Asia : connections in ethnobotany, folklore, and Polish cochineal / Anna Naruta-Moya -- "More reddish than grain" : cochineal in colonial Andean painting / Gabriela Siracusano, Marta Maier -- Painting in New Spain : conveying meaning through cochineal / Barbara Anderson -- Nocheztli -- blood of the prickly pear : cochineal in domestic furnishings in New Spain and Mexico / Gustavo Curiel -- Looking for red in all the wrong places : cochineal in Spanish colonial New Mexico / Robin Farwell Gavin, Josie Caruso -- Reconsidering cochineal in Spanish colonial New Mexico : questions for the future / Cordelia Thomas Snow -- New colors, old tints : uncovering fortuny and cochineal / Elvira González Asenjo, Lucina Llorente Llorente -- Carmine and earthly delights : cochineal in cosmetics, contemporary craft, fashion, and the strawberry frappuccino / Nicolasa Chávez -- Romantic revival : cochineal in contemporary New Mexican Hispano art / Nicolasa Chávez -- Red collection : Orlando Dugi's cochineal-inspired fashion design / Carmella Padilla edited by Carmella Padilla & Barbara Anderson ; principal photography by Blair Clark.

• The Woolery.com, Frankfort, Kentucky
• Catherine Ellis, Ellis Textiles, https://www.ellistextiles.com/
• Sarah Bellos of Stony Creek Colors,  https://stonycreekcolors.com/ 
• Blog: http://riihivilla.blogspot.com/
• Blog:  https://botanicalcolors.com/ Jubilee Farm, Carnation, Washington
• Blog Article:  https://thelaurelofasheville.com/arts/visual-arts/penland-gallery-presents-further-evidence-the-art-of-natural-dyes/
• 
  

Synthetic Dyes

• Rit Guide to Color Mixtures https://www.ritdye.com/color-formulas/2006-2016
• 1437 w. Morris Indianapolis, Indiana (Best Foods, CPC, Phoenix Brands)*
• Tintex https://www.tintex.ca/ https://www.tintex.ca/pages/fabric-dye-colour-guide
• Old Companies 

Dy-Ol-A Antique Dy-o-la Dye Cabinet Johnson - Richardson Company Burlington, Vermont 

Putnam, Monroe Chemical Company, Quincey, Illinois

 

Diamond Dye and Tint Wells, Richardson, and Co.,  Burlington, Vermont  



 *"By 1925, metropolitan Chicago was well on its way to become one of the largest industrial cities in the world with the following major industries (listed and ranked according to their economic importance): “slaughtering/meat packing, printing/publishing, foundry/ metal working, electrical, clothing, iron/ steel making/milling, pipe fittings, food and personal care industries”(2). Many of these Chicago industries employed chemists, generally in support of their operations. Examples included Best Foods Laboratories, Swift and Co. in the stockyards, Armour’s nearby laboratories and Universal Oil Products suburban Riverside facilities providing petroleum refining process research support for the oil industry. This is a historical documentary about a number of individual chemists in Chicago who successfully established new specialty chemical(3) businesses during the 1920’s, ‘30’s and ‘40’s, many during the “Great Depression”, when synthetic organic chemistry was in its infancy. These remarkable, well-educated entrepreneurial chemical pioneers had several characteristics in common. They were courageous, determined risktakers who identified what the market needed, and worked to fulfill those needs. Most were good salesmen, or out of necessity, soon became one. Their professional careers in chemistry will be examined through the specialty chemical companies involved, including Best Foods Company, Emulsol, Witco, Ninol and Stepan. Some of these individuals were European immigrants who came to the U.S. looking for freedom and opportunity. They all labored and succeeded in America’s free market economy, and truly lived the “American Dream,” and it all started in Chicago. This historical documentary begins with the Best Foods Company. Best Foods Company (1898-2000) In 1922, giant conglomerate Corn Products Corporation’s Gold Dust subsidiary had its Best Foods consumer products division consolidate its various food and related consumer products operations, and established a relatively large laboratory in Chicago. Their product lines were gradually increased to include Kayro Corn Syrup, other syrups, jams, Mazola Corn Oil, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, dressings, margarine, Shinola Polish, Gold Dust soap products, laundry starches and others. Because of its size, Best Foods was able to attract a number of well-educated chemists. Some were graduates of the University of Chicago, while others were European immigrants seeking better opportunities in the “New World.” By 1933, in the midst of the “Great Depression” President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt proposed a job saving program, asking employers to retain their employees, putting them on a half time basis with reduced pay. For necessary cost and job saving measures, Best Foods’ management decided to follow the President’s recommendation. Thus, their employee’s work was reduced to halftime with drastically reduced wages. As an incentive to keep its chemists, Best Foods allowed their lab personnel to utilize their lab facilities pursuing projects of their own choosing, working on their own free time. Some used this opportunity to develop new and patentable products and processes for themselves (4). Over the years, it would turn out that Best Foods Laboratories proved to be a training ground for many of their chemists, especially during and right after the “Great Depression.” Some left the company and established their own specialty chemical companies, while others would leave to join those who already started new businesses. This group of former Best Foods chemists, included Russian immigrant Dr. Wolf Kritchevsky, a well-educated dye expert, who left Best Foods in about 1934 to start Rit Products Company in Chicago, and whose patents on alkylolaminefatty acid condensation products (later to be named Ninols) would contribute to his sons starting Ninol Laboratories in Chicago in 1940 (4). Morris B. Katzman and Albert K. Epstein also working on their own free time secured a patent on certain fatty amide emulsifying agents. Immigrant chemist, Albert K. Epstein left Best Foods in 1935 to become president of his new chemical company called Emulsol Corporation. Other chemists of Best Foods left and joined Emulsol including Benjamin R. Harris, Morris B. Katzman, Frank J. Cahn, and John J. Morrisroe (4). Katzman and Cahn later, in 1952, would leave Emulsol to start Process Chemicals Company in Los Angeles (4,5). John Morrisroe left Emulsol in 1951, invented his SO2 solvent SO3 sulfonation process (6), and started Pilot Chemical Company in Santa Fe Springs, California in 1952 (7). Best Foods continued to grow globally as the largest international food giant, constantly undergoing acquisitions, mergers, an occasional unit spin off, and frequent name changes. Corn Products Refining Company and Best Foods Inc. merged in 1959, and later in 1969 changed its name to C.P.C. International. In 1996 C.P.C. International had sales of $9.8 billion and they again split off Best Foods during 1997. Unilever acquired Best Foods in 2000 (8). (1) The author of this historical documentary was employed by Ninol Laboratories from 1945-1957, and by Stepan Co. from 1957 to 1987. (2) Cunningham, J. D. Chicago-The World’s Youngest Great City; American Publishers: Chicago, 1929; p 99. (3) Specialty chemicals are generally defined as chemical products or intermediates that contribute or impart special physical or chemical features and/or improved product performance properties or attributes to a formulation or consumer product. Generally the somewhat lower volume specialty chemicals’ unique features may warrant or com -mand a premium or price advantage which helps to differentiate them from the larger volume, chemically well defined, lower margin priced commodity chemicals. (4) Private communication on November 15, 1992 between Mr. Jerome Kritchevsky and the author discussing his father’s life history. (5) News, JAOCS, September 1952, p. 18. (6) Morrisroe, J. J., U.S. Patent 2,703,788, March 8, 1956. (7) History and timeline of Pilot Chemical Co." http://www.pilotchemicalco.com (accessed Feb. 2012). (8) CPC International Company history. http://www.cpcinter national.com https://chicagoacs.starchapter.com/images/downloads/Chemical_Bulletin/12sep_high.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/115024653479383/posts/157650745883440/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

https://material-matters.cityandguildsartschool.ac.uk/pigment/in-conversation-pigment/

Grassroots Horticulture

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Capturing Southwest Style ~ Frieda Kahlo

Frida Kahlo, Rasario's Restaurant
Margarita and Agave, the source of tequila.

Capturing Southwest Style from the Palettes of Artist Frida Kahlo

On a recent trip to San Antonio, Texas, our third day was spent in The King Wlliam Historic District. Loved the female developed restaurant, https://rosariossa.com/our-story/ She captured the culture. The food and margarita's were great. Glad to see and support the thoughtful renovation and repurposed urban municipal area that continued to respect the history of this area. 

Frida Kahlo (July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter. She painted using vibrant colors in a style that was influenced by indigenous cultures of Mexico and European influences including Realism, Symbolism, and Surrealism. Many of her works are self-portraits that symbolically articulate her own pain and sexuality. Kahlo was married to Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. On September 17, 1925, Kahlo was riding in a bus when the vehicle collided with a trolley car. She suffered serious injuries in the accident, including a broken spinal column, a broken collarbone, broken ribs, a broken pelvis, eleven fractures in her right leg, a crushed and dislocated right foot, and a dislocated shoulder. An iron handrail pierced her abdomen and her uterus, which seriously damaged her reproductive ability. She would be plagued by relapses of extreme pain for the remainder of her life. After the accident, Kahlo turned her attention away from the study of medicine to begin a full-time painting career. The accident left her in a great deal of pain while she recovered in a full body cast; she painted to occupy her time during her temporary state of immobilization. Her self-portraits became a dominant part of her life when she was immobile for three months after her accident. Kahlo once said, "I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best." The meaning of the color of Frida Kahlo’s paintings Kahlo's paintings were rich in bright vibrant colors. In her diary, Frida attempts to explain the meaning of the colors used in her works  (information from fridakahlofans.com): "I’ll try out the pencils sharpened to the point of infinity which always sees ahead" The meaning of the color of Frida Kahlo’s paintings If you look at Kahlo’s paintings. The first thing that catches your eye are the colors. Because her paintings are rich in energetic, vibrant and bright colors. Frida herself has written in her daily memoirs the meaning of some of the colors used in her paintings.  KUNST MUSEUM Magenta Magenta: Aztec symbol. Old TLAPALLI blood of prickly pear, the brightest and oldest. Cobalt Blue: The symbol of electricity and purity love. Navy Blue: The symbol of distance. Also tenderness can be this blue. Dark Green: A symbol of bad advertisements and good business. Green: Symbol of good warm light. Leaf Green: The symbol of leaves, sadness, science, the whole of Germany is this color. Greenish Yellow: The symbol of more madness and mystery. All the ghosts wear clothes of this color, or at least their underclothes. Yellow: The symbol of madness, sickness and fear. Part of the sun and of joy. Red: A symbol of blood? …. Well, who knows! Brown: Mole symbol, leaves becoming earth. Black: Symbol of nothing. Nothing is black – really nothing

Inspiration.  

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Frida Kahlo Palettes and Patterns

 

 

 

 

 

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Sources: Wikipedia & fridakahlofans.com 

Frida: Style Icon charts Frida's fashion evolution through 50 beautifully illustrated style moments including pieces from her famous wardrobe, her most iconic looks and her own special kind of styling. From embroidered blouses and traditional Tehuana dresses to indigenous treasures and jewellery strung by Frida herself, this book showcases how Frida used her style as a means of personal and political expression. Her wardrobe includes examples of traditional Mexican dress – rebozos (shawl), embroidered huipiles (square-cut tops) and enaguas (skirts), as well as a series of hand-painted medical corsets and supportive back-braces which also illuminate the story of her near-fatal bus crash at the age of 18. Tastefully and elegantly illustrated throughout, this volume is a must-have for admirers of Frida Kahlo, fashion historians and fans of fashion illustration.

The visionary and supremely self-fashioning artist Frida Kahlo (1907–54) drew inspiration throughout her career from arte popular―painted ceramics, embroidered textiles, religious votives, effigies and children's toys, and other objects created in Mexico’s rural and Indigenous communities. The hundreds of folk-art objects that filled her home and studio attest to her nationalist politics and her fascination with the work of carvers, weavers, sculptors of papier-mâché and vernacular painters. She depicted these objects in her paintings and adopted elements of traditional dress and ornament in her own self-presentation, playing on modernist fascination with folk culture and on her own relation to layered Mexican identity. This bilingual book, the first in-depth exploration of Kahlo’s varied and sophisticated responses to arte popular, situates her within the broad artistic and intellectual movements of her time, examines her professional ambitions and illuminates the innovative techniques she used in her lifelong encounter, both playful and powerful, with the folk art of Mexico.