Receiving a fresh floral bouquet is nice, but sometimes you want something a bit more unique and long-lasting. Well, Olga Prinku creates a special type of flower arrangement that requires no water or vase. The North Yorkshire-based artist uses real dried blossoms as the medium for colorful embroidery art on delicate tulle.
“The idea for flowers-on-tulle embroidery came out of my hobby of wreath-making,” Prinku tells My Modern Met. “One day I made a wreath using a garden sieve—the kind you use to get stones out of soil—as a frame to hold the greenery in place, and it occurred to me that I could apply the same basic idea to experiment with tulle fabric and flowers.” She has used this delicate technique to create pieces that are the size of her palm to others that are larger than her torso.
Each hoop features a completely unique design that interacts with the shape of the hoop, however, Prinku says that she doesn't start her art with a clear idea in mind. “I'll instead choose the materials I'm going to use—a combination of flowers, grasses, berries, leaves, and seed heads—based around a color palette, which might be complementary or contrasting colors or inspired by the seasons, such as the reds, yellows, and browns of autumn,” she continues. “I'll then freestyle the design as I go along.”
Some of the materials used in her embroidery art are found during her walks in the North Yorkshire landscape, or in her garden. “Since I started looking at the plants around me with a view to creating art with them, I've become much more aware of the intricate beauty in aspects of nature I would have previously overlooked,” Prinku explains. “I've become attuned to the changing of the seasons, and how many plants have different kinds of visual appeal at different stages of their life cycle, from bud to bloom to seedpod.”
While the inherent beauty of working with plants is a large draw for her, the artist finds the process equally rewarding. The delicacy and breakability of dried flowers requires Prinku to be present as she works. “I find that flowers-on-tulle embroidery is a great way to focus my attention and center myself, and I can often enter a state of flow that lasts for hours,” she adds.
You can pre-order her book Dried Flower Embroidery via Bookshop and keep up to date with her latest creations by following the artist on Instagram.
Artist Olga Priku creates incredible embroidery art by stitching real dried flowers directly onto tulle.
You can pre-order Prinku's book now:
Olga Prinku: Website | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Olga Prinku.
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