The Crowning Glory of Spring

© Sybille Sterk 

Do not copy or publish this in any way, shape or form without my written permission.

I love magnolias. They are so amazing with the big blowsy and waxy blossoms in all shades of pink, lilac and cream, and some of them looking like stars. It doesn't get much better than that. :-)

All images/textures/brushes my own or bought. Edited with Photoshop.

All my images are available on Redbubble, Artflakes, Society6 and Bluecanvas as prints, cards, posters, skins for laptops, Blackberry, iPhones and other phones (for the skins go toBluecanvas). You can now also get most of my images on cushion covers (go to Society6 for these).

Magnolia

 

... another of my favourite Spring blossoms. You can't beat magnolia for sheer gorgeousness...

Made with my own textures and photo. :-) I've added depth and colour with brushes in Photoshop.

Sorry, there is no greeting card available - the proportions of the image don't work with the greeting card dimensions. If you'd like it as a greeting card, send me a mail and I'll upload a version specially for greeting cards to Redbubble. :-)

Love is... Collage

Someone sent me a poem recently with a view of a collaboration, however, the person in question wasn't quite happy with the poem (yet), so I hope this might spark the poem to be published on RB after all...

The image is inspired by the poem but also by Duerer's Praying Hands I've always liked the serene feel of this sketch.

The poem is about enduring love and I wanted to do something that showed the gentleness of the poem and the deep feeling of it.

This image is part photo collage, part digital painting and uses the following components:

Stock photo of entwined hands by Pale Scarlet Stock.

My own photos of flowers (Magnolia, Hydrangea, and Queen Anne's Lace), my own textures and flourishes and dragonflies.

Textures by Sirius_SDZ, Buzillo and Freaky665.

Spring Splendour - Magnolia and Cherry Blossom

A couple of weeks ago I took some more photos of the Spring Splendour all around me. I have a thing about cherry blossoms and magnolias, so here are more pictures.


Cherry Blossom

Both images were edited with filters and all sorts of clever stuff to create the different painterly effects.



Magnolias

The following pictures were only edited to enhance the subject rather than change it.


More images of crafted things to follow soon... I've just finished and posted a commission and I am working on the next commission....

Spring Is Here - Magnolias, Cherry Blossoms and Hydrangea

I love Spring with all the signs of new life and Summer not far away. Some of my favourite flowers (or rather blossoms) in Spring are magnolias. Unfortunately, there are no magnolias in my garden - no space - however, a neighbour kindly let me take some pictures of the magnolia tree in her garden.

Magnolias

The waxy quality of the petals set against the hairy fluffy stems is just so pretty.





Cherry Blossoms

I also really like cherry blossoms. They are just so wonderful with the fragility of their soft pink petals set against the stark grey/brown colour of the branches and the first few dark red leaves showing.




Hydrangea

I like hydrangeas in Spring. You get the dried up petals from last year's Summer set against the beautiful green of the new leaves, which just looks amazing. The leaves themselves are as pretty as the flowers - a deep intense green with spiky edges that are rimmed in a deep red.



I am planning to take some more pictures, hopefully this weekend of the plum tree in my front garden and more of my neighbour's magnolia tree. The magnolia blossoms will have opened more and the pink blush on the petals should have intensified.

On the knitting front... still working on the present for my baby sister but it is nearing completion. The leaf lace scarf is still waiting for my attention.

On the jewellery front... I've just ordered some interesting African fabrics which I shall put to good use soon. I've also found more fabric covered beads (like the ones used in the Spring in Paris necklace) and have plans for those.

Lastly, on 16th April my friend Caroline will be holding a jewellery party to raise funds for the MS Trust (see Sponsor Caroline and the direct link to her fund raising page at the top of the page). If you're in Cambridge or close to Cambridge and would like to come and aid a good cause, drop me a line and I'll let you have the details.

Keep watching this space.