Pansy, pensée

A quick color study of my favorite flower

Just pushing paint around! Not much has changed, really (including my glasses)

Greetings from art land. I am no longer neck deep in client work, I’m more ‘knee deep’ now, with ankle deep levels of client work on my horizon - just in time for the nice weather to grace our presence here in New Jersey.

And just in time for my next collection, coming in late June. More on that very soon. Newsletter subscribers hear about it first - so thank you for being here!

Lately I’ve been more drawn to the pansy than I normally am. In the last year or so I’ve discovered pansies in enameled Edwardian jewelry - sometimes coupled with the phrase “a moi” (short for ‘remember me’). But there are so many legends around the pansy - and I love a good myth. The pansy was found in France, around the 4th century. The name ‘pansy’ is derived from the French word pensée - quite literally translated “a thought”. Thought to be originally white and struck by cupid’s bow, resulting in their burst of color in the center of the flower.

If anyone has $16,000 to spare, you could have this beautiful pendant from 1st Dibs. (Most of these Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian pansy pendants are worth quite a bit!)

And besides the meaning.. it’s just so very enchanting. They’re delicate and communicative.

Image via Farmer’s Almanac

Pansies are one of those things I’ve tucked into my work quite a bit over the years - whether overt or gently positioned into a bed of other flowers.

They look like they're saying hello. Hello! All art by me, mostly available on my website.

A quick study of some of my favorite pansy colorways before we part ways for the weekend.