I have started this "Queen Anne and Queen Anne's Lace" illustration series recently. In this series, usually Queen Anne(bird) and her favorite flower Queen Anne's Lace are in each picture. (except a few of them).
And today I would like to share a little bit of the stories behind this series. You might think, I just picked my favorite flower and my favorite animal for the illustrations. Well, most of the parts, yes. You're right. It was just as simple as that. But, on this blog, I would like to dig a little bit deeper, because what I have found out in a process of making this series is quite intriguing to me. So, I would like to share it with others as well.
Well, before going there, if you knew me for sometime, you might already know that I am a kind of a person who is often amused to find out that I get first attracted to something (or someone), and find the reasons later. I must say, this series was born like that as well.
I am going to start with the key flower, "Queen Anne's Lace". This particular flower has been one of my favorites since I moved to New Jersey from NYC years ago. Especially my last place which was located in a little bit more wood side of North Jersey, was surrounded by this flower during summer. I would often enjoy picking them and decorating my space. Although this flower must be like a common knowledge to many American people, to me, actually it is only recent that I learned the name of this flower. Till then, I kind of misbelieved that it was a family of Akillea, Yallow flower (that is a kind of common flower in Japan, and I just learned that only a few grow in North America. And it is also my birth flower by the way). ...Anyway, Queen Anne's Lace has been my favorite, because it is a wild flower that has strong roots, and grow every year in a wasteland, and yet, its white flower has such elegance and a sense of innocence, and it makes a great decoration in a room. So, needless to say, when I learned its beautiful name "Queen Anne's Lace", I was ecstatic. :-)
And recently, I felt like drawing a picture of this flowers with a bird in it. And after making a couple of them, I was thinking about this particular bird, and then again felt like looking up "Queen Anne's Lace" on the internet. What I found out was very interesting.
According to the information on Wikipedia, the name "Queen Anne's Lace" was named after a legend. The Queen turned out a real person, Queen Anne who married British King James in 16th-17th Century. According to the legend, one day, the Queen Anne was challenged by her friends to create a lace as beautiful as the flower for the King James. So, the flower was named because of the resemblance with lace, and this legend. It is said that the red flower in the center of some of the Queen Anne's Lace flowers represents a blood droplet where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace. How interesting!
Needless to say, after reading this story, the bird in a picture became "Queen Anne", of course. :-)
This series is still work in progress. But, I think I will introduce the illustrations that I have finished so far one by one for next few weeks (while I am still doing a lot of decluttering :-D).Next time, I will talk about the Queen Anne more.
Love, Yoshika
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