Research Into Natural Forms

Freshly Sourced Rose

A fresh rose, focusing on the central overlapping petals, which on the surface look smooth to the naked eye. Roses are beautiful, fragrant flowers, and have many uses other than visual admiration. The rose hip  can be used to make wine and syrup, and the petals can also used for human consumption. Perfumes can also be made from the rose. 

Decayed Rose

Here we see the 

rose at an abstract

angle, encapsulating  

the center...

Close up of ageing rose.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  ...the very same rose which I had stored away, has now taken on a very different appearance. Instead of satin smooth pink petals, the once beautiful rose has now aged, with dried discoloured petals with an almost scale like texture. This is just a reminder that youth is but a small part of our lives, and sadly, everything ages. 

Feathers come in all shapes and sizes, ranging in an array of colours. Their functions are to help some birds in flight, to insulate the bird from cold air and water, and patterned with colour for camouflage or dominance. There are various types of feather, including the downy, filoplume and semi-plume. The tail and the flight feather are known as contour, or vane feathers. The vane consists of tiny barbs, which in turn are covered in barbules. On these barbules are hooklets which hold the barbules in place. If they come undone, the bird simply prunes them back in place.

The vane of the flight feather is narrower on one side which assists the bird during flight, as shown in this magpie feather. 

A Duck Feather.

The central shaft of the feather (I would call it a spine), is made up of keratin, which is protein that exits in hair and nails of mammals, and the scales of reptiles.

 

Leaves can take on a similar shape to feathers, but the texture is quite different. The leaf is an actual living structure, as opposed to the feather, which is a functional appendage.

Leaves provide oxygen and are a food source for other life forms, such as caterpillars  humans etc. The veins on a leaf are vascular tissue through which resources are dispersed. It is a kind of life cycle for all living things, the vascular plants provide us with oxygen, and in return, we provide the carbon dioxide to help the plants survive. 

Snakeskin

This snakeskin was shed from my son's corn snake. The scaled pattern on the skin resembles bubble wrap, or even honeycomb. 

Corn snakes originate from the southern regions of North America. They are carnivores, feeding on small rodents and frogs every few days in the wild. Their eyes cloud over prior to shedding. Herpetoculturists refer to this process as being opaque.

The skin is exuviated when the snake rubs its body along rough surfaces including bark and stone.

This ladybird pupa was found on a leaf in our local park. It would be very interesting to see how I could adapt this within my designs.

This orange peel was pictured with light behind it, showing the magnificent texture and speckled skin.

More flowers that I discovered in the park below. Each one has a different shape, and each one is very unique. The colours are vivid and attract many living creatures, humans included. Although they are quite alluring, they have a duty to reproduce.

Their pollen is collected by insects such as bees and butterflies. Theay are not only pretty, but we also need them within our life cycle.

More beautiful flowers full of different textures.

The intertwining of each twig on these branches, presents a wonderful pattern that would be inspirational for design purposes.

This spider was enjoying his new home in my yard. It is amazing how they spin their thread to make a web and beautiful patterns emerge, but they are deadly to small insects.

The pattern on the sycamore seed is very similar to that of an insect wing. I love the weave effect which to me looks quite like an embroidered detail.

At the museum.

A selection of butterflies at the World Museum Liverpool.

The colours on the Grasshoppers are quite beautiful. They would make an interesting subject under the microscope.

The appearance of this hematite at the Museum is not unlike bubbles. The texture of each bubble-like feature looks very smooth.

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The wings of these lacewing and dragon flies actually do look quite like lace or embroidered material. 

The Blue Morphos Butterfly

The wing of the Blue Morphos under the microscope

The wing of this butterfly under a microscope.

The Peacock Butterfly

The wing of the pecock butterfly under the microscope.

More beautiful butterflies.

Moths can be beautiful too.

The bubbled appearance of this hematite portrays a smooth surface. It also has an amazing shimmer to it. 

Florite with a sharp and grainy texture.

Microorganisms mind map.