In 1908, the ladies of San Angel, a neighborhood in Mexico City, dressed up in their finest, and covered themselves with flowers. They also so adorned their carriages, and their parasols, and their horses and their houses — and who knows what else. This all was for the first Fiesta Flora, or flower festival, during which minimalism was unknown, and thanks goodness for that!

When I visited just before the pandemic, then neighborhood’s Museo de El Carmen displayed a series of compelling black and white photos documenting what must have been some very fragrant proceedings! Here’s one of them:

My rusty Spanish precludes me from learning too much more about this event, but I’ve returned to these photos a number of times in the years (!) since. And This was the inspiration behind this textile piece which I worked on this past summer. It’s embroidery plus applique on vintage fabric, stretched on a 10x10 inch canvas.

It was fun to make all kinds of flowers with thread — I made almost every kind I know how to do! (I probably could have squeezed in a few more if I was really in the spirit, although I’m aware no one would accuse me of creating minimalist art.)

Here’s an area of detail from the lower left. French knots are the best.