March 8, 2013 -- print prompt

For the second time in ten years this book has survived a bookshelf purge. And that's primarily because of this illustration I love. The title of book, published in 1913, is Art-Craft for Young Folks, and it's full of arts and craft ideas like this one: "Bring sprays of leaves or fruit to school. Before you draw, look at different sprays and notice as much as you can. You will see that heavy fruit hangs by its own weight, and the stem must be large enough to bear it." Then there's info re how to "paint a spray from nature." .

     When I first put the book on the windowsill, I tried to "interpret" it by adding an apple and some flowers. That just distracted from the apple in the illustration. Then I tried an apple green vase, but that, too was just a distraction. This was my best interpretation: budding japonica (quince) with a sprig of osmanthus in an off-white cruet. I'll try to photograph this again when the light is better and the flowers have opened.