Style Imitating Art: Paper Mosaiks by Mary Delany
About Style Imitating Art
Style Imitating Art is hosted by Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks, Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, and Terri of MeadowTree Style. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as curator, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the curator by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the curator will share all of the submissions on her blog.
You don’t have to be a blogger to join! You are invited to share your images on Instagram or other social media platforms! Just be sure to tag Salazar, Terri, and Daenel or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!
The Inspiration Artwork
The inspiration artwork was curated by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey. You can read why she has chosen this specific piece as her inspiration artwork here.
Paper Mosaiks by Mary Delany (Decoupage with Tissue Paper and Hand Colouration, 1771)
About the Artist: Mary Delany
Mary (Granville) Delany (May 14, 1700-April 15, 1788) was an English artist known for her lively correspondence in letter writing, her needlework, her botanical drawings, and her Paper Mosaiks which are featured in this post. She was also a member of the Blue Stockings Society, a mid-18th century informal women’s movement that emphasized education and mutual cooperation.
She was born in Coulston, Wiltshire, to Colonel Bernard Granville and his wife Mary Westcombe, who were loyal Tory supporters of the Stuart Crown. She was the second of four children. When Mary was young, her family moved to London where she attended a school taught by a French refugee. She was eventually sent to live with her childless aunt, Lady Stanley, with the intention of becoming a lady in waiting to Queen Anne. As a result, she came in close contact with English Court during this time. However, her hope to become a royal attendant was dashed when Queen Anne died in 1714 and the House of Hanover took the throne.
During her time at court, Mary became very skilled in “English, French, history, music, needlework and dancing…” and she met and became a close personal friend of George Frideric Handel who visited Lady Stanley’s household. Mary also continued to develop her pursuit of paper cutting which was an interest that developed in early childhood. After the change of ruling power in England, Mary’s family moved to a manor in Gloucestershire where they were isolated from English society. However, Mary was able to continue her education and her artistic endeavors.
In 1718 at the age of 17, Mary’s parents encouraged her unhappy union with 60 year old Parliament member Alexander Pendarves. Mary’s family had become financially dependent on her uncle Lord Lansdowne who had hopes of gaining political influence through Mary’s marriage. Two years into her marriage, Mary was forced to become her husband’s caregiver as his gout continued to worsen. In 1721, the couple moved to a house in London where Mr. Pendarves began to drink excessively. Mary was able to reunite with many of her old friends while in London but her husband died suddenly in his sleep in 1725. After their marriage, Mr. Pendarves failed to update his will to include his new wife and so she was left with nothing in widowhood.
However, widowhood afforded her new opportunities that unmarried women did not have. She was able to move about freely in society and pursue her own interests without any male oversight. After her husband’s death, Mary spent time living with various friends and family until the Duchess of Portland included Mary in her artistic and scientific “Hive.” In these circles, Mary became acquainted with botanist Joseph Banks and her interest in breeding plants grew along with her love of exotic flora as the subjects of her drawing, painting, and needlework.
Mary had traveled to Ireland during the time she lived with her uncle Lord Stanley after her aunt’s death. While she was in Ireland, she met Irish clergyman Dr. Patrick Delany who was married to a rich widow. Two years after his wife died, Dr. Delany traveled to England to propose to Mary much to her family’s dismay. They were married in June of 1743. After spending their first year of marriage in London, they took a residence in Dublin and enjoyed 25 years of marriage sharing their interests in botany and gardening.
On May 6, 1768, Dr. Delany died at the age of 84 and Mary found herself a widow once again at the age of 68. During her later years, Mary began spending much time at the home of her close friend, the Dowager Duchess of Portland, as the two also shared an interest in botany and would search for specimens together. It was during this time that Mary developed much of the knowledge on which many of her flower paper cuttings are based.
While she was always an artist, it wasn’t until her marriage to Dr. Delany and thereafter that she really was able to hone her artistic skills and find her true artistic voice. In 1771 at the age of 71, Mary began creating her decoupage flower mosaiks. These paper cuttings feature botanically accurate depictions of various plant species using tissue paper and hand colouration. From the ages of 71 to 88, Mary created 985 different floral collages, calling the series “Paper Mosaiks”. She stopped creating them only when her eyesight failed her.
Mary became very well known for her paper mosaiks during her life with many donors sending her flowers to decoupage. When her patroness, the Dowager Duchess, passed away, King George III and Queen Charlotte bequeathed her a small house at Windsor and a pension of £300 a year.
Mary died on April 15, 1788, at the age of 87. Her dedicated memorial is at St. James’s Church in Picadilly.
About the Art: Paper Mosaiks by Mary Delany
All 985 flower mosaiks were created from tissue paper that the artist hand cut, colored, and pasted with meticulous detail and accuracy. She used various shades of the same colors to create the appearance of darkness and light and shadows and depth. Each image consists of hundreds of tiny pieces of hand cut paper to create a very accurate depiction of the chosen plant subject. And she didn’t even begin creating this series until she was in her 70s!
It has been said that Mary took incredible care to ensure that her depictions were botanically accurate. Some art theorists say that she took the time to dissect each plant subject first in order to “rebuild” them as paper mosaiks. Mary Delany was a true 18th century pioneer in an art form that is still considered modern art 250 years later.
Most examples of Mary Delany’s Paper Mosaiks can be found in the British Museum.
References/Resources:
- Mary Delany: Wikipedia
- The British Museum: Mary Delany
- Late Bloomer: Mary Granville Delany: At Age 72 She Invented Mixed Media Collage
- Marvelous Mary Delany and Her Paper Mosaics
About My Outfit Inspired by Paper Mosaiks
With 985 different flower mosaics to choose from for this weeks art prompt, I narrowed my choices down to the few that Salazar shared in her post. She left it to us to choose which flower mosaik inspired us most and then create our outfit from there.
Most of the images were predominantly reds and oranges, which I love, but the blue cornflower image really struck me on the black background. First of all, I love florals against black backgrounds. They are so dark and moody and really appeal to my inner Goth girl. Normally I would be drawn much more to the red on black color palette, but the cornflower blue was exactly the same color as this ZARA sundress that I found two weeks ago at the thrift store. It was the perfect color and the floral print was on point with the all the green to pick up on that color in the image.
So I layered it over lots of black things to mimic the background of the Paper Mosaik and added some fun green jewelry and my green suede moto jacket to take this bright summery dress straight into the fall.
To see more outfits inspired by Mary Delany’s Paper Mosaiks, please visit Salazar’s post for the complete roundup of submissions. You can also read the details of Salazar’s own inspired outfit here, Terri’s here, and Daenel’s here. Have you joined the Style Imitating Art challenges yet? Be sure to check for the next prompt on Monday, October 11, 2021.
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking up with these Fabulous Link Parties.
Outfit Details: Dress-Zara (Thrifted) / Turtleneck and Moto Jacket-Charlotte Russe / Boots-Madden Girl / Necklace-Thrifted / Earrings-Michal Golan / Hat-NYC Street Vendor / Fingerless Gloves-Amazon /Scarf-Target
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
36 Comments
Marsha Banks
Wow! Imagine not starting something until you’re in your 70’s and then creating almost 1,000 mosaics! I’m definitely an underachiever. I love the way you used this sundress with black. There’s not much I love more than a floral print (unless it’s paisley). You look lovely as always, Shelbee!
http://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh my goodness, Marsha, I am definitely an underachiever as well! Haha. But I am also inspired to keep trying new things at every stage of life now. I have always loved a dark moody floral print, but paisleys will always win for me, too! My all time favorite print is paisley. Great minds, my friend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
Wow! It sounds like Mary had quite a full life! What caught my attention especially was the fact that she was friends with Handel, one of my favorite composers!
I will have to go back and reread more about her on your post! Thanks for the brief biography!
I really like your outfit!
I really think that the light blue and the green on your dress really makes a beautiful combo! Combine that with the black and you have a winner! It matches well with the floral piece that you chose! Back to Mary, she is so talented! I’m still in awe in how she did these! Great job as always, Shelbee! 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mike! It was the colors in this dress that immediately caught my attention. And then the cornflower mosaik was the exact same colors so it was an obvious choice for me. Mary was a really fascinating woman, indeed. I need to go back and read some more about her as well. I might order her biography to read. I’ll let you know if I do! I hope you are having a wonderful week!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
I may try to see if we have any biographies about her at my library. I’m sure that we do! Thanks again for sharing the info, Shelbee!
It makes me happy to learn about so many awesome people in our (human) history, but also a little sad and frustrated too because we never hear about or learn about them in school. There are so many great women scholars, scientists, artists, you name it, out there, as well as people of color, who have contributed a great deal to our history, but never hear about. It’s always so exciting for me to learn about them!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mike! I agree with you completely that there are so many fascinating people in history who we are not taught enough about. I just ordered this biography on Amazon…The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life’s Work at 72. I didn’t even think to check the library and I was just there a few days ago. Grrr. Oh well. The book is on the way and I am excited to read it! I hope you are enjoying your weekend, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
I do that too, Shelbee (order/buy books online and forget to check the library! And I work there!). But I guess good books are worth buying and adding to our personal libraries. 😉
I’m really happy to see more diverse authors, both in fiction, as well as education and non-fiction reads. We still have a ways to go, but change is definitely happening. We just have to help it along!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh my gosh, Mike, the book arrived yesterday and I couldn’t wait to dive into it. I read the first 60 pages and it is so brilliant! I agree that change is happening, change is always happening, and it absolutely requires our efforts to keep moving forward. I hope your week is off to a great start!
xoxo
Shelbee
Suzy Turner
After reading yesterday’s post, I couldn’t wait to see the dress you mentioned….and now I know why you were gushing about it. It’s GORGEOUS, Shelbee!! The way you styled it is brilliant. I’ve been thinking about styling my little summer dresses the same way when the weather gets cold enough.
I ummed and ahhed whether to style the same image as you, or the red one that Daenel shared in her post. In the end, red won but I love the colours of both! Mary Delany certainly was an amazing artist!
Huge hugs
Suzy xx
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Suzy! I was so excited about this dress! The colors and the print really caught my attention. I have been seeing super full dresses in this apron style on Amazon that I wanted to try but I didn’t want to spend the money not knowing how they would fit me. When I tried this one on in the thrift store, I squealed a little at how cute it fits, too! It’s really adorable with bare arms as well for the summer time. They had a similar one in all white in a heavy almost denim fabric that I got and styled basically the same way. I will share that one soon! I hope you are having a great week!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
I always find these posts so interesting because I always learn something about the piece or artist!
Jennifer
Curated By Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you, Jennifer! That makes me so happy to know! I like to provide you all with something a bit more interesting than just an outfit and a piece of art!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
It would be awesome if you did a book review when you finish, Shelbee! You’re such a great writer and I would love to hear your thoughts on it in a review. 🙂
I just bought a book off of Amazon called “Steeped in Stories” by Mitali Perkins, who basically analyzes children’s classic novels, such as “Anne of Green Gables”, “Little Women”, “The Hobbit”, and others, and breaks down why these stories are essential to children, even today and encourages people not to just dismiss them as being “just for kids”. It’s quite an interesting read!
We can help make the change happen and we are doing so, even just by having conversations. 🙂 I truly think that the world would be less hostile if more and more people had conversations with one another and not be so quick to jump to conclusions. Having deep conversations can defuse a lot of the animosity that we’re seeing today.
Thanks, Shelbee! I just celebrated my 38th birthday on Tuesday, so it’s a pretty great start of my week so far!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Happy, Happy Birthday to you, my friend! That is a great way to start the week! My Mary Delany book arrived the other day and I couldn’t wait to dive into it. It is sooooo good! I really like the sound of “Steeped in Stories”. And some of the stories referenced are my favorites. “Anne of Green Gables” is my husband’s favorite book of all time! I just finished watching the series “Anne with an E” and that was such a great show! I hope that you have an amazing week and weekend!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
Thank you so much, Shelbee! I don’t feel a day over 38, lol! 😉
Yeah, I’m really glad to be reading Steeped In Stories because even though I’ve heard about many of these books, I’ve never actually read any of them! But I think that my goal for 2022 will be to read these and compare them to what Mrs. Perkins says about them. She even has discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which would make for great group discussions! I own a copy of “Little Women”, so I think I’ll start there!
Enjoy your book! Isn’t it exciting to be enjoying a book that you really like? 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Ha, I don’t feel a day over 38 either which is fantastic considered I am 47! Little Women is one of my all time favorite classics! I really hope that you enjoy it. I haven’t read it in years, but I have been contemplating revisiting all of my old favorite classics at some point. It really is wonderful when you find a book that pulls you in and keeps you interested with every page turn! Have a lovely weekend, my friend, and happy reading!
xoxo
Shelbee
Amy Johnson
What an adorable look! I love that dress, and it looks fabulous with the black turtleneck.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Amy! I really love this outfit, too!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
So very nice and you always nailed it. Beautiful.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, thanks so much, Patrick! I really appreciate that, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Sheila (of Ephemera)
Fantastic interpretation of this theme, Shelbee! I love layering turtlenecks under strappy dresses – the addition of the green jacket is just *chef’s kiss*. I neglected to mention in your previous post, that I loved the wide-legged jeans, and your hair all swooped over like that.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you so very much, my friend! I also found a similar dress in white that I styled the same way. I will post it soon. I think I like the white one better, but I do love this blue and green floral. And I totally pictured you giving me a chef’s kiss!
xoxo
Shelbee
Kathrine Eldridge
You nailed this imitation of this piece of art! I love that you layered black underneath the floral dress to make the blue and green pop. The green leather jacket is a nice layer to this dress!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Kathrine! I was so happy with this style imitating art outcome! Again. Haha. I have such fun with this series and these art prompts.
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
I had never heard of this artist or her technique using tissue paper but wow do I love her designs! Once again you found a great outfit that really gives off those same vibes as the painting.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Joanne! I wasn’t familiar with her either but I find Mary to be a fascinating woman. I think I might order a copy of her biography to read. I will let you know if I do!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
What a perfect outfit for the prompt! I love your light blue and green dress. You don’t see those two colors paired together very often. And I see your green heart necklace. I need a closer look!
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Michelle! I freaking love blue and green together and they are rarely paired this way! What the heck is that about?! Oh shoot, I have been forgetting to take the close up photos of my accessories again. I found this green heart locket at a thrift shop many years ago. I love the color and I actually wear it more often than I imaged I would. I will take a close up picture next time, for sure!
xoxo
Shelbee
Daenel T.
I love the way you styled this dress. So much fun — I’m going to go through my summer dresses and see if I can replicate.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Daenel! Turtlenecks under summer dresses might be one of my go-to outfit formulas for this cold weather season! I look forward to seeing what you come up with to transition your summer dresses into fall.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jessica A Jannenga
I always enjoy learning about people and artists! Thank you! The colors and the stems of the flowers – just is ipitomized with your dress! The blue overall color and the green stems. Love the art as well.
thanks for linking!
jess xx
http://www.elegantlydressedandstylish.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, thanks so much, Jess! You know how much I enjoy interpreting these works of art into outfits. It is so fun and such a unique way to find inspiration!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
We’re both not a day over 20, my friend! 😉 Through sheer will and determination, we’ll hit 3 digits easy!!
I’m sure that I will enjoy “Little Women”, along with many of the other classics. I hated that I missed out on reading them when I was younger, but like they say, “it’s never too late”!
And I know what you mean! Once I start a really good book, I don’t want to stop until it’s finished!
Have a great rest of your week and a great weekend, Shelbee!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mike! Do let me know how you enjoy the books one you get to reading them!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mike
I sure will, Shelbee! In fact, I think I will indeed start with “Little Women” as I own a (recently bought!) copy and have been wanting to start it for some time. Now I have double motivation to start it!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Excellent! Happy reading, Mike!
xoxo
Shelbee