3D Still Life - Painted Gondwana Blooms

Proteas from a couple of gift bouquets I received were left to dry for a few weeks.... - and then brought back to life again with a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

I painted the petals with Emperor's Silk Red and then dipped the centre stigmas into a thinned down solution to add some colour.

 

Long lasting and colourful! 

Did you know? 

• The Protea was named in 1735 after the Greek god Proteus, who was able to change his form at will.  It seemed an appropriate name to portray the huge variety and diversity of flowers and foliage in the family.

• The ancestors of the Proteaceae family grew in Gondwana, 300 million years ago. Proteaceae is divided into two subfamilies: the Proteoideae, mostly found in Southern Africa, and the Grevilleoideae, hailing from Australia and South America. (Africa shares one genus with Madagascar, whereas South America and Australia share many common genera, indicating they separated from Africa before they separated from each other.) Source - Wikipedia