Tobacco and Roses

These 'Peace' roses were from the last Mothers Day bouquet. I have printed leaves with snippets of love letters, to intermingle with the roses.

Altered cigarette boxes, covered in layers of tissue and fabric, they hold a love letter from my dad, printed leaves, and a solitary cigarette, complete with mum's lipstick mark. Mum smoked 5 million cigarettes in 60 years!

outside: snippets of love letters from my dad digitally printed onto cream paper and verses from the prayer book my mum had been given as a child.

inside: a shell with a snippet from mum's prayer book, another has a photograph of mum as a young woman.

outside: pieces of organza, silk and velvet (some had been printed on) all stitched with metalic threads and woven with hand died ostrich feathers.

inside: buttons, shells, stamps, feathers, petals and printed leaves etc woven into the stitches in memory of my mum's passion of collecting.

Above detail: Altered Book - showing health warning on foredge, inside 

Above: 'Textile Rose' - showing my mums love of threads and textiles - organzas, silks and velvets - all rich with texture and meaning, all delicate and fragile.

Above: Altered Book - layers of pressed flowers, their garden was a very important part of my parents life together

Above: Altered Book - layers of pressed flowers, their garden was a very important part of my parents life together

When I opened my mums powder compact, and took the lid off her lipstick they still smelt of her.

Inside the front cover - a love note from my dad on the left - and a photo of my mum on the right.

closed box with double lock

open, showing the full contents