THE BOTANICAL BLUEPRINT COLLECTION

- Evolving the blueprints -

Approximately two years ago I discovered an old guide book to the Melville Koppies, which are close to where I live. This hand-typed book was compiled in 1967 for the Johannesburg Council for Natural History by Annabelle Lucas and Barbara Pike. It was called Flowers of the Summer and Autumn Veld. The sketches in the book intrigued me and when my latest range started moving towards the beauty and importance of grasses, I decided to go and explore the "koppies". I then visited the South African National Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria and was guided through the importance of our grasslands. Another eye-opener was the botanicals, some drawn by Sir John Herschel and his wife.

This led us to Herchel's scientific works. In 1839 he developed the blueprinting process to duplicate his astronomy notes made while researching skylines across Europe and South Africa. During his visit to South Africa in 1834–1838, he fell in love with our country and the beauty of our flora. In honour of his visit and his brilliance in creating the first copying process, our own range “Evolving the Blueprint” was born.

We researched the process used and found a photographic development company that was prepared to assist us in evolving this process from paper onto cloth.

Exploring the Koppies with my husband, Rudolf, and our dogs.

Carefully laying out our plant material onto the pre-treated linen.

The end result is an evocative limited edition range available at The Collective at the Watershed, V&A Waterfront or our online store.