works > Illustration

This watercolor, gouache and pen illustration is part of a small series of botanical illustrations of plants with long, hyphenated Victorian names, sometimes poetic, other times ridiculous. As Love-in-a-mist’s name implies, this old-fashioned garden annual has lovely flowers that appear to be encased in a delicate misty web of bracts. In addition to the romance of the bloom, Nigella damascena has culinary uses. The dried seeds, known as black cumin, have a mild, nutty onion flavor, and they are used as a condiment in the cuisine of India and the Middle East.