Flowers and leaves are so easy to add filigrees to because they’re so varied.  Some of nature’s own creations include filigrees as well, such as vines and curly or squiggly outgrowths from flowers.  On this tee-shirt sleeve, small flowers are the principal theme in both the main design and in the blue border circling the bottom of the sleeve and going around the wearer’s arm.  But note the artistic, curlicue vines that are part of the flower stem.  These filigrees really add to the finished product.  Creative and wispy, they add interest and complexity.  Then, in looking at the blue border, it’s just a running vine of flowers, again adding filigreed interest to the whole effect!

The design shown below shows a witty artist’s depiction of a tree, with hearts portraying the leaves or fruit of the tree.  They tend to grab the viewer’s attention first, but the branches are all curlicued–the stock look of filigree.  Once again, it adds to the imaginative, aesthetic, and interest of the design and in this case is the glue that sort of holds the whole thing together.  Very interesting design!

Once again, flower patterns can be so engrossing!  Here the flowers in this heart wreath are the main attraction, but virtually all of the leaves could be considered filigree.  Satin-stitched for shine and smoothness, they add a tremendous amount here–enhanced by their being embroidered in a variegated thread (the thread that changes color).  In this case, the thread color goes from green to partial green and white, to white.  You can see it by closely observing the colors of the running vine of leaves.  Very pretty!

Finally, in the design below with flowers growing in a shoe, this creative artist’s impression is busy, colorful, and attention-grabbing. There is one filigree vine at the top of the highest red flower, but by far, most of the filigrees are on the shoe. The flowers on the shoe are full-size compared to those in the shoe, but the brightly-colored wispy defining lines ON the shoe have a filigree effect that adds to the interest of the entire design. Think of what it would look like without those delineations–quite a bit less entrancing.

Once again, the filigree style adds a tremendous amount of attention to artistic design. Tune in next time when we explore more uses of filigree!