304 AMERICAN 
HOMES AND GARDENS 
August, 1909 
A pattern of fern fronds 
Designs 
Direct from Nature 
By S. Leonard Monica Bastin 
"T IS not a little remarkable in these times 
to observe the widespread desire to return 
) to a more natural ordering of things. The 
43 modern worldling, surrounded by all the 
NG artificial influence of an amazing civiliza- 
tion, finds that, after all, it is invariably de- 
lightful to heed the call of Nature. While 
it would be foolish to maintain that the great mother is 
entirely perfect in all her ways, yet there is no doubt that the 
patient observer may reap a rich reward from his study of 
natural objects. Thus, while we may not say that Nature is 
always artistic, we must admit that on occasion she may be 
a very good artist indeed. Asa matter of fact, we know that 
underlying all the apparent muddle of the living world 
there exists a marvelously rigid code of rules; the very posi- 
tion of the leaf on the twig being a circumstance which is 
adjusted with a mathematical precision. On the other hand, 
there are so many happenings which may affect the unit that 
a certain elasticity in the application of the rules is necessary. 
Nature holds the fulfilment of the artistic code as of second- 
ary importance when the well-being of the individual is 
threatened; so that while the perfect plant may be truly 
artistic, the average specimen is not by any means so. It is, 
perhaps, on this account that it is only within very recent 
times that the idea of direct nature patterns from the plant 
world has been regarded as at all possible. 
In the new school of direct nature designers there is one 
great underlying principle. Apart from the necessary ad- 
justments, the aim and object should be to preserve the 
original pattern. Of course, almost since men first learned 
to draw they have been in the habit of taking some natural 
object and adapting the form for ornamental purposes. The 
spirit in which the nature designer takes up the work must 
be entirely different. He must remember that he is not in 
any sense the artist of the pattern, and it is his place simply 
to reproduce the pattern, just as it has been conceived, as 
faithfully as in him lies. Certainly no one can expect to find 
the more finished plant patterns without a patient search. 
So many things prevent the plant from developing on 
straightforward lines—overcrowding, a shortage of mois- 
ture, difficulty in getting sufficient light, each and all of these 
may upset the normal growth of the plant. Indeed, it is 
really only when a specimen is in an isolated situation that it 
will evidence that fine balance of bearing which is so essential 
for the forming of a good pattern. Still, a ramble over the 
country-side is almost sure to be productive of a certain per- 
centage of examples, which provide some excellent types of 
nature designs. Asa general rule, too, the best patterns are 
to be found among the very humble plants. 
Some of the commonest wayside weeds present really at- 
tractive formations, the most striking of these being the 
numerous star-like designs which abound in the smaller com- 
posite species. These little plants have a curious habit of 
sending out their leaves close to the ground, and, as the 
5 Seas 
ee be 
Nature’s own design for a wall-paper frieze 
