The art of flowers-on-tulle embroidery

My work explores cycles of growth, care and renewal through the use of foraged and grown botanical materials stitched and woven into fabric. Each piece is a meditation on how nature combines fragility and resilience, drawing attention to natural elements that are often overlooked yet essential to sustaining life.

Technically my focus is material investigation and innovation in the context of embroidery and textiles, exploring the boundaries of what can be achieved using real organic material as my metaphorical thread. I combine plants – including twigs, seeds, seed heads, dried and preserved flowers, foliage, grasses and berries – with tulle fabric to create bio tapestries.

The branching structures and circular forms in my work reference shelter and protection, and echo patterns visible everywhere in nature – from the rings of trees to roots, veins, and the contours of landscapes. The balance between organic irregularity and geometric order reflects my interest in nature’s inherent structure and humanity’s instinct to seek harmony within it.

There’s also a strong connection to themes of femininity and fertility in my practice. It draws on the patient and attentive processes of embroidery, historically tied to women’s domestic labour and excluded from fine art hierarchies. Tulle fabric, associated with bridal wear, becomes the backdrop for organic elements – from acorns to dandelion clocks – that carry future life within them.

Situated in dialogue with land art, ecological art, and ecofeminism, my work treats nature as a collaborator, not a subject. It aims ultimately to invite reflection on our relationship with the natural world and ensuring life’s continuity.

Bio

I’m Olga Prinku – artist, maker and originator of the craft of flowers-on-tulle embroidery, also known as dried flower embroidery and botanical embroidery. My book – Dried Flower Embroidery: An introduction to the art of flowers on tulle – is published by Quadrille.

I’m originally from the Republic of Moldova and now live in North Yorkshire with my husband and son, where I love to grow and forage responsibly for materials for my work and take inspiration from nature on long walks in the beautiful countryside. Before I began my journey into the world of art, I was a graphic designer by profession. I’ve always been a keen crafter – my initial experiments in stitching and weaving with nature grew out of my love of knitting and wreath-making.

What excites me most about my artistic practice is the scope to be inventive. I’ve worked with over 50 different plant species, testing how their shapes and textures can be re-imagined in a different medium. I love to discover new possibilities in familiar materials, and develop my practice in new directions.

Embroidering with nature is an intricate, painstaking process that demands a high level of dedication and focus. I often enter a state of flow where time seems to dissolve, I have a sense of being led by the plants themselves, and the rhythm of the work becomes its own reward. It’s a slow, attentive craft, and each piece bears the imprint of the time, care and creative energy invested in it.

Awards and media features

I was honoured to be a finalist in the QEST Sanderson Rising Star Awards in 2024 and the SCAF Emerging Artist Awards 2023. My work has been part of the Michelangelo Foundation’s Homo Faber Guide since 2022 and a range of online and print media and TV around the world, including (links where available online):

UK: Country Homes & Interiors (2025), Love Embroidery (2025), Embroidery (July/August 2024), Material Source (2024), Colour Hive Magazine (2023), School of Stitched Textiles (2023), Country Living (2023), BBC Countryfile Magazine (2022), TextileArtist.org (2022), LandScape (2022), Flora (2022), Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas (Channel 4 TV, 2021), Health & Wellbeing (2021), Gardens Illustrated (2021), Embroidery (2021), Love Embroidery (2021), Embroidery (2020), Living Etc (2020), Mollie Makes (2019), Country Living (2019), Sew (2019), Simply Sewing (2018), Town & Country (2017), 91 Magazine (2017), Kirstie's Handmade Christmas (Channel 4 TV, 2017)
USA: Hypebeast (2025), Colossal (2023), My Modern Met (2021), Colossal (2021), Hypebeast (2021) Architectural Digest (2019), Our Maker Life – Make Volume 2 (2019), What Women Create (2019), American Craft Council (2018), Colossal (2018), Sarah K Benning (2018), My Modern Met (2018), Martha Stewart (2017), Design Sponge (2017), Ballpit Mag (2017), brwnpaperbag (2017).
France: J'ose la gouache: 41 défis pour se lancer (Eyrolles, 2020), Maison Creative (2020), Detente Jardin (2019), Silence, Ca Pousse! Creer Sa Deco Nature (Hachette Livre, 2018), Silence, Ca Pousse! (France 5 TV, 2017). 
Germany:  Let it Bloom(2021), Flow (2019), Das Kaufland Magazine (2019), Flower Ladies (Random House, 2018), Couch (2018), Trend Welten (2018), Ich Selbstaendig (2017)
Italy: Donna Moderna (2021), The Fashion Atlas (2019), Casa Facile (2018), The Italian Reve (2018)
Australia: IntoCraft (2019), Homespun (2017).
China: Art of Stitches (Sandu Publishing, 2021), European Commercial News “Floral Life” (2019), Aesthetica Botanica (Sandu Publishing 2018).