Colour and black ink tattoo of a lace-style flower and a pink peony on a calf, in a botanical style.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Lace and peony flowers on a calf

Botanical · Calf · Mixed · Photo

A black lace-like floral ornament sits at the top of the design, with a pink peony, an orange bloom and yellow leaves below it. The lace shading and fine linework contrast with the solid colour petals, and small stippled dots fill the lower section. The design is set against a bare calf, with sandals and a paved street visible in the background.

Botanical Calf Lace Peony Flower Leaves Floral ornament

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Ada,

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The sea here is the colour of pewter and it will not stop complaining. Mrs Pell has given me the back bedroom over the kitchen, which is warm, and a tin of her shortbread that she counts each morning. I am writing on the windowsill because the table wobbles and the light is best before the gulls start.

I found Gran's pattern book in the trunk you sent on, under the good linen. The black sheet with the scrolled ferns and the little fat dots for the mesh, which she always called the ground. I wanted to show you I have not lost the knack. Yesterday I walked to the harbour with it folded inside my coat and sat on the wall, working a sprig of it in my head while the boats came in.

Here is the thing I meant to tell you. On Thursday a travelling painter set up by the slipway and offered to paint a peony on Mrs Pell's old tea tray for a shilling. He worked it in pink with a sharp orange at the centre and yellow leaves like butter, and when I held it up the whole kitchen went quiet. Mrs Pell said it looked more spilled than painted. I think she meant it kindly.

I have pressed a peony from the vicar's garden between the pattern pages, so when you open the trunk it will be there, flat and brown. The sea can have the rest of the flowers. I am coming home on the Saturday train, and I will bring the ground stitch for you to try.