Scissors and Black Paper: The Mysterious Ellen W. and Her 1835 Album of Cut-Paper Flowers
She is known only as Ellen W. — no surname, no biography, no portrait. And yet the album of 26 cut-paper flower compositions she created in Great Britain in 1835 is among the most extraordinary examples of botanical art of the early Victorian era: each petal individually cut, each composition arranged against stark black paper that makes the colours appear almost luminous.