People's Pilot, Volume 2, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1893 — EXQUISITE WAX FLOWERS. [ARTICLE]

EXQUISITE WAX FLOWERS.

Th* Work of a Self-Educated Farmer’s Daughter. A bit of work of which the ladies in charge of woman’s work in the Illinois building are particularly proud is a case of wax flowers of exquisite workmanship, although the grouping is by no means artistic. It is the work of a young girl in Williamson county, whose opportunity for any development of love of the beautiful has been exceedingly limited. Her life has been passed upon a farm and her time has been filled with the arduous duties which are the lot of a farmer’s daughter of he poorer class. Only once did she ever see any formation of wax flowers by anyone else, but that once did for her what months of training often fails to accomplish for many of her more fortunate sisters. The material used is the refuse wax from the comb, heated and bleached by herself, while the coloring is done with rough paints. The tools used are a penknife and hairpin. The result is marvelous. Lilies of the valley, fuchias, dahlias, honeysuckles and roses attest the delicacy of touch and love of the beautiful—nature’s rare gift to this humble farm girl.