Karl Blossfeldt, Dipsacus laciniatus, Fuller's Thistle: carefully read the passage below. If there are words that you do not understand, look them up in the dictionary. (Read! Look! Learn).

After photography was invented in 1839, many people used the camera to explore the world around them. Karl Blossfeldt used the camera as a way of exploring the details found in nature. Karl was born in 1865 in Germany. At the age of 16, he began to train in a sculptor's studio. The sculptor made many designs in metal and Karl photographed plants for more design ideas.

After Karl left the sculpture studio he continued to study art. In 1890 he began to work with a drawing instructor interested in natural history. Karl traveled and photographed plants throughout Italy, Greece, and Northern Africa with the teacher. Some of his photographs were published with the teacher's articles. While photographing plants, Karl would get very close to capture every detail. He also printed them to appear larger than life. One of the plants he might have photographed during his travels is the Fuller's Thistle shown in this photograph.

Fuller's Thistle is a plant from Europe. It was brought to North America in the 1700s. The plant grows close to the ground for about a year and then sends up a tall, flowering stalk. During this growth, the leaves and stem become prickly. Fuller's Thistle blooms from July through September. After it flowers, it dies. Thistles can produce over 2,000 seeds. Up to 80% of those seeds may grow to become new thistles.

Karl became a design teacher at the College of Visual Arts in Berlin. He is well known for showing his photographs of plants as inspiration for his design students. Many people became interested in the designs described in the plant photographs, and art galleries began to show Karl's photography. In 1928, he published a popular book of his photographs titled Art Forms in Nature. Karl believed that any inspiration for human-made design could also be found in nature.

Science Activity

1. Research Fuller's Thistle or another plant in the library or online.

2. Create drawings of the stages of development for Fuller's Thistle.

3. Under the drawings, write descriptions for the stages of development.

Fine Arts Activity

Karl Blossfeldt believed that the forms of plants could inspire designers. For example, the curves in a plant could be used by architects in the arches of buildings.

1. Find images of plants in magazines.

2. Cut the images of plants apart and reassemble the pieces to create a new image.

3. Once a new image is assembled, use tracing paper to draw the image as a whole.

4. Transfer the image from the tracing paper to a blank piece of paper.

5. Add other elements such as color and shading to your completed drawing.