This is one of our many lilies that we grow. We have hundreds. This flower is named “Lillium Roths Hornii” , some call these Black heart” (because the center is black).
Lily seeds take three years to go from Lily seed, to bulb-bet to FULL BLOWN BIG BULB WITH A BLOOM. Or two!
This is our most proud seedling! The seeds were collected years ago from the North American lily society bead exchange. (My husband and I joined the society when we got into gardening.)
Check out the texture of the petals!! This is why I am showing it here. You do not see this often. All lily petals look different. (From plant to plant) The petals from all the different lilies we grow are what inspired me to make lily petal murrinies. (You can see more of those at my eBay auctions, or in my shop at Etsy.)
lily flowers smell strong too. Just this one flower in my office creates a wonderful aroma.
That wet looking ‘black star’ area just looks like that. It is dry of water.
The pollen makes a great paint medium from a lily. This lily has a burnt Seana color, and the pollen flakes into a dry compound material. We have lilies with orange, yellow ochre and brown pollen. If paint was not so easily accessible, I would be mixing my own from Lily pollen. (If I was still painting like I used to. Which, I have been thinking of getting back into painting with paint, and wax.)
Drawing inspiration from these flowers really is effortless. So many color combinations. So many different directions the petals can lay.
When I create with the lily petals I do not necessarily try to make an exact replica of the actual flower. In my eyes that is being done just Fine by MANY Artists. I am exploring a definite floral reference, with a bit of abstraction going on. In this marble picture here, the petals are in groups of 4, and you would never see one lily bloom with two different petals; or even eight petals. Nope! Six petals is the standard.
Instead of stamen and pollen, we have Italian millefiori imploded (exploded) into the center.
Celebrating inspiration!
(More murrini inspiration will be shared here in the near future. LARGE murrinies I am making, along with the murrini I have been trading! Wait until you see the Borosilicate glass murrini I got! Little glass slices of art!)
Enjoy!
www.SheilaMorley.com 
Sheila, the textures in that lily are gorgeous, from the silky looking black heart to the ruffley bumpies on the petals. Your glass interpretations are no less amazing! You’ve put the feel of the lilies into those petals and made them really pop. Great work!