Art Nouveau Iris Openwork Panel

Two irises bow toward each other in a tangle of whiplash stems — pure Art Nouveau. This tall, narrow panel is a mirror-symmetric floral in the flowing Art Nouveau manner: a pair of drooping iris blooms at the centre, petals curling like flames, rising from long sinuous stems and blade leaves that cross and loop their way down to the base. The upper stems arch over and hook back on themselves, framing the flowers in two elegant question-mark curves. It reads as openwork — the negative spaces are voids rather than shallow recesses — which gives it the airy, fretwork quality of a screen or a bracket. It suits a slim vertical space: a cabinet-door inset, a bed-post panel, a fretwork insert for a room divider, a headboard centrepiece, or framed wall art in its own right. Print notes: • Cut as a true openwork panel this is a through-cut job — clear the voids first, then finish-pass the raised flower relief. • The delicate stem crossings are the weak points; leave holding tabs until the final pass and pick a stable, straight-grained hardwood. • A tapered ball-nose gives the petals their rounded, layered depth — step the tool down gradually. • Back-light it or mount it proud of a contrasting surface to make the openwork silhouette sing; finish natural or with a warm wax.