"Is being burnt a requisite for the making of art? Per...

"Is being burnt a requisite for the making of art? Personally, I don't think it is. But art is poultice for a burn. It is a privilege to have, somewhere within you, a capacity for making something speak from your own seared experience." 

- Molly Peacock (from The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins her Life's Work at 72 )

Fiirst image above: Self-portrait (age 40) by the Russian artist Zinaida Serebriakova (1884-1967). There's an excellent post about her life, and more examples of her exquisite work,. on the Illustration Art blog (via Midori Snyder).

Second image: English botanical art by Mary Delany (1700-1788) .