Ada Lovelace portrait painting with needle and thread

Ada Lovelace, born Augusta Ada Byron, was a woman of many talents. She is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of computer programming, having written what is considered to be the first algorithm intended for use on Charles Babbage's proposed analytical engine. But Lovelace's interests extended far beyond mathematics and science; she was also a lover of art and fashion, and is often depicted in portraits with floral accessories.

Lovelace's interest in the arts was encouraged by her mother, Lady Byron, who was herself an accomplished musician and artist. Lady Byron saw the value in exposing her daughter to a wide range of subjects, and arranged for Lovelace to study drawing, music, and literature. Lovelace was particularly drawn to music, and was a skilled pianist who was known to play for hours on end.

But Lovelace's love of art was not limited to music. She was also an accomplished artist who enjoyed drawing and painting, and was particularly interested in the work of the artist J.M.W. Turner. In a letter to her mother, Lovelace wrote that she had seen some of Turner's paintings and was "quite wild" about them, and she went on to say that she would like to study art more seriously.

Lovelace's interest in art was reflected in her fashion choices as well. She was known for her stylish outfits, which often included floral accessories such as wreaths and garlands. In one portrait of Lovelace, painted by Margaret Sarah Carpenter in 1836, Lovelace is shown wearing a floral headdress and holding a bouquet of flowers. The painting captures Lovelace's youthful beauty and exuberance, and suggests a sense of whimsy and creativity that would come to define her life and work.

Another portrait of Lovelace, painted by Alfred Edward Chalon in 1840, shows her wearing a white dress with a floral corsage and a pearl necklace. In this painting, Lovelace appears more mature and sophisticated, but her love of flowers and nature is still evident in her choice of accessories.

The significance of Lovelace's love for art and fashion is often overlooked in discussions of her contributions to computing, but it speaks to her well-roundedness as a person and her ability to see connections between seemingly disparate subjects. Lovelace was not simply a math genius or a computer programmer; she was a creative thinker who saw the potential for machines to create art and music, and who saw the beauty in the natural world that surrounded her.

In many ways, Lovelace's love of art and fashion can be seen as an extension of her curiosity and imagination. She was a woman who refused to be confined by the limitations of her gender or her social status, and who constantly sought out new challenges and experiences. Her legacy as a pioneer of computing is well-deserved, but it is important to remember that she was also a woman of great depth and complexity, whose interests and passions extended far beyond the realm of science and technology.

I decided to stitch her portrait basing my work on one of her later portraits. I wanted to showcase her as older, mature lady with a bit of sadness and seriousness in her eyes. I think women should be celebrated in all of their ages and not only when they are young, looking fresh and appealing.