Blue Gentian: from Sketch to Painting

Blue Gentian - pencil sketch.

In the last couple of weeks I've been working on turning my completed sketch of the Blue Gentian (Gentiana scabra) into a full-color watercolor painting. The first part of the process was to trace the outlines of the pencil sketch with ink onto tracing paper, then transfer the line work onto watercolor paper. This is usually done on a light table, but since I don't have one, putting my paper against the window of my studio allows me to get the same effect. I learned this nifty trick from one of my teachers at Brookside Gardens' School of Botanical Art and Illustration.

Tracing the drawing on to the paper.

When I'm doing the tracing, I don't actually tape the paper to the window. The tracing is taped to the back of the paper and I move the paper all around to get the best angle for drawing the lines. And, if you look at the watermark, my Fabriano paper here is reversed (I set up the photo for demo purposes only). In practice, I am careful about which side of the paper I'm going to paint on--the reverse side is usually a bit rougher and won't take the water and pigment as well as the surface that is intended for painting.

In the Process.

This is my painting in progress. Because I had worked out the lights and shadows in my study and have a pretty good idea of what I plan to do, I've been working on small portions of the painting at a time, while the area is still damp. Generally, one is better advised to lay washes on the painting throughout before going on to the details, but in this type of  really precise botanical painting, I am experimenting with working in tightly controlled areas. Eventually I may find one method is more useful than the other, who knows?

Snowy Day

Herb shoveling our driveway.

Measuring the accumulation.

The recent snowstorm was reason to celebrate the day staying at home. We got about 16" to17" of the powdery stuff in Front Royal. Thankfully, this week the temperatures have risen and the snow has almost all melted. Yesterday I saw a few tiny green shoots poking up where I planted the species crocus last fall. Can spring be far behind?

Blue Gentian Sketch

Blue Gentian (Gentiana scabra)

I bought a plant of Blue Gentian (Gentiana scabra) at last year's Arborfest held at the Virginia State Arboretum. It blooms in October, when few other plants are in bloom, but it was the stunning color that convinced me to splurge on it. One lady from the master gardener program there advised me to keep it in its pot rather than risk losing it by planting it in my rocky inhospitable soil.

I took her advice, and re-potted the gentian into a larger pot which I then buried to the rim by the front steps. All summer long I kept it well-watered and this fall it rewarded me with this lovely display. The photo was taken around the second week of October. Many of the flowers set seeds, and I allowed them to drop naturally to see if they will sprout next spring. I'm curious to see if the seedlings will manage to survive on their own with just a little help, or if I will have to collect new seeds this coming fall in order to propagate the plant.

It's such a beautiful flower, I'm in the process of creating a botanical painting from my photos, for this year's entry to Brookside Garden's Botanica exhibition. I need to hurry, as the deadline is coming up very soon. Here is a pencil sketch of my study of one sprig.

Gentiana scabra pencil sketch.

Orchids in the Bath

Orchids bloom around the tub.

Our bath has two windows around the tub: the large window faces west and gets direct sunlight in the afternoon, the other window faces north and provides diffuse light at day. My orchids love this moist, warm environment and bloom frequently. In fact, I've taken to rotating most of my orchids every so often into this bath to encourage blooms.

These flowering spikes started forming in the fall and right now, as you can see, there are three different varieties blooming. The most recent blossom to open is the white Phalaenopsis on the left, which has taken three years to re-bloom.

It's really neat to lie in the tub and look out the window at the snow-covered ground while being surrounded by these beauties!

Orchid Hunting in Winter

It seems odd to be out looking for orchids at this time of the year, but yesterday was a nice winter day -- sunny with no wind, temperatures in the fifties -- a perfect day to get out to pursue my botanical interests after being cooped up indoors. Herb joined me on the hike.

After my find of the Puttyroot or Adam-and-Eve orchid (Aplectrum hyemale) growing on Wildcat Mountain last spring I learned that this orchid puts out its single leaf in the fall. The leaf persists through the winter to die back in early spring. I had been wanting to see these leaves for myself, and with no underbrush to obscure them, this seemed like a great time to look for them.

We left the house around eleven thirty and started climbing up the mountain around noon. A younger family moving at a faster pace soon overtook us on the trail and we let them pass. We took the left fork at the top and proceeded toward the area where I remembered seeing the orchids. Herb was lagging behind and called out to me as we were walking by one of the old stone walls. He had spotted something he thought might be what we were looking for and sure enough, here were two orchid leaves. One had an intact dried seed pod.

I had not seen any orchids in this part of the preserve last spring, and was surprised to see just how close to the trail they grew. The leaf is very distinctive with its pleated white veins.

Aplectrum leaf 

Another few leaves cropped up a bit farther along. Apparently there are quite a few more plants of this species here than I had been able to pick out last spring. When we finally reached the spot where I had sketched before, the place was rife with them!

There was more green on the ground than I had expected to see: Christmas ferns (covered with ice in the shadier places) and a club moss called ground cedar (Lycopodium digitatum).

With our objective accomplished, we looped around the trail and back down the mountain in the warm afternoon sun. Next spring we'll look for more native orchids: Wister's coralroot and lily-leaved twayblade are known to be found here, and who knows, perhaps there could be others?

Sketching in Big Cypress

White Heron in Big Cypress, 14" x 10" watercolor.

During my recent trip to Miami, my friend Raquel and I took a jaunt to Big Cypress. We wanted to paint a bit on location, something neither of us had had much time to do recently. The swamp surrounding the Gallery at Big Cypress is such a lovely spot--the ancient cypresses shade and provide shelter for so many birds and other wildlife.

As we approached the swamp a great white heron posed at the base of one of the cypresses. He lingered long enough for us to take a few photos before flying off. We entered the gallery to check out Clyde Butcher's latest work and I couldn't resist buying a calendar and a couple of cards with his fabulous photos of ghost orchid flowers. This rare orchid has two long appendages on the lip (labellum) that resemble legs, and the frontal view makes the flower look like a whimsical little creature dancing. I hope someday I may get to see and sketch this fascinating orchid in the wild.

We took a leisurely  walk out the gallery's back door into the surrounding swamp and marveled at the cypress knees--there were several groupings that looked like sculptures. We saw this one that, to me, evoked something of Rodin's Burghers of Calais.

 After our walk we set up our gear overlooking the water and ate our lunch while contemplating what we were going to paint. I felt a bit rusty, not having done any plein air work in almost a year. I decided to include the great white heron from the morning in my sketch, but I had to do this from memory. As you can see, when comparing my sketch to the photograph below, memory makes for a poor comparison with the real thing. In fact, my whole sketch lacks the wonderful luminosity of the scene. I'll have to try this painting again, to see if I can achieve the effect from photos.

 Raquel's unfinished painting looked much better than mine--the cypress roots she chose to focus on had a similar anthropomorphic quality to the photo of the cypress knees. I can't wait to see her finished painting!

The Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Elena at the Fairchild Tropical  Botanic Garden

On a recent trip to Miami to retrieve some artwork, my friend Raquel invited me to visit the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden.  I had visited this gorgeous garden on a previous trip to Miami about eight years ago when artworld megastar Dale Chihuly had an exhibit there--his amazing glass pieces blended so well with the setting, they seemed to be part of the weird blossoms of the flora in the place. The garden evidently bought a few of the pieces and here is one in the tropical greenhouse.

Standing in front of a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture.

 My friend wanted me to see the new Wings of the Tropics exhibit--part of the science village program. There is an entire greenhouse dedicated to showing lovely tropical butterflies and moths flying freely. Imported from various locations around the world while in the chrysalis stage, these butterflies are released shortly after they emerge. The greenhouse is fitted with double lock doors so that the creatures cannot escape into the garden. We were told they do not have a license from the FDA to breed the butterflies, so the plants in the greenhouse are carefully chosen to supply them with nectar, but are not host plants that any caterpillars could feed on to propagate.

A moth enjoys a dessert of overripe bananas and papaya.

It was a very warm day and it was quite hot in the butterfly house, so eventually we drifted into the air-conditioned dining room for lunch. After lunch, we happened on a new museum building and found a wonderful exhibit of original botanical watercolors by artist Lee Adams.

Watercolor of palm by Lee Adams

I have been very intrigued by the discovery of this botanical artist, and the museum had little information on him other than he had been commissioned by Dr. Fairchild to do botanical illustrations of mangos in the Kampong (in Coconut Grove), Central America and later of the palms in the garden's extensive collection. Eighteen large illustrations comprised this exhibit. From the little I have been able to find, Lee Adams was from Jacksonville and died tragically in 1971 in a car accident. I am trying to find out more about him, and wonder where and how many of his other botanical works there are. If anyone reading this knows, I would be most grateful for any information.

After the museum, we wandered into the shady tropical forest, beckoned by the refreshing sound of running water through the area. We sat on a bench under an enormous tree that had dropped some very curious fruit which I picked up--we managed to photograph this specimen.

Pachira aquatica fruit

The tree itself is enormous, and it wasn't until I read the identifying tag I realized that it was the same species as my "money tree" houseplant, Pachira aquatica. What a difference! The "money tree" sold as houseplants are miniaturized like bonsai, and several plants are grown with trunks braided together to make decorative forms. The full-size tree here shows the buttress roots characteristic of many tropical trees .

Pachira aquatica tree

"Money tree" Pachira

A giant bird's nest fern perches by a shady stream in the tropical forest.

Silk floss tree (Ceiba speciosa)

There is such a wealth of exotic and strange specimens in these gardens! Orchids galore, palms, screw pine (Pandanus utilis) with ripening seeds, beautiful and unusual flowering trees. I could go on for pages and pages, adding lots more photos, but I'll leave it for now. Raquel is probably is the only other person I know who could have spent the entire day there enjoying every minute as much as I!

Vanda orchids in the tropical forest

Art at the Mill

Herb at "Art at the Mill."

Three of my pieces were accepted into this fall's Art at the Mill show. Last Sunday there was a reception for the artists, and Herb accompanied me. The show is impressive--there were over a thousand pieces of art by three-hundred some artists drawn not just from the local area, but far and wide. That was at the start of the show two weeks ago, but since buyers take their purchases with them, by last weekend only about two-thirds of the art remained.

The setting for the show is also fascinating--the historic Burwell-Morgan Mill in the quaint village of Millwood is now owned and operated by the Clarke County Historic Society. Docents on site explain the inner workings of the mill: the water wheel with its wooden gears, the grindstone, and other related machinery of the period can be seen on the lower level.

Me standing next to my piece "Maryland Veldt"(below the portrait).

The exhibit encompassed a wide approach to style and subject matter, from abstract to realistic, still-life and plein air landscapes, as well as many very accomplished portraits, some of beautiful animals. The organizers have been putting on this show for the past 28 years. Art at the Mill is open over several weekends each fall and spring, and I am honored to be in such good company.

The entire weekend was rainy, a very welcome phenomenon after more than a month without any rain. This photo of my narrow-leaved sunflower in glorious bloom was taken just before the flowers were knocked down by the week's torrents. I bought this plant last year at the Virginia State Arboretum's Arborfest plant sale and it turned out to be a great choice--the flowers opened around the first of October. Hopefully the clump will continue to expand and I can subdivide it in a year or two.

Helianthus angustifolia

Earlier in the week the spring-flowering bulbs I'd ordered arrived, and now I'm ready for a frenzy of fall planting.