Winter Blooms and Sketches

Winter blooms.

Miltassia hybrid "Scent of a Woman."

My orchids really seem to like our new master bath--they have been putting on a wonderful display this winter. Above is a photo of one of the plant boxes surrounding the bathtub, and below a detail of the current blossoms--a pink Miltassia hybrid named "Scent of a Woman." I bought this orchid at a clearance sale for $5--the plant looked as if it might not make it, but I decided to take a chance on it anyway. A little TLC and not only did it bounce back, it has blossomed faithfully every winter since I bought it. This flowering spike is the largest it has produced to date, with more than 22 individual flowers.

Graphite sketch of Brassidia hybrid orchid.

The sketch above is of one of my "mystery orchids" bought at a roadside stand in Florida three years ago. This is the one that blossomed on Christmas Eve (recorded in photos that were posted here in December) that I believe may be a Brassidia hybrid (a three-way hybrid of Brassia, Miltonia and Oncidium). I plan to turn this sketch into a watercolor illustration later on. 

Below is another quick sketch done last night. My camera is currently undergoing repairs, so I need to sketch this orchid to record the development of its large and fascinating flower spike. What will the flowers turn out to be like and what colors? From the structure of the emerging buds--very similar to the Miltassia--I'm guessing it may be another Oncidium-Miltonia hybrid, but who knows? This is part of the fun.

Mystery orchid #2

Painting Practice and 7 East Gallery Reception

Dendrobium Orchid practice painting

Yesterday in class we continued to work on various watercolor techniques we can apply to our paintings. One interesting one I tried out here was to use colored pencil to shade the veins in on the petals and sepals and include a subtle touch of yellow-green at the tips of the sepals. This is done before the watercolor wash is applied and allows one to add detail that would be difficult to put in with a brush. I still have a ways to go rendering the flower color accurately, and will practice more before starting on the final painting next week.

Catching up with my other art activities, last Sunday was the opening reception at for my featured artist show "Life Impressions" at 7 East Gallery in Woodstock, VA. Snow flurries had been forecast for the morning, and sure enough, dry flakes were blowing about when I got up. Checking the weather report on-line, there was no accumulation expected and the snow was supposed to clear by afternoon, so I went ahead with my preparations for the refreshments. I was bringing two more paintings to add to the show; at the gallery's request we would display those on easels set about the floor.

Herb and I headed out a little past noon to be there at one o'clock to set things up, driving through more thick flurries, but these stopped before we reached the town of Woodstock and the sun actually came out. I had a lovely table set up but only a few artist members of the gallery came, and our son David and his girlfriend. My public may have been small compared to other shows, but as Spencer Tracy would have said in character, "what there was, was cherce".

Me in front of 7 East Gallery (photo by David)

Inside the gallery (photo by Herb)

Featured Artist at 7 East Gallery

After the Blizzard, oils on panel, 11" x 14."

Next week my art will be having its first exposure in the Shenandoah Valley at VECCA's (Valley Educational Center for the Creative Arts) 7 East Gallery , 123 S. Main Street in Woodstock, VA. I'm honored to be the Featured Artist for the month of February.  And that is a nice way to celebrate the beginning of this blog's fifth year.

I thought this painting of the winter of 2010 blizzard would be appropriate for the invitation. We've been extraordinarily lucky these last couple of winters have not been severe. This winter has been quite civilized so far... cold enough to let us know it's here, a few inches of snow now and then, but nothing epic like the winter of 2010 with its record-setting back-to-back blizzards. How we'll fare during the rest of the winter in the Year of the Snake remains to be seen.

If you get a chance, please join us for some refreshments at the opening reception next Sunday, Feb. 3 from 2-4 PM at 7 East Gallery in Woodstock, VA--"the other Woodstock," the townspeople like to say.

Winter Break

 

Herb looks over the Shenandoah Valley

Last Sunday was a rare, near-record warm winter day--almost 70 degrees! Such weather was too good to waste, so Herb and I drove up to Skyline Drive for the afternoon. We parked at the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center lot (the visitor center was closed) and took the Fox Hollow Trail down a hill on the east side of the mountain. At the lower part of the trail there is an old cemetery and several large rock piles that must have been part of an old homestead before this became a national park. There were only two gravestones, and it was not until we saw the names on the them that we realized that the trail had been named after the Fox family's homestead, not the animal which we see infrequently around here and our hunt country residents love to chase.

It was so warm we shed our coats and wool scarves on the trek back up the hill. There was not much in the way of wildlife to observe--a family we passed told us they'd seen some woodpeckers up the hill, but by the time we got back up they were gone. I spotted some feathers and remains of a small woodpecker on the ground--a hawk must have made a meal of one of the birds a few days before, as the feathers on the muddy ground were matted.

Low clouds washed like an ocean around the mountain tops to the east when we started our hike but by the time we returned the skies were starting to clear. We decided to drive on a bit farther and stop at a few of the overlooks nearby to prolong the outing.

It was great fun to survey our new home here in the Shenandoah Valley from above. We lingered at Signal Knob Overlook watching the play of light and shadow across the landscape as the clouds opened up here and there. The sun lit parts of the valley casting the hills in sharp relief while other parts remained in shadow; a glider soared silently near Signal Knob. I wished I'd had my kit and the time to paint this drama, but the light changed so quickly, that would have been impossible anyway. It was enough for now to be able to enjoy and photograph it, perhaps for later use.

A Christmas Orchid

Brassidium, Miltassia or Miltonidia?

One of the mystery orchids I bought at a roadside stand in Florida a couple of years ago put out another flowering shoot recently--in fact, four of my orchids have developed flowering stems this fall. One orchid actually has two flowering stems! They really seem to like the environment in our new house, perhaps because it's a bit chilly at night. That 10-degree difference between day and night-time temperatures seems to play an important part in coaxing orchids to bloom.

The first bud on this plant began to open on Christmas Eve, the second a few days later, and it looks like the third one will open in another day or two.

I've tried to identify the genus-- it's likely a hybrid of two or perhaps three different genera, but which ones? The shape of the flower appears to indicate perhaps one parent is Brassia, the spider orchid, because of the longish tepals. The bi-color hues and ornate labellum are similar to some of the Brassidiums (Brassia and Oncidium hybrids) I've seen on-line. But there are also hybrids of the Miltonia genus known as Miltassia or "Mtssa." Another of my orchids (greenhouse-bought) is labeled as "Mtdm" short of Miltonidium, presumably a hybrid of Miltonia and Oncidium.  Not being a botanist, I'll probably never be able to determine for sure, but it's fascinating to try to guess. I can't wait to see what the other mystery orchid will look like when it blooms.

Close-up of flower.

The Magic of Twinkling Lights

Driving to Front Royal in the evenings at this time of the year when the sun is setting and dusk sets in before one is halfway home, it's wonderful to see the Christmas lights and decorations spring up along the way. It never ceases to amaze me how a few strings of colored lights and decorations can transform the humblest bungalow or ramshackle old farmhouse into a shining wonderland...

This part of Virginia's countryside seems to make a tradition of lighting the seasonal gloom with a particular charm. The town of Middleburg with its store fronts all lit up becomes a story-book village during the Christmas season, and some of the old houses in Upperville look just like gingerbread cottages.

You can imagine my delight as I was driving over a hill on the other side of Upperville to come upon the sight pictured above: a house and pond with a small island outlined in lights. At first I thought it might be a creche on the island (that would have been gutsy), but upon closer inspection, like most decorations today, it's purely secular--a Santa, a sled and some reindeer. The ambiguity of the scene is still very evocative.

A few evenings ago I stopped to take this photo and found a plaque at the gate of the estate--Mulwyck it said. Over the summer and fall I've observed the little island furnished with Adirondack chairs, and now this lavish display! I wonder how the owner reaches the island--does he have a canoe or pontoon boat at the back? In any case, this one wins my best of the season award for the year.

 * * *

 We too have done our best this year to decorate the new house enough to match our neighbors' splendor. It's almost a necessity when you live where there are no streetlights. Merry Christmas, y'all!

Our house.

More Ladyslippers

Yellow Ladyslipper, watercolor 22" x 13"

This is the second version of my piece for the Botanical Intensive class I missed last spring that I needed to get credit for. It's good practice for me to do this now to better develop the final painting I intend to submit for the BAEE project (Botanical Artists for Education and the Environment) next year.

This orchid is really challenging to depict, and such a complicated subject I probably shouldn't have chosen it for my project but it's so beautiful and fascinating, I can't resist. There are many faults in it, which I'm working to correct, to clear up confusing visual information. Below is the first version I did, which was with the wrong palette. The difference between the two palettes is subtle, but the colors in the earlier version look rather Disneyish in comparison with the more natural colors of the other.

The Virginia State Arboretum

The Blandy Farm in November, oils on panel, 9" x 12."

Yesterday afternoon I finally got out to paint in oils, something I haven't had a chance to do since last spring. I drove out to the Virginia State Arboretum, part of the Blandy Experimental Farm, which I pass every morning and evening on my way to work. The Blandy Farm is a 700-acre facility deeded to the University of Virginia by Mr. Graham Blandy, a wealthy New Yorker.

The Arboretum is a lovely place with many wonderful huge specimens of native and exotic conifers, boxwoods and other unusual plants. The previous weekend I'd taken Herb there to show him the place and we walked around to explore the various gardens and plantings.

It was difficult to choose a view--I wanted to show the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background, but didn't have much time to look around so I chose this view from the main house looking through some dramatic evergreens down to the fields. Though most of the foliage is now gone, the grasses on rolling hills showed some lovely colors in the afternoon sun, with the lengthening shadows for interest.

My skills have become rather rusty during these months of moving, and I'm afraid I didn't do justice to the landscape or the afternoon light. It didn't help to have a large group of very loud teenagers (college students I presume) who were having some sort of program nearby, and were making so much noise as to make it impossible to concentrate or enjoy the place (were we ever this loud at that age or have young people become ruder?).

My painting turned out rather ordinary, yet it felt so good to be out painting again! As the shadows lengthened it became chillier, and my hands were starting to get numb; it seemed like a good time to stop as the light was fading. I hope to do better on my next session as I get back into practice.