Friday, March 19, 2010

Columbine's dramatic foliage

"We would," said the email this afternoon, "be very interested in seeing more of your modern botanicals."


It was almost as if this woman knew I had just come in from shoveling more steer manure on the perennial beds and snapping photos of the dramatic leaf shapes emerging there, fingers itching to get going on new imagery.

Sketches litter the studio now with those leaves and the buds and bees... I have been working on the very botanicals this woman is asking for. Funny she should ask just now when I'm in the thick of it already (happy coincidence!)



Right now it's these columbine leaves that are fascinating me the most.

I love the curves and curls, the scallops, the bends and dips.


And the palette of colors is scrumptious, too, don't you think? (I know, I know, I included too many colors but this was one of those times it was just impossible to stop with just a few!)



I think it's remarkable how these colors change when the background color changes. Once again I'm left thinking how smart the Creator was to dream up combinations of colors to make any artist drool. 



I can barely wait to send out this next collection of modern botanicals. No surprise, there are paper and ink images of columbine foliage littering the studio tonight.

It's going to be a long and lovely night, with the studio lights burning into the early morning.
 I love my job.