What inspires me to paint "Days Apart"...

While at the On The Balcony exhibit last weekend a friend and very talented artist asked what inspired me to paint Days Apart. It's a great question since a caterpillar and Pawpaw blooms isn't the typical floral subject.

Lots of folks know me as a graphic artist and photographer. Some know I paint and draw and others seem surprised. I can't imagine being a graphic artist without good drawing skills. What many folks don't know is I have long been interested in plants and gardening. For years I belonged to the American Camellia Society which has a local chapter and the American Azalea Society in order to learn more about hybridizing goals and plant attributes. I'm crazy about azaleas and did some evergreen azalea hybridizing many years back.

Our last move turned my gardening world upside down, loosing the shade and good soil I had taken for granted. So instead of forcing my favorite plants on this plot of land I decided to take my cue from what was thriving naturally. When we moved from our last house we only brought a few specimens. The one original azalea hybrid I moved with us has flourished against the odds. Our current location is an often dry, sandy, pine/oak scrub micro climate which makes a formal landscape high maintenance. Near the studio you immediately see oaks and pines, a few black cherry trees and weedy Mimosa thickets. A closer look, beyond a few common nursery plants, reveals a rather diverse assortment of native trees, bushes, perennials and vines. Something is always flowering or putting on a show of color. Lots to inspire.

Why a Pawpaw? Pawpaws are not well suited to nursery production, not fast growing or easy to relocate with a tap root that can reach twelve feet. They are rather inconspicuous in the wild so few viewers of the painting will find the blooms familiar. Days Apart is an exploration of the color change that particular Pawpaw's bloom goes through over a few days. Those blooms are quite different from the creamy white blooms on the other Pawpaws near the studio (as shown in this photo).

Here's a partial list of native plants I have identified around the studio.

• Flag Pawpaw
• Narrow-leaf Pawpaw
• numerous Oak varieties
• Sand Pine
• Longleaf Pine
• Mimosa
• Scrub Plums
• Parsley Haw
• Flowering Dogwood,
• Redbud
• Black Cherry tree
• Winged Sumac
• Devil's Walkingstick
• Blackberry
• Sparkleberry 
• Wax Myrtle
• Beautyberry
• Saw Palmetto
• Spanish Bayonet
• Gopher Apple
• Milkweed
• Sandhill Wireweed
• Blackroot
• Snakeroots
• Hair Indigo (non-native)
• Tickseed
• Green Eyes
• Silky Golden-Aster
• Dotted Horsemint
• Florida Elephant's-foot
• Blazing Star
• Dog Fennel
• Tread-softly (ouch! Stinging Nettle)
• Lopsided Indian Grass
• Saw Grass
• Hairgrass
• Cherokee Bean
• Prickly-pear Cactus
• Muscadine Grape
• Butterfly-pea
• Virginia Creeper
• Carolina Jessamine
• Coral Honeysuckle
• Passionflower

and a few we have added...

• Sweetgum
• Fringe Trees
• Coontie
• Lovegrass
• Firebush
• East Palatka Holly
• Flame Azalea

Many gardeners might think of these plants as weeds and well, some easily earn that title even in a native landscape. Yearly weather changes have some natives thriving and send others into quick decline. You need to roll with the changes if you want to experience native plants as they naturally grow. I can't say I miss the messy Pokeweed. The Poison Oak, Greenbrier vines and Tread-softly are welcome to leave any time! -pw

New Pawpaw Painting On Exhibit

I'm honored that my latest Pawpaw floral painting will be part of the Ocala Art Group's juried exhibition at the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, FL. The 30 piece group show titled On The Balcony runs from May 19 to June 17, 2012. Opening day, Saturday May 19 from 10-5, is the Appleton's annual Community Day with FREE museum admission to the public plus OAG’s new Silver Toast to the Arts Art Fair. Drop by and help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida. The museum is well known for it's world-class permanent collections that include European, American and Contemporary art, plus Asian, African, Islamic and pre-Columbian artifacts and antiquities as well as hosting amazing temporary exhibits.

OAG’s Silver Toast to the Arts one day Art Fair will be held in front of the museum with original paintings in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pen and ink, color pencil, mixed media, photography, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, and wood turnings created by over 30 artists from throughout Central Florida. There will be live entertainment, food and children's activities. Food provided by Horse and Hound, Mo Jo Grill, and The Chocolate Factory. Entertainment includes Treblehawk, Ron Frosig, Town and Country, and Lonesome Willy Earle. Auditorium artists include Civic Chorale and Ocala Storytelling.

The 20" x 16" Pawpaw painting is titled Days Apart for the way the blooms change appearance over time. This Pawpaw bush grows near my studio and is the most unusual variety I have encountered. The painting shows the blooms about two and a half times their actual size. The springtime blooms start out green and in a few days mature to a deep magenta with pink and creamy white drooping petals. The Pawpaw is a host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.

We have numerous other native plants near the studio that we take great care to leave undisturbed. Some are short lived and were only present for a couple years after we disturbed the soil to build. Others like the deep rooted pawpaw I hope to enjoy for many years to come.

While you are at the museum do not miss the incredible Art and the Animal exhibit. 45 works from The Society of Animal Artists. This show also runs until June 17th. Enjoy! -pw

Appleton Museum of Art (link) celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012

Ocala Art Group (link) since 1950

Exploring light and shadow

Slipping Away (click photos to view larger)

I often find myself shooting for reference, hopefully for a potential painting but more often to simply document what I've seen like the vegetable garden I've been working on or a small pawpaw plant tucked away in the woods beside the studio. These shots are seldom shared and far from artistic. They tend to be busy with distracting elements. My mindset is different when I look through the viewfinder at those moments. I tend to work more hurried and have less sensitivity to light and composition. If I suddenly see something special that warrants more care I slow down and think about what I want the shot to express (when time allows). I trust my eyes more. I explore shooting options, and I try to set an objective for the shot. "What was it that sparked my excitement?" is the first question I try to answer. It's not always something the camera can see like my eyes. This was the case with Slipping Away.

Stripping away the color wasn't something that passed through my mind when I took the shot. It turned out to be key to expressing what I wanted to share with the image. When I shot this fleeing caterpillar I was amazed by the cast shadow, the way its body crossed over the leaf and how the light sparkled. I'm easily amused... At that moment my eye's didn't focus much on the leaf itself. It's actually a staged shot to an extent. Several camera club photographers were meeting to shoot caterpillars and moths and the goal was for the cat to sit still in the calm, cool morning air and strike a pose. This little fellow was sensing the warmth of the day and the brighter light and became uncooperative as he wondered off. Normally this means the end of shooting. This time it was an opportunity. I had to shoot fast.

My first look at the image in the RAW converter was a big let down. The exposure and focus were good so I didn't give up hope. The light was indeed remarkable though the shot simply looked flat, the leaf opaque and the body more silhouetted than I remembered. I worked it up in color and noticed the veining of the leaf was really working for this backlit shot. I took it to an optimal sharpness, then moved onto other photos.

This month "shadow" was the theme for the camera club competition and this caterpillar shot came to mind. I toyed with some other ideas and actually shot a series using a basketball in motion with the shadow of the hoop and net. It felt too staged and uninspiring in the end. I decided to see how Slipping Away translated to black and white for a monochrome entry. I was working in the Dcam4 color space so I used a negative chroma Variant to desaturate the image followed by a slight adjustment Curve. Wow! Without the color the leaf took on a new life. The caterpillar's body revealed more roundness and depth. The shot had that special feeling I was longing for. What had once been a detailed leaf was now a delicate, paper thin glowing surface that looked like a fine lace veil hiding part of the caterpillar, the shadow revealing just enough to leave one wondering. My eyes were no longer seeing just a caterpillar on a leaf. I had found the spark! -pw