STORY BEHIND THE ART OF BEVERLY FINK

19th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists & The Horticultural Society of New York

Fort Smith Mum

Chrysanthemum morifolium

Every fall we have a spectacular chrysanthemum show at the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens. The show displays many beautiful varieties of mums but my favorites are the “standard grown”. These are bush mums that have been trained to grow tree-like with a single flower atop a very tall stem which can grow to be eight or nine feet. Not all bush mums can be grown this way. It must begin with a special type of standard mum. They are created by pruning or “disbudding” away all the competing buds leaving only a top bud. This process directs the energy to a single blossom that produces a much larger flower. The procedure starts in March with a young plant and continues through September and October.

There are many different types of standard mums at the exhibit that are colorful and unique. They virtually steal the show as their large flowers tower above the bush mums that surround them. One of my favorite varieties is the “Lava” with its long, yellow florets, slightly curved red ends and a fiery red center. These can grow to be 12”. The Fort Smith mum, which grows 4” to 6”, has incurved irregular petals that form a ball, with the exception of a few stragglers at the bottom that go their own way. What drew me to this particular one was the way it seemed to be posing. The slight curve of the stem and the way the flower tilted forward gave it an endearing quality. While the other mums were growing straight along their stake this one seemed to be showing off.

I began by sketching in the flower. I knew I had to be precise when drawing the petals or the flower would not be centered, likely throwing off the composition. I started from the bottom of the flower carefully working my way up. I was slightly off when I got to the middle and top and had to start over. Thankfully, I was successful with my second attempt.

I first painted the leaves and then moved on to the flower, again beginning at the bottom. I used Windsor Newton lemon yellow, cadmium yellow and ochre. When I was finished with the detailed work I glazed over areas with darker values to create the depth of the flower and emphasize highlights. The biggest challenge of this painting was figuring out what to use for shadows on the yellow. After testing many colors my best choice was cadmium red and ultramarine blue. 

The chrysanthemum has a long, meaningful history. Varieties have changed over hundreds of years and will likely change in the future. I look forward to walking among these tall, beautiful flowers at our 111th annual mum show this fall. I am sure I will be on the lookout for potential subjects to paint.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 18th Annual International