STORY BEHIND THE ART OF CAROL WOODIN
19th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists & The Horticultural Society of New York
Three-birds Orchids, Catskills
Triphora trianthophora
For the past 25 years, I’ve sought out rare orchids in the private haunts where they can still be found, painting many over the years, both native and exotic. Three Birds Orchid has always been elusive, being listed as Endangered in New York State and known from only a handful of sites. I finally met a kindly group of botanical friends including the property owners who shared this site with me in strictest confidence.
The day we went into the woods, we were lucky to see a flush of hundreds of flowers. These flowers are small and ethereal, and if you were not specifically looking for them they would be unlikely to be seen. They have a characteristic called synchronous blooming; that is that most of the stems in a population will open a flower on the same day. Then a few days will pass with few or no flowers open, then a second flush will occur, followed by a third. This is a way to attract pollinators more successfully. But a poor artist could arrive on a day when there are many plants and none with an open flower!
In a habitat such as this with many rare orchids, each footstep must be taken with attention and care, and when I find a suitable grouping to study, I place myself and my gear so as not to compact the soil or damage any nearby stems. Once so placed, this time on a small rock, I first composed some pencil drawings of various plants, then added some watercolor to portions of the graphite studies. While I worked, the others surveyed the area and counted the plants, then left me alone in my happy labors. The weather was mild and pesky insect-free, so it was a day at leisure in the quiet forest. However, I did feel as though I’d spent hours contorted like a pretzel!
There is a strong relationship between these orchids and mycorrhizal fungi, and this habitat also contained many different mushroom species. In the painting I wanted to include the deep leaf litter surrounding the plants, which shows the tree species in its home forest as well. Although some colonies are reported to have few successful seed capsules, this robust colony had many swollen capsules, which are recorded in the painting. Field studies are a way to both understand and memorize your quarry. The process of drawing and painting makes a physical record on paper as well as a record in one’s internal memory that can last a lifetime.
When back in the studio, I rearrange the elements in the study until I’m happy with the composition, then spend hours and hours trying to realize that ephemeral vision that occurred in the forest. This painting was done on a piece of Rory McEwen’s vellum, kindly gifted to me, its surface also an interesting navigation.
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Read more about this artist’s work: 18th Annual International