STORY BEHIND THE ART OF P. A. KESSLER

21st Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at Wave Hill

Double Phalaenopsis

Phalaenopsis cv.

Phalaenopsis is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Originally native to southeast Asia, Australia and Taiwan, it was brought to the west in the early 19th century and was one of the first tropical plants in Victorian collections. The genus can be classified into two groups. The orchid I selected here is from the group with a long branched inflorescence and large round flowers with rose and white tints. The second group has short stems and waxy, less rounded flowers with a larger variety of colors.

Phalaenopsis is sometimes referred to as the “moth-orchid” because the flowers can resemble wide-winged moths in flight. While painting this, I imagined a sweep of exuberant moths flitting onto these slender branches, as ephemeral as flowers. Phalaenopsis ‘Magic Art’ is a rare orchid since it’s one of the few lightly fragrant Phalaenopsis, and is referred to as a “wild color” phalaenopsis. These “wild colors” are not stable and at times the colors will reverse. The spikes reach up to 20” and the flower size can be up to 4” across.

As a botanical artist, I have chosen orchids, in their infinite variety, as my primary subject over several decades. Growing up in Michigan, my early knowledge of orchids was limited to corsage orchids - usually purple. I remember the white florist boxes with the clear cellophane tops that had to be kept in the refrigerator. Orchids were to be pinned on mothers for special occasions or worn as wristlets by young ladies attending high school proms.

Not until I attended Wayne State University, where I received my BFA, was I introduced to a greenhouse that housed a large, diverse orchid collection. It felt like a magical world, both mysterious and exotic. As I learned to really see the parts of the plants, I was mesmerized by the intricacy of details on the petals.

Sepal, column, throat and lip. I found the nodes, leaves and root systems captivating. There was endless discovery. I learned that orchids were epiphytes - plants that grow on the surface of another plant and derive their moisture and nutrients from the air and rain. From that first visit I never lost my fascination with the inexhaustible variations of orchid species and hybrids. And who can help but appreciate a plant whose very name is derived from myth and the word orkhis (the Greek word for testicle.) Orchis was the son of a nymph and a satyr who, while attending a feast for Bacchus, raped a young priestess. For his grave insult Bacchus had him torn apart by wild beasts. His stricken father prayed for him to be restored but the gods changed him into a flower instead. The orchid’s roots or pseudobulb were thought to resemble a man’s orkhis. Thus the origin of orchidaceae.

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