STORY BEHIND THE ART OF SHARRON O'NEIL

24th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art and Garden Center

Ficus lyrata Leaf

Ficus lyrata

The isolation of winter 2020 left me struggling to find live botanical subjects. I searched among my houseplants and found this leaf from a large fiddle leaf fig.

The areas that showed signs of aging made this leaf a more interesting subject than a perfect, all-green leaf. The size of the leaf presented a challenge. I isolated each segment between the veins and worked on one section at a time. It was fascinating to see how much variation existed in each section. When the details were finished, the overall leaf was then refined to bring all the parts together into a coherent whole.

I am often more interested in plants that show some flaws, so this fig leaf was a perfect subject.

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Read more about this artist's work: 18th Annual