STORY BEHIND THE ART OF SUNANDA VERMA WIDEL

24th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art & Garden Center

Bulbophyllum Orchid

Bulbophllum bicolor

This Bulbophyllum bicolor was my second painting after I graduated from the SBA Diploma course. A short rest after two years of hard work and I was ready to get creative again. Just as I was contemplating what to draw, an extensive show of orchids opened at the famous Gardens by the Bay Flower Dome in Singapore, where I live. I was completely in awe of the splendor and variety of the hundreds of orchids on display. I knew then, that orchids were the direction I wanted to go in. It was at one of the many vendors that I found this unusual Bulbophyllum bicolor orchid. I was unable to resist and it came home with me, along with a collection of other, equally bizarre and beautiful orchids. I was busy drawing for many weeks.

I found myself fascinated by the unusual appearance of the Bulbophyllum orchids. These orchids were described by French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert Du Petit-Thourars in 1822. The name Bulbophyllum comes from the Greek words bulbos (bulb) and phyllon (leaf). This particular orchid is found in Hong Kong and a few parts of southeast China and northern Vietnam. I loved the fan-like grouping of the flowers and the reddish, linear patterns on the soft, pale petals. My plant grew up its coconut husk backing in an artistic manner that appealed to me. The slender, dark green leaves contrasted with the softly colored flowers. The long, curved stem, elegant and delicate, perfectly balanced an eye-catching spray of flowers at its end. I was also delighted to find that the orchid had a hinged lip which aids in pollination. This hinged lip bobs and jiggles around when you move the plant! The pollinator lands on the lip, which then tilts and causes the pollinator to fall back into the sticky pollinia. 

This plant was a delight to draw and to paint and I hope to continue to illustrate these wonderful, curious and unusual orchids in the future.

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