STORY BEHIND THE ART OF LEE MCCAFFREE

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful

Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition

2014 - 2016

California pipevine 

Aristolochia californica

Aristolochia californica is a native plant in northern California. I became aware of it while I propagated plants for the California Native Plant Society. Its weird pipe shaped blossom is a curiosity as it is pollinated by fungus gnats collected in the pipe. I am very excited when I find this inconspicuous pipevine in bloom on the local trails, sometimes covering a small tree. I planted it in my garden and it took several years to take hold and produce any blooms - then it was time to paint it. Now I know winter is finishing when the blooms appear, followed by the heart shape leaves. 

I approached the pipevine composition wanting to show the plant's winding habit. The blooms usually appear before the majority of leaves develop. The challenge was to include the tangles, the many weird blooms and the merging leaves. Since the vine spreads over a very large area I had to decide how to put in the stems and where to put boundaries for the painting image. Also I had to find the balance between the pattern and form on each bloom, which is pipe shaped with a gaping opening.

This plant is not a show stopper as the blooms blend in with the stem. I chose it because in addition to its weirdness, I like to paint native plants to make the public more aware of them. 

I also considered an Arisaema plant as a subject, which I found while travelling in Tibet. The bloom was very large, sensuous and different, with maroon/black stripes and it had a twelve inch long extension of the spadix. It just jumped out at me and it was definitely weird, wild and wonderful!

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