STORY BEHIND THE ART OF DOLORES R. SANTOLIQUIDO

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful

Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition

2014 - 2016

Purple Pitcher Plant

Sarracenia purpurea 

Clearly the Purple Pitcher Plant answers each descriptor of the title “Weird, Wild and Wonderful.” This is a plant that has fascinated me for years but I had not had an opportunity to paint. This show presented the perfect opportunity! The plant itself is full of contradictions: The graceful, highly veined, pitcher shaped leaves are a death trap for any insect that enters. The plant and flowers are simultaneously sturdy and delicate, not only in structure and appearance but in their ability to sustain. It thrives in such wetness that it’s next to impossible to approach, but can survive drought and resurrect when the wetness returns. For me, the Purple Pitcher Plant is magical. 

In particular, the purple pitcher plant is a contradiction of structures. The petals of the flower are so delicate and fragile they come and go in a flash very early during spring. Their coloration is subtle and alluring. The flower of this plant is a little umbrella that has an under-hanging fringe of delicate droopy puppy ear shaped petals that blow in the slightest of spring breezes. The color transitions from a pale creamy yellow to a luscious, lipstick light red. While the petals of the flower are fleeting, the remaining parts of the flower are tough and enduring, lasting for weeks on end through the summer. The leaves look completely alien, wildly and intensely maroon colored varicose veins over spring green. The leaves are what give this plant its name, pitcher plant, because that is the odd shape of each leaf. This plant is also quite deadly, specifically deadly to the insects that are attracted to the interior of the pitcher; they get trapped and drown in the water that collects in the pitcher. Then the plant benefits from the nutrients provided by these dead insects.  

There is a bog in Maine that I have been visiting almost yearly since 2000. It is a special location that is peaceful and hidden in plain sight. The flora is typical of the region and the purple pitcher plant is plentiful in this bog, along with cranberry, sheep laurel, grass pink and dragon’s mouth. I have always wanted to paint each and every one of these beauties residing in this bog, but timing does not always allow me to experience these plants in perfect bloom. During the summer of 2011, I was teaching at Eagle Hill two weeks earlier than usual and the pitchers were amazing - this was my opportunity!  

I specialize in mixed media, color pencil and acrylic paint. The combination of these media results in paintings that look very much like a delicate watercolor. I can build and control color intensity and render the most intricate details of the structure of the subjects I choose to illustrate. My challenge for this painting was the location where this plant grows. A bog, needless to say, is incredibly wet!

When I considered subjects for this show, I thought about plants that I felt strongly were out of the ordinary, plants that are not normally encountered, flowers that have a distinct beauty because of their individuality, color combinations and unique structure. The unusual has always been attractive to me. All the passifloras are absurdly intricate and visually thrilling. Cacti, irises, sundews, just to name a few, all have characteristics which draw the viewer in to appreciate their uniqueness. I am especially enamored of the orchid family and almost any orchid fills the requirement for being weird, wild and wonderful, such as Dendrobium tobaense. In fact, there were too many candidates! 

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