STORY BEHIND THE ART OF BEVERLY SIMONE

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful

Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition

2014 - 2016

Spring Skunk Cabbage

Symplocarpus foetidus

There were so many plants I wanted to paint for this show, at first I couldn't choose! I was going to paint some strange, exotic plant and I looked online to purchase one. I also considered painting a passionflower that I have - the blooms are very weird, especially close up. Then, after reading Dick Rauh's Weird and Wild article, where he mentioned Symplocarpus foetidus with its "spotted inflorescences" that "could be a challenge to draw", I decided. The Skunk Cabbage was right under my nose, so to speak, or at least right behind my house in the woods!  

Except for its pungent odor, Skunk Cabbage might not appear very weird, but its flowers certainly are – with their brownish – maroon - sometimes reddish, speckled, hooded spathes. And they're thermogenetic to boot! Skunk Cabbage is able to produce enough heat to melt snow, so it is able to grow and flower very early. The "skunky" aroma is attractive to carrion flies, which are among the few early spring pollinators.

Along with the flowers, I depicted the early spring growth of its beautifully mottled leaves. I hope that viewers see how gorgeous a seemingly lowly and ubiquitous plant really is. Every plant might be a beautiful painting.

As I was studying the unfurling leaves of my subject, I remembered something that made me laugh. When I was very young, I'd stuff my hands with as many of these huge leaves as I could, jump off the big rock in my grandmother's yard………and believe I was flying!  

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