Story behind the art of Carol Woodin

27th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Earth Cracks Open - Hepatica

Hepatica acutiloba

Hepatica is one of the earliest wildflowers to appear where I live in the northeast, and it is such a surprise the way it pushes up through dense carpets of fallen leaves. We go to our nearby Audubon center early each year, hoping to see this flower along the wooded trails near the confluence of Ramshorn Creek and the Hudson River. It seems such a delicate thing, yet somehow it manages to dislodge many layers of tough oak leaves and show its brilliant blue flowers: such a perfect spring greeting.

I spent time making drawings in the field and went back a couple of times. The leaves on Hepatica are held over from the year before and show great temerity in weathering the winter. What’s good about that for an artist is that you can go back and study them all year, as long as they’re not buried in snow. In spring, the new fuzzy leaves push up a little later than the flowers. Hepatica leaves can vary in how much reddish blush they have on the undersides and how much mottling on top. The flowers range from white to blue, and these are some of the bluest I’ve seen.

At this site, the dense mat of oak leaves was pushed aside, and it looked as though the earth had cracked open. I guess what is compelling about Hepatica is not only the brilliant blue color and delicacy of the flowers, but the strength they show in returning year after year. Especially when painting native wildflowers, I like to show the habitat that nurtures those wildflowers and allows them to thrive. So much of this painting is devoted to painting last year’s fallen leaves. Presumably that thick mat of fallen leaves protects these delicate spring flowers over the winter and during dry spells.

It is quite difficult to balance a painting like this – with flowers at about middle value, and oak leaves about middle value as well. I always want to make sure those dark shadows where the leaves are pushed aside are dark enough. The flowers are tiny and hold a lot of detail, and the leaf and flower stems are covered in little white hairs. I took it a little at a time, working up the whole thing to the same stage, again and again. When I reached a point close to finishing, I used a tiny blade to scratch out the hairs, then softened them with a small moist brush. My work is painted on a piece of vellum stretched over a panel.

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Read more about this artist's work: Curious Allies