Story behind the art of Catherine Watters

Botanical Art Worldwide 2025-A More Abundant Future:

Diversity in Garden, Farm, and Field

American Society of Botanical Artists at the Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO

Sugarcane

Saccharum officinarum

I was attracted to the sugarcane growing in the Canoe Garden at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kauai, Hawaii because of the tall multicolored stalks, ranging from yellow, green, pink, and violet to maroon. The Canoe Garden showcases the plants that were brought to Hawaii by ancient Polynesian voyagers in their canoes. This garden serves as a living exhibit of the “canoe plants” in Hawaiian history.

First domesticated in New Guinea about 8,000 years ago, sugarcane is an important source of food for humans and livestock. It is also used to make ethanol. Sugarcane cultivated for sugar is not considered invasive. However, wild sugarcane is invasive in Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Panama Canal region and can reduce the productivity of other crops.

This painting started as a study of the colorful stalks, but I liked it so decided to develop it into a finished piece. I wanted to show the variety of beautiful colors and convey the strength of the stalks. The painting is drybrush watercolor on hot pressed paper. After the first three to four coats of watercolor, the colors became vibrant and striking. Altogether, there are around 10-12 coats on each stalk.

I had to do most of the work on this painting in Kauai, as I could not bring my subject home to California because of strict agricultural laws in both states to prevent the introduction of invasive plants, pests, and diseases.

Buffalo Gourd

Cucurbita foetidissima

The Buffalo gourd grows in the Crops of the World Garden at the University of California at Berkeley Botanical Garden.

First collected in Mexico around 1815, the Buffalo gourd has evolved in the semiarid regions of central and southwestern United States and northern Mexico and is well-adapted to desert environments. It contains high amounts of protein and carbohydrates that are eaten by both humans and animals. The Buffalo gourd also yields abundant oil similar to other edible oils. Besides food, the protein can be used for industrial purposes such as paints, paper coating, adhesives, and textile sizing.  Biodiesel can be produced from the oil in the seeds, and biofuel can be produced with the carbohydrates located in the tap root. Buffalo gourd is used as a durable groundcover to hide and protect banks from erosion. However, it can be invasive depending on the environment where it is planted.

I was attracted to the Buffalo gourd by the way the plant creeps along the ground in a seemingly never-ending vine. The focal point of my composition is the round three inch gourd that has a smooth pale green surface with a unique pattern of darker green mottled striations. In contrast, the leaf is starting to dry and curl on itself, and the tendrils twist and turn at the tip of their stems. I wanted to create a feeling of movement, so the gourd, leaf, and tendrils appear to dance along the tilted main stem.

This painting is drybrush watercolor on hot pressed paper, using different shades of greens and browns.

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Read more about this artist's work: 25th Annual