Story behind the art of Tammy S. McEntee

29th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

White Gourd

Cucurbita pepo

It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I love gourds and the entire Cucurbitaceae family. That’s why I eagerly wait for fall and make a pilgrimage to my local, and not so local, farm stands searching for some of those beauties. They don’t necessarily have to be covered in warts or of any particular color, just what strikes my fancy. The green, orange and yellow varieties are easy to come across, but white ones, not unlike that elusive white whale Moby Dick, are slightly harder to find. That’s why when I saw this one, I knew I had found my next subject. There it was, with deep valleys in its belly lined with dark blue green and yellow markings with a bonus of glorious lines of warts. I was truly smitten.  I went home quite contented with it and a trunk load of other gourds. I am certain that that evening at dinner tables across New Jersey, farmers discussed the woman who came in that day and was disturbingly excited over some random gourds. Let them talk - I had my prize subjects and I was happy and eager to start drawing.  

The challenge that lay ahead of me was - white subject on white paper. It was a tough one, so I chose what I thought would be an easier route, black paper. I thought it made sense, a white subject would stand out on black background. Nope, it looked terrible.  Maybe it was the paper, maybe it was me. I put that aside and tried various other colors of paper, but they didn’t work for me either. I decided I wasn’t going to let this beauty go without capturing its likeness, so white paper it was. I won’t say it was easy, but once I had worked out the right combination of colored pencils, it became much smoother sailing for me. Faber Castell Polychromos are my go-to colored pencil. I found that by layering white, ivory and/or cream over the various cold greys (I-IV) I was able to achieve the local color. I was excited to get to work and bring my white whale of a subject to life.

Since ornamental gourds are inedible yet long lasting, once a gourd’s modeling career is over, I place them out on my porch to decorate for autumn along with their pumpkin relatives. And because I am an equal opportunity employer, those pumpkins have also visited my drawing board.  So, this fall when you are searching for those perfect autumnal decorations, think of me and look for a warty beauty of your own.

The Collector

Alcea rosea, Apis mellifera

I love to garden. Every spring I am excited to add new plants to my garden beds, and I spend countless hours outside tending to them. I have tried for years to grow many types of flora with varying degrees of success. One elusive flower is hollyhock. I try to grow them mainly for nostalgic reasons, my grandparents grew them in their garden, and I have fond memories of wishing that I could be as tall as they were. I have sown hollyhock seeds, and have tried planting large nursery-grown starts, but never had any luck. So, I have given up and every year just put in a few new perennials and some annuals that have worked for me for years. 

I love my garden but once the heat and humidity of July in New Jersey hit, that love fades…fast! Unfortunately, weeds don’t care about my discomfort, and so I soldier on. Then, one day in mid-July my sweaty efforts were rewarded. I saw a lovely fat bee methodically visiting and collecting pollen on the flowers around me. I stood and watched as he worked. Then, much to my surprise, I realized he had landed on … a hollyhock sprouting through a cluster of azalea shrubs! I didn’t know when or how it got there, or how I had missed it.  I had never planted them in this section of the garden, ever. But there it was, a glorious three-foot stem bursting with translucent white and deep pink flowers. Had my fat little bee friend not gone pollen collecting, who knows when, or if, I would have found it! Luckily, my phone and sketchbook were nearby, and I did an impromptu photo shoot and some sketches. My bee stayed nearby, with pollen sprinkled on his back like salt from a shaker. Somehow, he knew when I was finished capturing his likeness and flew off home with his treasure, so I was able to remove a flower for color-matching and make a few more quick drawings. After some preliminary thumbnail sketches, I knew I had to include that bee in my final piece. After all, without him, I wouldn’t have found my treasure.

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