STORY BEHIND THE ART OF GEORGE OLSON
15th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists at
The Horticultural Society of New York
Compass Plant
Silphium laciniatum
What is your personal view of the artwork, for instance in terms of media, colors, composition?
The Compass plant is one of the prime kingpins in the tallgrass prairie. Other silphium plants are the Cup plant, Rosinweed and Prairie dock. I have done quite a few drawings of them.
I always start with a detailed pencil drawing. These themselves could almost be exhibited. Then I use watercolor.
Why did you choose this subject to portray?
All the silphiums, or most, are really interesting, especially in winter, because of their dried up forms. I have a quite a following for winter versions like this – the crunchy ones, with leaves almost like sandpaper.
Did you face any unique challenges as you worked on this piece?
I occasionally work outdoors on the prairie – but there can be wind, too much sunshine, too many pests and bugs, so I usually work in my studio.
One of the problems in general with prairie subjects is the vastness of the prairie. How do you express this on the page? The plant is 10 ft tall but you only have a 2.5 foot piece of paper. Scale is always a problem – you need strategies to get around it.
What would you hope people would notice or appreciate when viewing this work?
It is hard to dictate to people what they should look at. Some of the responses I have had to paintings over the years are that they appreciate the delicate detail of the plants, the textures depending on the time of year, the gesture created by the plant.
From an artistic point of view, I want them to notice the composition, the placement on the page. The work is composed like a piece of music or good writing.
How does this work relate to your body of work?
I have done other versions of this plant – this one fits right in. Each of the prime prairie plants expresses something about the prairie. Prairie is just about extinct as an ecosystem, only 1% is left. The prairie soil is so fertile that it got almost completely converted to farming. What is left is just around a few railroad tracks, near right of ways, and old pioneer cemeteries. The good news is that universities and museums are starting to build prairies. I have been told that it takes hundreds of years to recreate a prairie.
I am so busy finding new prairie plants that there has to be a good reason for departing from them as subjects. Once in a while I do something unusual, that is not a prairie plant in good standing. Recently, I painted sweet potato vine and amaryllis. The subject has to be intriguing, challenging.
Tell me a little about your background.
I started my art career way back, just out of grad school. I have averaged a few art shows a year. Over the years, I have had about 80 solo exhibitions! At first, I did big oil paintings for a decade. Then I did relief prints. Then I eased into plant studies. At first I was not too selective with plant subjects. Then it dawned on me in the 80s that I had connections to the tallgrass prairie and I became more specialized. I have quite a collection, well over 200 subjects. In my book, The Elemental Prairie, there are 60 of my works.
I am also interested in the history of botanical illustration. I give presentations about works like woodcuts, which go back to the 14th century. Occasionally I am asked to do illustrations for a book or poster. There is a new book The Riverside Gardens of Thomas More’s London, which contains a dozen of my little spot drawings of medieval plants.
I spent 5 separate years in London. London museums are just amazing. I am in touch with the Natural History Museum – I had a big show there in 1990. There is also the Royal Horticultural Society, British Museum, the Linnean Society. There are many American plants in the Chelsea Physic Garden and other places. The Brits are extremely interested in plants – there is plenty to look at and there are plenty of experts to talk to.
My artwork is just one prong of my prairie activities. I am also involved in education – I do publications, workshops and slide lectures with my artwork and sometimes that of other ASBA artists. And I have also been involved for 30 years with taking care of a couple of prairies. So when I am not in the studio, I am in the field.
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