STORY BEHIND THE ART OF MITSUKO SCHULTZ

16th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Horticultural Society of New York

California Sycamore

Platanus racemosa

Since moving to Los Angeles from Japan, I’ve been interested in California native plants. In my neighborhood I noticed that there are many California Sycamore trees and I became fascinated with their hairy fruit clusters and the slightly different leaf margins from tree to tree, even though the trees were the same species. This fascination with the leaves led me to choose the California Sycamore as my subject.

The main focus of the piece is a cluster of five individual, spherically shaped fruit balls (tufted achenes) and the secondary focus is on a branch highlighting the shape and texture of several leaves. 

Composition is always a challenge for me. For this piece in particular, the composition of the leaves, the balance between negative and positive space and the direction of their placement were particularly difficult.

This is the first time I have been accepted to the ASBA show and I am very happy and honored to be included with so many of the artists whose work inspires me.

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