STORY BEHIND THE ART OF MARY ANN SCOTT

16th Annual International

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

Japanese Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

I was drawn to both subjects for the same reason, I enjoy painting large leaves! My preferred technique of painting wet on wet seems to work particularly well with bold structures such as these, allowing plenty of space to let the washes flow. 

A Japanese loquat tree grows outside the window of my studio and I had always regarded its leaves as something of a challenge. When I began working on sketches for the painting I became more and more interested in the different textures - the dark green leathery leaves, the fuzz on the unripe fruit, the golden down on the young stems, the shiny dark brown seeds.....

In my painting of the Japanese Loquat I have tried to show different stages in the development of the fruit. The composition is dominated by a stem carrying three large leaves and a panicle of immature fruit placed at the centre. To the left is a short stem with four mature fruit and along the base of the painting I’ve painted the dissection of a fruit, showing the disposition of the seeds. Other seeds are scattered along the base of the painting, ‘anchoring’ the composition.

Siberian Tea

Bergenia crassifolia

I was also attracted to the Bergenia by its handsome leaves. I found this plant of B. crassifolia in my local nursery towards the end of winter and my imagination was immediately caught by the brilliant winter colouring of the older leaves, contrasting with the soft vivid greens of the new leaves beginning to emerge.

The painting of B.crassifolia is less ‘composed’. It’s simply a portrait of the plant caught in a moment in early spring. The large, brightly tinted winter leaves dominate, but the smaller soft green leaves of spring are beginning to push up from the base, which is a complicated structure of intertwining spathes and petioles, with last year’s dried spathes giving darker tones and setting off the pale greens and pinks of the newer growth. .A long, curved stem emerges from the centre bearing delicate, pale pink flowers. I also included some stalks of withered grass which twine gracefully around the stems of the Bergenia, a reminder of winter.

I hope that my paintings transmit the enthusiasm I feel for my subjects. I hope that when people view my work, their first impressions will encourage them to look more closely and begin to see more of the detail. In the painting of E. japonica, for example, I would like them to notice the difference between the older and newer wood of the stems, the changes of colour and texture. I hope they will appreciate the way I’ve tried to catch the light on the curved leaf and I would love it if they noticed how the colour has been built up on the fruit and seeds with layers of transparent washes.

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