STORY BEHIND THE ART OF CAROL WOODIN

16th Annual International

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

Two Orchids II

Cypripedium acaule

When I first starting painting plants, I painted only orchids, both native and exotic. In the last few years I've expanded to include all kinds of different plants, but I find recently I'm being pulled back toward orchids. My last several paintings have been paintings of native orchids that grow in the northeast, as is this painting of a moccasin flower. I wanted to make these intimate "head shots" of the flowers, it is such a strange and fascinating flower. This orchid is the first wild orchid I ever saw. I was wandering around a forested hillside in western New York and I was just stunned by it. This diptych is the third time I've painted it and it is a much more focused rendition than previous paintings. One of the previous paintings was of a group of several plants in a woodland setting and another a couple of plants with roots. When you paint native orchids, you have to make studies in the wild, you can't dig them up or pick them. I'm always careful to not cause any collateral damage by stepping on other plants or even compacting the soil near any of the plants in the vicinity. 

Using natural vellum, I've stretched it over two small panels. This gives a three-dimensionality to the paintings, which are then shadow-boxed. The two flowers seem to be interacting with one another. Trying to portray the shape of the pouch is the most difficult part of this orchid. Working in watercolor on vellum has its own challenges, but the artist and viewer are rewarded by the translucency of the vellum, its warm color, and by the smoothness of its surface.

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