STORY BEHIND THE ART OF JOAN KEESEY

17th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York

California Holly

Heteromeles arbutifolia

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is one of the best known and most widespread of all chaparral shrubs ranging from Northern to Baja California. The plants are covered with red berries in December and January. It is often called California holly or Christmas berry because of its superficial resemblance to English holly. This is the plant that gave Hollywood its name, as it grows abundantly in the Hollywood Hills.

I am particularly interested in painting California native plants, and no collection of California native plant paintings would be complete without a picture of Toyon. This is the third painting of Toyon that I have completed and the first one to include both the winter berries and the spring flowers. The picture shows a curved branch with red berries and green leaves overlapping and parallel to another branch showing the very small white flowers. The leaves fan out around the berries. I think the painting has a nice rhythm.

White flowers painted on white paper are always a problem. I used a technique that I learned from Elaine Searle in which very, very pale washes of yellow, green, and purple are used to build the form of the individual flowers. Stronger color can eventually be used for emphasis or for the more shadowed areas. Small flowers are also a problem because they are very hard on the eyes of the artist. Both seeing and painting the detail is challenging.

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Read more about this artist's work: Weird, Wild & Wonderful