STORY BEHIND THE ART OF ESTELLE DERIDDER

18th Annual International

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

Pincushion Protea

Leucospermum cordifolium

I know this plant in a remote, desolate, wild, semi-arid landscape where nature expertly reigns with its silence, solitude and supremacy. I spent a reasonable amount of my adult life in the Kogelberg and Soetanysberg areas near Bredasdorp in the South Western Cape of South Africa, where I became fascinated with the protea family of flowering shrubs. It is amazing to me that such a beautiful plant requires no additional fertilization, and seems to prefer nutrient-poor, acidic soil.

I left South Africa years ago and upon my first visit to the Los Angeles Arboretum after I moved to California in 2010, these plants were in full bloom and caused a severe case of homesickness within me - although it was a pleasant kind of homesickness. I felt intuitively that by spending a lot of time with the Leucospermum cordifolium, I would find solace and acceptance of the distance between southern California and the Western Cape in South Africa. Thus started visits and building a relationship with a nearby florist who was willing to obtain as many samples as I needed and over as much time as I needed for my art, from the famous Los Angeles Flower Market and the Los Angeles Arboretum. I am now successfully growing the plant in my garden.

The flowers of this Protea species generally remain closed. It seems that the flowers need to be disturbed by some outside force in order for them to snap open and for the styles to straighten and expose the stigmata some distance away from the bloom. This action can be triggered by birds, insects, rodents, mammals and man. By close observation, examination and also dissection, I found the ‘flower’ to be a composite bloom with a large number of very small flowers, and colorful bracts (modified leaves). It is the pistils of the individual flowers that, when fully opened, look like long, curved pins in a pincushion – hence the name ‘Pincushion protea’. Colors vary from pale yellow, to bright yellow and orange to red.

It is not only the flowers of this plant that fascinate me. Upon closer acquaintance, I discovered that the leaves are more than just beautiful leathery green leaves: the tips of the leaves have almost wax-like endings. I’m not sure of their purpose, other than being beautiful and unique.

This protea grows as a bush up to 6 feet in diameter and 4 to 5 feet high. It has a main stem and multiple horizontally, slightly upward-curved, stems, each bearing from one to three inflorescences at the end. When these shrubs are in bloom, it looks like mini fireworks! 

So, as far as composition of this piece was concerned - there wasn’t too much hemming and hawing about it - full front, lit from a 45 degree upper left window facing northwest. The stage was set. I chose a watercolor ‘tea wash’ for the leaves and the almost translucent pistils, to ensure unity. I painted the flowers and pistils with watercolor and then shaped and sharpened some areas with colored pencils. Sometimes I went back in and refined small areas further with paint. I had to constantly check and compare the shapes, colors, perspective and positions of each component. 

The supporting images in the background were done in graphite 2H - 6H. Why graphite? Towards the end of one of the value studies I drew in graphite, I had a notion that this medium (graphite) is too beautiful and charming to be left in a file in a drawer. Also, a great many hours had been devoted to the value studies and it 'just made sense' to use the empty spaces in the horizontal composition to convey the abundance of flowers on this bush, to balance and add depth to the composition and to form a backdrop for the calm and serene beauty of a seemingly bright and loud flower. It is the first time I've used this 'ghosting' technique, and I like it very much....it acts like a shadow and an invitation to the viewer to explore and look for more.

With its fine detail and very challenging structural perspective, this Protea fits well with the main body of my work. I enjoy the intense process of ‘figuring out’ how the pieces (positive and negative) fit together to form the whole. I estimate that 75% or more of the total time spent on creating this piece was to capture the basic structure before I started on the value study and color matching.

It is my hope that whoever is familiar with this species as a decorative plant ONLY will be enthused and enticed to look deeper and research the interesting facts about it….. from the actual anatomy and function of the flowers to the soil requirements (or lack thereof) to how the seeds have to be stimulated in order to germinate. This is a very effective addition to any garden.

South Africa today is a country with 11 official languages. It is interesting that in only one of those languages, Afrikaans, this plant goes by (and I’m loosely translating here) Pincushion, Baboon claw, and Louse bush!

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Read more about this artist's work: Following in the Bartram's' Footsteps