STORY BEHIND THE ART OF ESMÉE WINKEL

19th Annual International

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

Blackberry lily

Iris domestica

During my stay in Pittsburgh, attending the 2013 ASBA conference, Marianne van der Stee and I visited the Botanical Garden where we came across a very peculiar looking seedpod. The little black fruit looked like blackberries but seemed to come from an iris-looking plant. I investigated this and discovered it also had amazingly beautiful flowers with yellow to golden petals covered with a charming red color pattern. Back in the Netherlands I managed to find the plant at a nursery and brought it back home with me. I studied its place within the family of Irises and how it grew. I made sketches and came to a composition that would fit the grandeur of this Iris. 

As I was sketching the flowers I noticed that the small long buds open early in the morning, showing off colorful petals in full glory during midday, and then close again at night, curling very neatly and beautifully into a tight knot, gone in a day. This ritual went on for several weeks. While I was painting away, my Iris kept on 'winking' at me. After a while, when all flowers had closed and died, the fruit began to form from thick green pods that would finally dry and split open, showing the lovely black berries I had seen back in Pittsburgh. From these black seeds a complex and beautiful plant will emerge again, the beginning of a new life cycle.

There are various details included in this watercolor painting, such as the color nuances in the flowers and in the leaves, the older leaves becoming more yellowish, and the black seeds having a little shine on them. With this painting I wish to show the incredible beauty of this Iris species and its amazing life cycle with its astounding colors.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 18th Annual International