STORY BEHIND THE ART OF TAMMY S. MCENTEE

21st Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at Wave Hill

Season's End

Cucurbita pepo

I have gardened all my life; I can and have spent countless hours plodding out in my backyard. Come spring, I usually plant seedlings as opposed to seeds because frankly, I can be lazy when it comes to nurturing them. But in the spring of 2016, I planted 7 varieties of gourd seeds mainly because you can’t easily find started gourd plants. I kept a close eye on their growth as these were to be the subject of my final project for the Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program at the New York Botanical Garden, and I need them to survive. Despite my laziness, they thrived and I was able to plant them out in my garden. Several days later, I discovered I had somehow missed one of the seedlings. I just placed it in a nearby pot on my deck and promptly forgot about it.

I was able to harvest 47 gourds from my garden; I definitely had my pick of final project subjects. As you can imagine, my least favorite part of gardening is the end of the season cleanup. When I went to empty the planters on my deck I found the dried vine and unripe fruit of the abandoned gourd plant. It was so glorious the way it lay there, I knew I had to draw it. Starting with graphite, I eventually added some colored pencil to capture the beautiful tincture of life left there. This piece is a memorial to the forgotten plant that I will now never forget.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 20th Annual International