STORY BEHIND THE ART OF Anna Suprunenko

25th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Wave Hill

Autumn Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla

When I was thinking about the composition of this work, what attracted me most was the diversity of hydrangea leaves and flower shapes and how they change with the lowering temperatures of the autumn and winter season. In my search for a balanced composition, I researched and tried to reproduce the complex dynamic interaction of plant form and light.

I spent many hours turning and repositioning hydrangea petals in all directions to see which compositional elements would best reveal and convey the essence of the plant form to the spectator. Once I had found the perfect balance, I allowed myself to start the process of painting.

I had long noticed how in late autumn the flowers of this common garden species of hydrangea change color stunningly quickly, fading, turning reddish-red, and drying out. I wanted to portray the fragility of the autumn-winter hydrangea flowers. 

I used a technique that was new to me, drawing in watercolor and graphite pencil. I carefully and meticulously studied the texture of the petals, especially those with only a skeleton of veins left. I noticed a slightly silvery tint, so for some petals, drawing in graphite pencil was the solution that would maximize what I observed.

I used Arches Hot Press 300 gsm watercolor paper, Winsor and Newton Series 7 Kolinsky miniature sable brushes in size 1 or 2 and Winsor and Newton transparent watercolor paints. I like to work with transparent watercolor washes, building up multiple layers of glazes for intense vibrant color.

Calypso Family

Calypso bulbosa

Every good artwork deserves its own story. The work with calypso orchids was painted for the Botanical Art Worldwide exhibition in 2018.

One of the main conditions of the exhibition, to depict a wild plant historically common in my native country, Russia, was particularly difficult for me, as I was living in Slovenia in 2017-2018. So, I spent the whole summer of 2017 looking for a species that grows in both Russia and Slovenia. The grass clumps didn't really interest me, they were too small. The only species that caught my eye was field scabious (Knautia arvensis) on the hill below Ljubljana Castle. There I also found a wild hazelnut, but while I waited for it to ripen to a matching brown vellum shade, the locals had already harvested it.

By the end of August, I had almost despaired of my search. Finally, during a trip to Velika Planina, at an altitude of 1500 meters, I found beautiful blue gentian flowers. But, alas, my botanist-expert acquaintance declined them as an endemic of the Carpathians.

My searches for gentians on the Internet led me to a forum on Lake Baikal vegetation, where I spent a long time looking through endless photos of plants. How many beautiful species I discovered there, from larches and blooming cedar cones to wild lilies! The photos of the calypso orchids were my favorite. It was very hard to believe that such exquisite little flowers grow in harsh Siberia. In fact, they can be found practically all over Russia, but are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. I even found the author of the photos on Facebook and wrote to her. She turned out to be a botanical scientist from Irkutsk and generously gave me permission to use them for drawing. The transparency of calypso's leaves lay perfectly on the surface of the vellum, which helped to emphasize their subtlety and vulnerability.

One more thing - calypso can even be found on the banks of the Lena and Angara rivers in Eastern Siberia, very close to where I passed part of my childhood.

This work won the jury prize at the Botanical Art Worldwide exhibition, Flora Russia, 2018. Also, in 2019, the work won the Certificate of Botanical Merit award at the Society of Botanical Artists annual Plantae exhibition in London.

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Read more about this artist's work: 22nd Annual