Story behind the art of Sophie Chartier

26th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art and Garden Center

California Coast Redwood

Sequoia sempervirens

I have always been fascinated by local flora, and growing up in Québec, we had a wide range of coniferous trees. As a child, I built several herbariums and tried to learn how to identify all the green things, getting sticky fingers along the way. Over the years, my family and I have moved to completely different environments, and I have had to start the process of figuring out what was growing around me all over again. Moving to Northern California in 2015 was no different. I was amazed at the cycles of grasslands and the resilience from the droughts, but I was especially drawn to the redwood forests. The sounds, the scents and the density of the greens still blow my mind to this day. I knew from the moment I observed these giants closely that I had to put them on paper. 

Each time I went hiking, I took everything in about the California coast redwood trees: the slight differences each grove had depending on their location, the twists of the individual leaves, the color shifts with the new growth, their tiny cones, how the trees adapt to their height by growing very small leaves higher up in direct sunlight and larger ones on lower branches in the shade. It was challenging to find trees to take specimens from, since most trails I visit are in state or county preserves where picking anything is prohibited. That was until I realized redwood trees were peppered throughout my neighborhood. Healthier trees, however, grow in larger groves in wooded areas so I did a lot of observations and on-site sketches and took many photos. 

I needed a good reason to start my project and a good challenge to do it right. When I saw the “Call for Entries” for the Mount Tamalpais Florilegium, announced by the Northern California Society of Botanical Artists, I knew that was it. I gathered my pile of studies, found my three primaries (Transparent Yellow, Permanent Rose, and Indanthrene Blue) to build the right shades of green and brown, and began painting. After feedback from other artists at the NCSBA exhibit, I submitted the painting for the 26th Annual International exhibition, with my fingers crossed. This is my first piece to be exhibited, and I am delighted to share it at the Marin Art and Garden Center, where we are surrounded by magnificent redwood trees. 

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