Story behind the art of Donnett Vanek

Curious Allies: Mutualism in Fungi, Parasites, and Carnivores

The Fifth New York Botanical Garden Triennial

Cobra Lilies

Darlingtonia californica

Towering cypress, shore pine, spruce, and cedar trees grow at the entrance of the Darlingtonia State Natural Site in Oregon. Lush undergrowth harbors rhododendrons, ferns, and the unusual Lysichiton americanus -western skunk-cabbage. A short path through the forest leads to a raised wooden boardwalk. I followed the boardwalk into a fen, a unique peat-forming wetland. Sunlight peeked through the clouds, illuminating the remarkable plant that grows here, Darlingtonia californica, the cobra lily. I felt as though I had entered an enchanted world.

What a fabulous view across the fen! Tall cobra lilies emerge from an entanglement of plants and wilted and spent leaves. Hooded tubular leaves of Darlingtonia californica rear up resembling the cobra that gives this plant its common name of cobra lily. In its native habitat, the cobra lily can grow three feet tall. Plants reach the raised meandering boardwalk. The thick vegetation of cobra lilies obscures the water that flows through the fen. Most pitcher plants catch rainwater in an open trap, but the cobra lily uses its root system to pump water up into its trap. The plant regulates the amount of water in the trap by absorbing or releasing it.

Bumble bees, dragonflies, and other insects land here and there on the hoods of Darlingtonia californica. The two forked leaves of the hood secrete a sugar-like substance, attracting insects. Glands in the hood also secrete the sweet substance, enticing insects to follow the trail into the hood. Inside the hood, insects become confused by light shining through its transparent areas. Unsuspecting, they fall deep into a pool of water at the bottom of the stalk. Bacteria in the water decompose them, providing nitrogen to the plant. 

Standing on the raised boardwalk observing the spectacular Darlingtonia californica, I knew I had found the perfect subject for the Curious Allies exhibition. The medium I would use for my composition was graphite.

To start my rendering, I work out my composition on tracing paper. The next step is to transfer the sketch onto hot press watercolor paper. I work in many layers of graphite to establish subtle contrasting layers of lights and darks using F, 4H, 6H, and HB 2mm leads. Darlingtonia californica grow in dense populations. To portray the plants in their native habitat, I rendered wilted and spent leaves intertwined at the base of tall, hooded pitchers. New growth of hooded leaves is visible through the larger leaves. Two tall stalks depict a bud and a flower that has started to become a pod. I included ferns and a branch that leans across the cobra lilies. I am interested in the use of negative and positive space in compositions. Showing the plant in various stages of growth I used negative and positive space for an interesting composition. 

Darlingtonia californica blooms from early spring through summer. After dormancy in the winter, the plants send up tall stalks each with a single flower. Botanists are still researching what insects pollinate the flower.

Endemic to Southern Oregon and Northern California, Darlingtonia californica is the sole member of the genus Darlingtonia in the family of Sarraceniaceae. Darlingtonia californica is listed as California Plant Rank 4.2: plants of limited distribution, moderately threatened in California. California Plant Rank is a watch list of the California Native Plant Society.

Snowplant

Sarcodes sanguinea

Spring comes late to Mount Pinos, Iwihinmu in the Samala language of the Chumash people, who consider this to be sacred land. They call the summit, Liyikshup, which means center of the world.

With an elevation of 8,847 feet, Iwihinmu is in the Los Padres National Forest, north of Los Angeles in California, near my home and studio. Although it is June, snow has only recently melted from a trail I follow through a mixed forest of towering Jeffery pine and ponderosa pine. My feet bounce on a thick carpet of pine needles. Snowberry and wax currant have started to leaf out and flower buds are forming. A few wildflowers bloom. Elegant mountain spreading larkspur plants grow amid the snowberry and wax currant. Matted tufts of Brewer’s lupine dot the trail. Here and there I spot the deep orange of western wallflower.

The trail meanders through the pines. I startle and look as I hear a bird calling and then a flash of scarlet catches my eye. A snow plant!

Pushing up through a mound of pine needles, the brilliant red plant stands in sharp contrast to the browns of the forest floor and the bark of the towering pines. The inflorescence is all crimson with bracts that curve up and around the plant, giving it a sense of motion. Flowers form under the curling bracts. After delighting in my find for a while, I decided it would be a perfect subject to render for the Curious Allies exhibition.

I sketched on tracing paper to work out my composition. I decided to portray the snow plant, Sarcodes sanguinea, in graphite and drybrush watercolor. The composition has pine needles all around the snow plant with more pine needles on one side than on the other. This gives interest to the composition, as well as information about how the plant grows in its native habitat. Satisfied with the sketch of the composition, I transferred it to an Arches hot press watercolor paper block.

Working on the graphite area first gave me a sense of the background of the painted image. I worked in many layers of graphite, starting with very light layers and slowly adding in more darks to give depth to the pine needles. When the graphite pine needles were done, I started working on the image of the snow plants in watercolor. Using a size 2 brush, I laid down light washes of watercolor. I used washes to establish the shadows and contrasts. After the washes were done, I started working in a drybrush watercolor technique.

The brushes I use for drybrush are brush sizes 3/0, 0, 1, and 2. Using the size 2 brush I begin my drybrush technique. I use little pigment and a small amount of water, just enough for the paint to flow smoothly. It is almost dry to the touch. The first layer of paint establishes the direction I want my brushstrokes to go throughout the rendering. I work in many layers of paint, using a smaller and smaller brush with each layer. The strokes become more refined with each layer. I like this technique because it is how I work with graphite pencils. With the brush strokes, I build the form, shape, and contours of the plant. Each layer of paint adds depth and color.

After I finished my work I set it aside for a few days. When I came back to it, I decided to add some paint to a few areas of the graphite pine needles.

Using both graphite and watercolor is a way to establish what I want my audience to notice first. The watercolor brings the snow plant to the foreground and the graphite pine needles move to the background. My audience will first notice the color, shape, and structure of the snow plant. The graphite background informs the audience that snow plants burst through pine needles.

Sarcodes sanguinea are not rare, but are uncommon in their habitat, with a limited geographic distribution in California, Nevada, and Oregon. Snow plants often grow in colonies of several plants, from 15 to 30 cm tall. Sarcodes sanguinea are the single species of the monotypic genus Sarcodes of the Ericaceae or heath, family.

The unusual snow plant has no chlorophyll and is a non-photosynthetic plant, which has an elaborate connectivity relationship with conifers and fungi. Because snow plants cannot make their own food through photosynthesis, they indirectly receive nutrients from conifers through the fungi attached to the roots of conifers, and are considered mycotrophs. In a mutually beneficial relationship with a fungus known as mycorrhizae, the conifer trees provide sugars to the fungi, and the fungi extend the root structures of the trees so they can access more nutrients and water. Snow plants steal nutrients from the beneficial fungi. In this way, a snow plant is an indirect parasite of the conifer. Scientists have discovered that the snow plants are host specific and form relationships with one specific fungus, Rhizopogon ellenae, found on conifer roots.

Working as a botanical artist, I strive to bring the beauty of nature to my audience. I hope that my work will encourage my viewers to take a walk in nature and notice their surroundings. If they are lucky, they will come upon a Sarcodes sanguinea. It will feel like a gift from the forest.

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Read more about this artist's work: 26th Annual