I picked up my drawing a few days ago. I was very pleased to see the other illustrations which will be included in the Denver Botanic Garden’s Index Seminum. I was fortunate to come across an actual specimen at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Quite a handsome grass, native to the Colorado plains.
Received nice news from Denver Botanic Gardens – my drawing ‘Achnatherum robustum’ will be included in their publication Index Seminum. I started the drawing during the seed and microscopy class. A few weeks and many hours later it was finished. I’ll pick up the drawing today and post a picture soon.
Finished Root Leaf Flower & Seed over the weekend, here’s the pic of the binding. Paste paper made by myself.
Root Leaf Flower & Seed
“From root to leaf and flower to seed,may all that we have be all that we need.”So goes my favorite Pagan chant. I believe it’s from a book on Yule, but I could be mistaken. I was inspired to make a series of drawings of roots, leafs, flowers and seeds. I’d been working on it all summer (’o8) and finally finished it.
Here are pics of the drawings and picture of the book will appear shortly. The binding is a drum leaf binding, invented and refined by Tim Ely – a marvelous, simple and adaptable technique which allows the facing pages to open flat.
Petroselinum crispum, graphite on bristol
Asclepia speciosa, graphite on bristol
Campsis radican ‘Flava’, graphite on bristol
Parthenocissus quinquefolia ‘Virginia Creeper’, graphite on bristol
Cornus sericea ‘Red Osier Dogwood’, graphite on bristol
For the last several weeks I’ve been working on a series of line and watercolor wash drawings of Helleborus niger. Each is 4 x 6 inches and when complete, I’ll bind them together in a nifty book structure ( more on the binding later).
I’ve been fascinated by hellebores for years and have several in my garden. They are mysterious plants – the first to bloom in the spring, shiny, leathery evergreen leaves. In the autumn under the surface of the soil small pale shoots which will be the next spring’s flowers begin to form.
The roots are also famously poisonous, causing cardiac failure if taken in sufficient amount. Magical lore suggests that powdered hellebore root will confer the power of invisibility if sprinkled along one’s path. Read more.
Each of these drawings will be folded in half to create facing pages in the upcoming book. The crease is visible in a couple of these pics.
