Peas from a Modern-Day Mendel
In Which the Feral Artist Begins an Ag Commission
A few things first…
You may have noticed I changed the name of my site this week; this is to better reflect my registered business brand and domain name, as well as the scope of these initial projects and artistic journeys. While international travel and adventure ARE part of my long-term goals, it’s going to take me a while to get there — in the meantime, I will be happily crawling through the underbrush in and around my home in the southeastern corner of Washington. The Blue Mountains have been instrumental to the discernment of my calling as a botanical artist, and truth be told, I’ve always been a feral mountain child (thanks, Idaho, for showing me such wild beauty at such a young age).
Never fear, we are still going ‘there and back again’.
Lastly: if you are a Christian and called to pray and intercede for things the Lord puts on your heart, you can opt in on your account settings to my ‘Words and Visions’ newsletter, where I will be recording the dreams and other insights He directs me to share. It’s me doing my best to be obedient to the will of the Father.
If you’re just here for the art, carry on! :-)
It has been a wonderful Saturday here in the Rather Feral Artist’s humble cottage; last night an old friend and current commission client stopped by to deliver specimens of pea varieties for a future composite plate1. I expected him to drop off little pea plants, say, in a 4-inch pony pack like what you’d find at the local garden store…. No. I had the shock of being delivered two fully mature, 4+ foot tall, glorious pea plants and two of their 18-inch younger counterparts.
I have… a forest of peas.
The cat (and myself) are enthused.
The dog, however is bored silly with this entire process.
Over the next several weeks, I will photograph, sketch, and study as many aspects of these plants as I can before they finish their growth cycle. I am looking at flowers, seed pods, leaf structure, taking as many observation notes as possible. At this time of year, studying peas like this is as close to studying them in situ2 as one can get.
I woke this morning to my studio space filled with greenery, and it was delightful. My imagination is rapidly turning over ideas for how to develop the illustration project, curling and winding around my sketchbook like the pea tendrils curl around and grab onto whatever is in reach. The more sketching I do during my studies, the more I develop muscle memories for every form presenting itself, the better the final design will be as I determine what works best and what doesn’t.
I am currently marveling at the variance in leaf morphology; my friend’s enthusiasm for peas is catching. I see why he became a modern-day Mendel3 — there is so much beautiful diversity among such a humble plant. This is one of the things I love about being a botanical illustrator: the privilege of getting excited about the plants others are excited about.
What is a bit of nature you’re excited about? Tell me about it in the comments!
A traditional, diagrammatic set of illustrations in one artwork, usually incorporating a central, full-color study of the subject with several smaller more detailed illustrations of notable or significant aspects of the subject arranged around it in black and white.
The scientific version of en plein air, aka. studying a subject in its’ natural environment.
Do you remember 7th grade biology? Abbot Gregor Mendel surpassed incredible struggle to become the father of our modern genetic science. See Britannica online: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gregor-Mendel
That blossom is beautiful!