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Pink Lady's Slipper Triptych
My mother photographed these lovely native orchids in
the woods behind our New England family home. Her photos are the basis for a
triptych that I painted with pastels on acid-free peach-colored artist
sandpaper. Portraits of two single plants, one in the sunshine and the other in
the shade, flank the central panel of blooming woodland orchids. These
paintings evoke childhood memories of a time when this native species was
abundant.
The Pink Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium acaule,
is generally found in acid soils where pine trees provide a groundcover of
needles in the eastern third of the United States and north into Canada, coming
very close to the Arctic Circle. This widespread species can survive a wide
variety of environments: from coastal plains to pine barrens to mountaintops.
These beautiful plants, however, require highly acidic soils and depend on a
particular fungus present in the soil for growth. Because much of their habitat
has been destroyed, they are now rare or endangered in many States and should
neither be harvested nor transplanted to garden plots.
The set of 3 framed original pastels, presented in a
1.5" wide walnut burl wood frame and matching filet (double matted in sage
green on mauve suede with an outer dimension of 13" x 25.5" for the central
panel, side panels 13" x 6.5" each), are available for $5,900.00. Limited
edition prints and note cards are also available.
Click here for availability and
price
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