I couldn’t decide which spring ephemeral to paint yesterday, so I painted them all. This quote has been rattling around my brain lately, and inspired me to just dive in and play:
“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very quiet if only those birds sing there that sang best.” ~Henry Van Dyke
It’s an embarrassment of riches in the forest right now. The sweet spot where everything overlaps. The bloodroots are just beginning to drop their petals and reveal their seed pods, the trout lily are still blooming in force, there are still tiny spring beauties to be spotted, and the white trilliums are popping open all over, while the mayapples explode up from the ground
I snuck a couple of science-y easter eggs into this painting. Like a tiny nod to — and buckle up for a five dollar word — myrmecochory: seed dispersal by ants. A process that’s very helpful to the spread of trilliums and other ephemerals. And the different shades of trout lily anthers, from bright yellow to brick red. A variation which, last time I checked, we still don’t know the anther to.
…Yes I do make that joke every time.
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Exploring watercolours thanks to our dear friend Robertson, whose paints I am using. Rob was a soulmate and one of my all-time favourite humans who died of lymphoma at Thanksgiving, so many decades too soon. Love you Rob. Thank you for all your brilliant colours.
~Kate