I have just completed a painting of three Amorphophallus decus silvae and A. decus-silvae x gigas (hybrid) which are endemic to the primeval forests on West Javas's southern coasts.
Amorphophallus is a large genus of over 200 tropical and subtropical tuberous herbaceous plants from the Arum family.
I was fortunate to see them in the Cairns Botanical Gardens in North Queensland where they are thriving. Botanical artists say that you do not choose the plant, it chooses you. A voice told me "you have to paint them." I took many photos and six months later I have finished the painting.
Of course it did not take that long to actually complete the painting, but with many other painting commitments, workshops and art tours, it just took a while to begin. With the onset of COVID-19, my workshops and tours were cancelled, giving me time to work on the painting.
The centre plant in the painting is an Amorphophallus decus silvae, and the plants on either side are a. decus silvae x gigas.
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The plant above is the A. decus-silvae.
The final painting is tall and narrow, 75cm x 38cms, which suits the subject perfectly. I worked on each plant separately and ensured the tones hues and proportions were well balanced.
The colours and patterns on these plants were what drew me to them as well as their majestic size of around 3 metres. I love working with the detail and I used a lot of overglazing to get the colours to glow.
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This is the A. decus silvae x gigas.
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This is the final painting with the three plants.
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The three very different and unique stems
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The three flowers
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