Beware of the Agapanthus

Agapanthus II (unfinished) Shevaun Doherty 2015 

"Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill."

Christopher Parker

I love what I do, but sometimes it’s a struggle. On my easel is

In the footsteps of Ellen Hutchins

"An understanding of the natural world and what's in it,
is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment." David Attenborough

A curious mind is an essential part of being a botanical artist, so when I was asked by Howard Fox,  botanist at the National Botanic Gardens, to get involved with the Ellen Hutchins bicentenary celebrations, I said

The Big Blue Monster

 

Agapanthus africanus WIP © Shevaun Doherty 2015

“Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.”

Victor Hugo

I am not a flower painter. 

Don’t get me wrong, I adore flowers of every kind, and I really admire artists who can capture that transient beauty with what seems like effortless grace. I’m just far happier painting fruit, seeds and dried plants, where I can indulge myself in the luxury of time, knowing that they aren’t going to wilt before my eyes.

Initial studies

The Agapanthus africanus is really not for the faint hearted. It’s a big robust ball of blueness that stands out taller than it’s neater cousins, Agapanthus praecox. Whilst doing my bud studies, I noticed with a bit of alarm, that there were over 50 flowers in each umbel! (I counted them in a fit of procrastination) Okay, so they weren’t all going to open at the same time, but once they started to open, it was definitely going to be a race against time.

So how to start?

Buds and Blooms

Agapanthus bud © Shevaun Doherty 2015

"Each flower is a soul opening out to nature." 

-  Gerald De Nerval

They say that there is no greater motivating factor than a deadline, but for a botanical artist, the realisation that the flowers are just not going to wait for their portrait to be painted is enough to get even the slowest of brushes flying!

After months of waiting patiently for the flowers to appear, my beautiful blue Agapanthus africanus flowers are now all blooming at once. Mild panic sets in as I suddenly realise

Summertime Blues

“Blue colour is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight.”

John Ruskin

Blue is the colour that sings to us of heaven and sky, of fresh water and deep oceans, of spirituality, serenity and stability. It’s definitely one of my favourite colours, and yet I don’t seem to paint many blue subjects. All that is about to change, because I have a garden full of blues … tall elegant Agapanthus flowers that are just coming into bloom.

The first challenge with any new plant is the set-up. It’s great when

Changes

“Change always comes bearing gifts.”

Price Pritchett

A change is as good as a rest they say. Recently I needed to take a short break from the botanical art and blogging, and take time out to catch up with my life.

Change is good. It gives you a chance to re-evaluate

Bees and Butterflies

African Monarch butterfly  © Shevaun Doherty

"Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned"

Peter Marshall

Summer is here, and as I write this, I’m sitting in my garden, bathed in sunshine, surrounded by flowers and the steady hum of bumblebees. Every now and then a butterfly flits between the blossoms, pausing briefly to sip on nectar before fluttering off to explore another garden. 

All around me nature is blissfully at work.

However this might not always be the case. A recent worrying report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), states that we are losing entire species at an alarming rate, so much so that we are in danger of losing 30-50% of all species by mid-century. Unlike previous mass extinctions, this is entirely due to man’s devastating effect on the planet.

Of course, we all read things like this and wonder just how we can help, but each of us can, in our own little way, and we can start in our own back garden with the bees and the butterflies.Their numbers are in rapid decline, and if they disappear, the effects will cascade throughout ecosystems, affecting all aspects of life on earth.