After our plants have been identified we begin the next part ~ the painting. Roslyn Glow has written about her process for painting Atriplex stipitata. This is the first in the series of three posts that describe the process. In this one she looks at researching and understanding her plant. Roslyn's piece was written at the request of our honorary botanist, who provides us with invaluable help. Getting to know the plant. Atriplex stipitata (Bitter saltbush, Mallee saltbush, Kidney saltbush) is a modest subject, but I know from experience that, no matter what my initial reaction, by the time I have studied a plant and found out a bit about how it makes its living and the history of its discovery, I will undoubtedly find it fascinating. I turn the specimens around, and view them from every angle. Because very little material is available in this case, I have little to choose from. I try to identify the male and female flowers. The female flowers are hard to identify. They are said to occur singly or a few together in the leaf axils. I paste various parts of the plant onto a scrap-book page, using book covering film. There is not enough plant material to paste up a complete series of parts and look at them under the microscope as well. The fruit is easy to identify. I look under the microscope, and try to dissect what I think is a female flower, but am unable to identify any parts. (Later I find that the female flower can be embedded in the material of the stem, unable to be examined until dissected out.) There is only one little specimen that is clearly female. I choose the more handsome of the specimens with male inflorescences, to depict in my painting. That night, I use my i-pad to research the plant. Next day I copy the most important identifying features of the plant onto my sketchpad. I am interested to find that this species can be monoecious or dioecious. Mine is dioecious, that is male and female flowers are on separate plants. The “Picture Book” (Cunningham et al) has a picture of my plant, and a drawing of the fruit. I trace this drawing onto my sketchpad. I note that my specimen’s leaves are partially closed, while the photos on the internet show the leaves as more or less flat. Eventually I discover the reason for this. When the soil is very dry, the leaves close, presumably to help conserve moisture. My specimens were clearly thirsty. Google finds me plenty of photos of A. stipitata but no paintings, and few drawings. The only comprehensive one is by Margaret Flockton, (1861-1953) the first person employed in Australia as a botanical illustrator. Next time Roslyn will tell us about how the composition of her painting, as well as the colour matching that she does.
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AuthorA behind the scenes look at our adventures in Menindee and how we go about creating our paintings. Archives
September 2018
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