Senses

In an ongoing exploration of the relationship between people and plants, this group of drawings takes a closer look at the five senses, sight, touch, taste, sound and smell, and the way we experience the environment.

There is no question that tasty and terrible, prickly and pleasant, fragrant and foul, plants delight our senses, but it is not their job.  Their scents and colors and tastes are all geared toward one thing:  species survival – theirs, not ours.   It is coincidence that the sensory output of plants affects us at all, but they do affect us, and we count on plants for survival and pleasure – ours not theirs.

Colored Pencil, mixed media       • = SOLD

amuse bouche: ahh. Coffee
Coffea arabica      • ©2011, 8″ X 8″

amuse bouche:   ow. Habañero Pepper
Capsicum chinense     • ©2011, 8″ X 8"

amuse bouche: mmm. Strawberry
Fragaria sp.     • ©2011, 8″ X 8"

amuse bouche:   ooh. Olive
Olea europaea    • ©2011, 8″X 8"

amuse bouche: ew. Brussels Sprout
Brassica oleracea      • ©2011, 8″ X 8″

amuse bouche:   uh-oh. Garlic, Allium sativum    • ©2011, 8″ X 8"

Mesmerize Globe Thistle, Echinops tjanschanicus    • ©2011, 18′ X 18″
Derwent Fine Arts Pencils Award for Excellence

Pucker Lemon Citrus limon     • ©2011, 12″ X 12″

Rustle Ornamental Grass, Miscanthus sinensis       • ©2011, 16″ X 20″
Collection of Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, PA 

Glow Hyacinth Hyasinthus orientalis         ©2011, 6″ X 12″

Soothe Aloe,  Aloe vera     ©2011, 16″ X 20″

Picture

Wiggle Kentucky Bluegrass, Poa pratensis     • ©2011,12″ X 12″

Stinker Corpse Flower with Flesh Fly, Amorphophallus titanum with Sarcophagid Collection of the State Museum of New York, Albany       ©2011, 18″ X 24″

Ouch Fish-Hook Barrel Cactus, Ferocactus latispinus    • ©2011, 18″ X 24″

Shine Black-eyed Susan  Rudbeckia hirta    • ©2011, 12″ X 12″

Sweet Rose Rosa sp.     • ©2011, 12″ X 12″

Vibrate Bougainvillea, Bougainvillea sp.    •  ©2011, 11″ X 14″

Gotcha Venus Flytrap, Dionaea muscipula       ©2011, 16″ X 20″