Now that I make my living by creating Botanical Fine Art, image my surprise when I stumbled upon my first botanical drawings, dating from 1976. In an effort to document my classical art education I have gone to the attic to retrieve my early drawings and paintings along with the schoolwork I saved from the excellent Art Education curriculums I attended at York College and Queens College, (CUNY), City University of New York during the 1970’s.

Branch with details, an early horticultural drawing

Without any historical background regarding the long tradition of botanical drawing, I documented the branch structure, flower and leaf as well as the knothole of a branch, which I more than likely retrieved from my garden in Queens Village, NY. I was an avid, but highly amateur gardener, tending to a huge cherry tree, a multi-stemmed white birch and three peach bearing trees in my tiny garden.

Drawing of a dead branch

The drawing of my houseplant has been badly damaged by mold but it describes nicely a succulent houseplant I nurtured for years without realizing that it would ever flower. When the plant finally graced me with a huge, star shaped hairy flower, the stench it emitted attracted an abundance of houseflies much to my dismay. The flower itself was stunning. Very large in proportion to the plant itself with reflexed petals and patterned markings. I, many years later, found that the common name of my trophy was, the Carrion Plant, and the Latin name is: Stapelia Gigantia, from the Family of Asclepiadaceae.

Considering the amount of flies that I remember finding their way into my home I am not surprised to have discovered that it was known to attract pollinators by emitting the horrendous odor of dead meat. I don’t remember exactly what happened to the plant but I think that it failed to flourish after blooming that year. That may either have been because the effort it took to produce that huge flower weakened the plant or it may be because I was so offended at the smell that I was not longer enamored enough with it to tend it with care.

Carrion Plant

Mary’s Garden By Ellen Thompson, in the Long Islander newspaper

Gallery Art Show

“Welcome To My Garden”

Harborfields Public Library

31 Broadway – Greenlawn NY 11740 – 631-757-4200

Artist Reception
Sunday February 4, 2007 – 2:00 – 4:00 PM

Artist Lecture
February 27, 2007 7:30

Topic: “Creativity & The Business of Art”

During the entire month of February of 2007, I will be having a one-person Art Show at the Harborfields Library in Greenlawn NY. At the show I will be featuring both my Traditional Botanical Fine Art and my Digital Paintings.

My Botanical Fine Art is composed of paintings in watercolor and oils as well as my highly detailed graphite drawings. My new Digital Paintings are a combination of  graphic design and virtual painting.

All my Art models and subjects are drawn from either my own garden, my own collections or from specialty florists.

The "Welcome To My Garden" Show at the Harborfields Library in Greenlawn NY.