Plant Family Project

I started botanical drawing in 1998 and have been steadily following plants ever since, allowing them to lead me on a journey of discovery about plants through my artwork. The more I draw botanicals, the more I learn about plants. Years ago, I started to recognize patterns in plant structure and similarities among different flowers. I became aware of the significance of plant families and how plants are classified by their reproductive structures. I was excited when I discovered similarities in flowers and realized the plants were in the same family.

 I also noticed similarities in qualities of edible plants in the same family in terms of taste and smell and leaf structure.

 Over the years, I’ve practiced many individual plant portraits, starting simple with individual fruits and vegetables, and progressing to flowers and larger compositions of one plant in its various life cycle stages. I decided to start my newest venture – a series of larger paintings showcasing the similarities and differences between plants in the same families. 

To date I have completed 5 paintings in different families:

  1. Onion Family

  2. Nightshade Family

  3. Citrus Family

  4. Mustard Family 

  5. Tulip Family

I propose to complete 8 to 12 of these paintings and exhibit them side by side so that we can visually see how they are similar and different not only how plants in the same family relate to the other plants on the page, but the various plant family paintings side by side.