Story behind the art of Olga Ryabtsova
28th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art & Garden Center
Artichoke Thistle
Cynara cardunculus
My exploration of the artichoke thistle, Cynara cardunculus, began in 2017 when I was seeking a subject for the local exhibition Invasive Plants of Southern California presented by the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California, a chapter of ASBA.
During my research, I learned from the California Invasive Plant Council, www.cal-ipc.org, an organization dedicated to protecting California's environment and ecology, that artichoke thistle thrives in disturbed open sites, including grasslands, chaparral, coastal scrub, and riverbanks below elevations of 1,600 feet. It is a member of the Asteraceae family and appears to be a large perennial thistle from the Mediterranean region. According to Norman Ellstrand (2013), different hypotheses regarding the origins of California’s artichoke thistle plants have included introductions by nineteenth century Italian immigrants and the de-domestication (evolutionary reversion to wild-type morphology) of feral (escaped, free-living) cultivars.
Artichoke thistle reproduces by seed and occasionally by resprouting from root fragments, with rosettes often exceeding one meter in diameter. Its leaves are large, spiny, and sharply lobed, typically blooming in May and June. Effective mechanical removal requires extracting most of its large taproot to prevent regrowth.
I first encountered the artichoke thistle along the Ortega Highway, a scenic road winding through the Santa Ana Mountains along the southern California coast. This impressive species captivated me immediately with its imposing stature, standing approximately four feet tall, adorned with vibrant blue flower heads sharply contrasting against the dry grass. Despite the physical challenge posed by its thorny branches, I found pleasure in collecting specimens and making artworks. I created a watercolor painting from one branch featuring three flower heads, which I exhibited at ASBA’s 2017 Small Works exhibition and which was on the cover of ASBA’s journal, The Botanical Artist magazine, in March 2018.
This time, inspired by another distinctive branch of this plant, I chose to do an etching, challenging myself with a copperplate larger than any I had previously used. Etching on copperplate is an intaglio printmaking technique in which the design is created by acid biting into the exposed areas of the metal plate, forming grooves that hold ink for multiple reproductions. The process involves meticulous steps: polishing the plate to remove imperfections, applying an acid-resistant ground, drawing the design through the ground with an etching needle, immersing the plate in an acid bath to etch grooves, then inking, wiping, and using an etching press to press the plate onto paper in order to transfer the image.
After careful preparation, sketching, and composition planning, I spent several days drawing the image with an etching needle on the plate. Then I stored the unfinished plate away and forgot it for several years! Recently, while decluttering my studio, I rediscovered this plate; it felt like finding an old roll of undeveloped film from a distant journey. I worried that the old ground might flake off in the acid bath, yet I decided to take the risk. To my pleasant surprise, after immersing the plate in acid and pulling my initial test print, I found it required only minor adjustments: slight contrast enhancements for the flowers and delicate detailing on the leaves.
Ultimately, I chose to maintain the leaves with minimal detail, preserving a visual balance and subtle elegance within the composition.
Reference
Ellstrand, Norman. 2013. “More than multiple introductions: Multiple taxa contribute to the genesis of the invasive California’s wild artichoke thistle. Journal of Systematics and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1759-6831.2012.00222.X
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Read more about this artist's work: 23rd Annual