Story behind the art of Faye Van Wert
28th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art & Garden Center
Cricenti Bog
Drosera rotundifolia, Sphagnum magellanicum, Sphagnum palustre, Vaccinium oxycoccos
The Philbrick-Cricenti Bog in New London, New Hampshire has been a place of wonder and awe for my family and me for many years. It is one of three remaining kettle hole bogs in the state created from retreating glaciers that melted into land-locked ponds. No open water is visible, but the peat can be up to twenty feet deep.
The 0.8 mile looped boardwalks lead through upland borders of eastern larch, balsam fir, birches, and black spruce. During July we feast on sun-warmed blueberries along the boardwalk. In the upland border, we spy white tufted cottongrass, spindly white-fringed bog orchids, and pitcher plants.
And here, just at the edge of the peat bog, where I hold my breath each time my children gleefully jump up and down on the quaking bog to make my boards bounce, and where the burgundy pitcher plant flowers are starting to shrivel in the summer heat, the tiny sundew is hiding, nestled amongst the sphagnum mosses growing adjacent to the boardwalk. These small jewels are less than two inches across, but a world of action occurs in this carnivorous plant. The reddish hairs ooze a sticky substance to capture insects like ants and flies. The Drosera genus of sundews has over 190 species, and the round-leaved sundew is not endangered in New Hampshire.
By August, the acidic bog is turning brilliant scarlet and fuchsia, and tart bog cranberries are ripening along the boardwalk for as far we can see. By fall, showy red winterberry thickets provide food for eastern towhee, magnolia warblers, and white-throated sparrows that are amassing to begin their migration.
It became clear to me that I needed to paint my recollections of this unique place. My favorite plant of all was the delicate sundew. But how to depict it hidden alongside the mats of moss and sedge? My challenge was to find a center of interest to give the viewer a tiny window into the life of the bog. By enlarging the sundew and placing it amidst all of those plants, I could manage to explain the hairy arms of spatulate leaves heavy with the sticky dew, while figuring out how to showcase the surrounding community of sphagnum mosses knitted and woven with green-leaved cranberry stems. It was a challenge, not only to determine my palette of paints, but to create a feeling of depth surrounding each layered plant.
This painting is small, just 11 inches wide by 10 inches high, creating a jeweled world of bog plants that nest around, on top, and interlaced with each other. The colors are a child’s crayon box of bright hues, with the sparkle of light bouncing off each dew drop and the moistened moss. I hope my painting makes my viewers want to delve into the world of the bog.
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Read more about this artist's work: 25th Annual