Story behind the art of Carol Woodin

29th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators

Pairs: Trout Lily and Blue Cohosh

Erythronium americanum, Caulophyllum thalictroides

Spring is always an exciting time. Everything seems to happen at once, and if you’re not attentive enough, you can miss a lot. My husband Paul and I have some favorite haunts to go to for ephemeral spring wildflowers and are always finding new places. It’s a gift to yourself to spend a day looking at wildflowers and listening to birds, breathing fresh spring air, and catching the occasional rain shower. 

I’ve started a series called Pairs, to show two different native wildflowers in “conversation”. This is painted in watercolor on vellum that has been stretched over a panel. While this is only the second in the series, I have a few more studies completed and ready to paint.

These two wildflowers are quite different from one another, but they flower at around the same time. I’m lucky to have a patch of trout lilies (Erythronium americanum) in our side yard and each spring it is a banner moment when the sun comes out, the flowers open, and all of a sudden, I notice them. Alongside their lovely yellow reflexing petals, their mottled leaves are gorgeous. As for the blue cohosh, a few years ago a dear friend of ours wanted to explore a remarkable place for spring ephemerals he had a record of in the western Catskills. We picked him up and arrived at a trailhead to be guided by a decades-old hand-drawn map he had. The hike was longer than expected, but it was filled with interesting things, and we wandered contentedly until we reached the area we were looking for. It was filled with wildflowers – Claytonia, Hepatica, Viola, Erythronium, and more, all in large numbers. I spent some time there sitting on a log making a quick drawing and painting of the blue cohosh, with its dark purple stems and waxy surfaces. It was just up out of the ground and starting to bud and flower, its leaves not yet unfurled. Those two early, delicate spring flowers seemed to be a perfect match, but something was missing. I decided to tie them together with a few oak leaves trying to peek into the frame.

Sadly, we lost our friend this winter, so this painting’s time had come, to remember our many happy walks with him.

Back to List