by martine robinson BArch, SBAF
Watercolour
h: 57 w: 38 d: 1 (cms).
As the hot, dry Western Cape summer draws to a close, the sight of the first spathes of Amaryllis belladonna emerging from among its dry leaves fills me with excitement. This heralds the start of the winter rainfall season with the promise of floriferous geophytes. Their fragrant, delicate pink blooms, bring back memories of the farmhouse garden where I grew up, and from where some of the magnificent decades old bulbs, originate. The flowers are pollinated by moths. The plant’s strap-like leaves appear only during the winter months, dying back in summer when the bulb becomes dormant—a remarkable survival strategy known as hysteranthy. The composition of this painting is based on the golden rectangle with one of the stems following the diagonal line. Within the proportional division, the flowers fill the upper rectangle. With the rectangle inverted, the bud lies on the intersecting line between the smaller square and rectangle.
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by martine robinson BArch, SBAF
Watercolour
h: 38 w: 57 d: 1 (cms).
After lying dormant through summer, this winter-growing geophyte flourishes in seasonal ponds and vleis. As autumn and winter rains fill seasonal ponds, oval leaves quickly spread across the surface. A member of one of the more primitive plant families, it produces fragrant, forked inflorescence with tiny white, single-petalled flowers and prominent anthers. The delicate blooms rise above the water during flowering, but once pollinated, the flowers sink below the surface as seeds begin to form—a fascinating transformation, and one that proved particularly challenging to capture compositionally. About four seeds develop per follicle; once the seedhead is mature, it’s ready to harvest. A delicious traditional Cape stew, waterblommetjiebredie, is made with the fruit, mutton, onions, wine, and tart sorrel. This painting depicts the plant’s life cycle using a golden rectangle (Fibonacci spiral) composition, with flowers at key intersections. The focus is the largely submerged fruit.
Please Note: If you are overseas and interested in a purchase there will be additional costs for postage and packaging added to this price. Feel free to enquire about this using the button below. If no price is shown, the work is not for sale.