MARY FROST

African Violet

It took Mary a year to complete this painting.
The plant ceased blooming halfway through so she waited and worked on other things until it bloomed for her again.
She worked hard on the fleshy leaf texture while her plant was recovering and setting new blossoms. 
The composition is delightful...
Well worth the wait.

Orchid

This painting also took about a year to complete.
The blossom Mary was drawing got knocked off and in the interim she conceived of this imaginative composition, showing the different stages of growth from bud to flower.
The painted, dried blossom took many weeks of careful painting under a magnifying lens to capture the papery wrinkles in detail.

Below are some close-ups of the different parts of the painting including the tiny crinkled blossom.
The whole painting measures approx. 12" x 16".

This little curled up blossom is only about an inch wide and was painted with a #000 brush.


Nigella

Mary painted this Nigella blossom in the fall, when the rest of the plant was going to seed. 
She managed to keep the last blooms alive just long enough to create this delicate, lacy portrait.


Mary worked very diligently this past year without being able to see anything to completion through no fault of her own.
Working with plants is a tricky business; they move around, they dry up and die, they have their own lives!
It's hard to keep working when the fruits of your labours keep putting you off until tomorrow. 
You can imagine the relief when it all comes together and the year comes to a close with three such lovely paintings to show for it.

All in all, a marvelous year's work and a testament to patience and perseverance!