Leaf of the Day: True Loveliness

I now have 40 drawings and paintings almost ready, with their accompanying re-written texts (and rewritten and rewritten). When they are framed, even in the simple little display frames they look quite nice. I am not sure how many people will take the time to look at pencil drawing though. In this colour junkie society these may look very insignificant.
There will however, be some colour and, almost in contradiction, I have decided to paint some more white flowers, but they will have coloured backgrounds. White flowers really are my favourites and so, this time, it’s a quick sketch of the beautiful Eucharis grandiflora, the Amazon Lily. It has been blooming here at Leu since early December, tucked away in the tropical rainforest, neighbour to, and until recently, overwhelmed by the eerie Black Bat flower, Tacca chantrieri (which I wrote about back in July here). This is a really elegant flower, half lily, half daffodil in its looks.
The name Eucharis comes from the Greek eu- “good, true, original”, and charis “loveliness, grace, and favour”. Flattened filaments form a central trumpet which is decorated with six tiny anthers. Quite beautiful.

I think I may make a few more white flower sketches, there are so many very pretty ones about at the moment.

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The Amazon Lily


Watercolour on Kilimanjaro Not , 6 ” x 5″