artHound

Dry as a Bone
block print

Because cacti are not usually poisonous, Fiddleneck was the plant of choice for Dry as a Bone. It’s invasive and can be deadly to livestock foraging in barren areas where it thrives.

From the start I knew that Red as a Beet would have to feature the Mandrake. Because I had the complete image already in mind it was left for last. Bad planning. It took three tries to create a print where the groping Mandrakes and the blushing beet appeared to be underground!

Red as a Beet
block print

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland provided us with an iconic mad hatter. In fact, it’s hard to imagine a hatter that doesn’t look like Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations. More recently, in the 2010 movie, Alice in Wonderland, Johnny Depp’s interpretation left viewers with a similarly memorable personage. So when it came to creating the image for Mad as a Hatter, it was difficult to avoid the obvious – at least until I decided to scrap the stack of drawings (too reminiscent of both John and Johnny) and go for a hatter that is crafty and just a bit crazy.

Datura, chosen for its likelihood of bringing on symptoms of madness, provides the hatter with a handy pincushion/seed pod!

Mad as a Hatter
block print

The mercury once used in the manufacture of felt has been attributed to the madness that inflicted hatters, but the overall craziness could also be symptomatic of poisoning from Datura (Datura stramonium). Its other name, Jimson Weed, shortened from Jamestown Weed, refers to the Virginia settlers who dosed the invading British soldiers’ food, causing them to behave like lunatics for days while the colonists regrouped.

Second in the Potent as a Charm series . . . Blind as a Bat!

Blind as a Bat
block print

Native to eastern North America, Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) has been used by Native Americans for its curative properties and as a dye. Its juice is not only red, but also poisonous. As an ornamental plant it is desirable, blooming very early in the spring. And that bat flying overhead . . . although some consider it a talisman, one can never be sure – those who fear Bram Stoker’s creations should carry some garlic when looking for Bloodroot after dark.

Image area is 4 1/2 x 9 inches.

Hot as a Hare
block print

H is for Hemlock? The savvy hare would never mistake Hemlock (Conium maculatum) for its relatives in the parsley family: caraway, fennel, dill and carrots. Besides, he has the luck of four rabbit’s feet.

The finished print has the hare under the night sky and his constellation, Lepus. Image measures 4 1/2 x 9 inches.

In a little over a month I will be exhibiting in First Impressions, Celebrating the Process of Printmaking at Summit Artspace. Curator Dan Coffield’s proposal involved the inclusion of process materials and proof prints to illustrate the artist’s journey from idea to finished art. The series I plan to exhibit is As Potent As a Charm, a reference to Rappaccini’s Garden by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While my ideas and sketches are numerous, the quickly approaching deadline requires that I narrow the focus to a workable number of pieces, so I am concentrating on five images inspired by the poisoning mnemonic: Hot as a Hare, Blind as a Bat, Dry as a Bone, Red as a Beet and Mad as a Hatter.

First up is that feverish hare. He probably shouldn’t have nibbled on the hemlock.

For mystery and intrigue look no further than the perennial bed outside your door. There’s a chance that the sunny border contains some dark secrets – cheerful looking plants hiding dangerous tendencies grow among flowers whose relatives are positively murderous. Tales of encounters with deadly botanicals have been a part of history and literature for centuries – consider Socarates . . . Shakespeare . . . and Harry Potter.

Beatrice, the title character from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1844 story, Rappaccini’s Daughter, tended her father’s walled garden of potent specimens. Her intimate contact with the subjects of his medicinal research proved disastrous. Hawthorne’s descriptions of Beatrice’s garden detailed the flowers, the crumbling statuary and fountains and the general decay, but left out specific plant identifications. Imagining possible plantings, my initial sketches feature such possibilities as Castor Bean, Foxglove, Datura and Henbane.