words + pictures from the studio of Joan Colbert
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There have been many surprises in the ongoing research on poisonous plants for the As Potent as a Charm series. Not the least is the number of common landscape/foundation plantings that add a hint of danger to the structure of the garden. Consider this threesome of familiar shrubs:
left to right: oleander, yew and rhododendron
Tags: drawing, line drawing, oleander, rhododendron, yew
From the drawing table . . . combining sketches for another print in the As Potent as a Charm series. This time it’s Brugmansia, specifically Brugmansia suaveleons, often called Angel’s Trumpet. This is yet another lovely, yet lethal, flower from the Solanaceae family. John Robertson, in his summary on The Poison Garden Website, says it best: “In northern climates this attractive plant is often grown indoors because people assume its common name refers to the look of the flowers rather than the indication that this is the sound to be heard after ingestion of a fatal amount.”
Tags: angel's trumpet, Brugmansia, drawing, line drawing, Solanaceae
Black sheep and skeletons in the closet . . .
even the plant world has its share of family secrets, eccentrics and deviants.
Consider the family Solanaceae, commonly referred to as either the nightshade or potato family: members of this unwieldy clan run the gamut from the meek to the murderous.
The final line drawings of five pairings of Solanaceae are ready to be transferred to linoleum blocks – the newest in the As Potent as a Charm series. In each combination the virtuous shares space with the disreputable.
Look for mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) and the potato (Solanum tuberosa), deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and Petunia, henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and eggplant (Solanum melongena), bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), along with tobacco (Nicotiana) and chili pepper (Capsicum). With about 2,690 additional species, the history of the Solanaceae family’s interaction with humans is one of dramatic trial and error, malevolence and goodwill.
The Solanaceae relief prints will be included in a solo exhibit late this year:
As Potent as a Charm
December 4 – 31, 2015
the BOX gallery
140 East Market Street
Akron, Ohio 44308
Tags: line drawing, poison, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae
