- Marcel Proust
A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!
Arum Lilies - Acrylic on Gesso primed un-stretched canvas - 9" x 12" - Maree©
Definitely a first for me, doing a subject that is not true to life. I mean, really, Orange Arums?! What next?! Normally for me, as here, once I apply a back-ground, that normally sets the tone for the rest of the colour palette. And it seemed a natural progression of incorporating orange as the contrast to the yellow back-ground.
All species of Arums (or Zantedeschia) are endemic to southern Africa. Z. aethiopica grows naturally in marshy areas and is only deciduous when water becomes scarce. It grows continuously when watered and fed regularly and can survive periods of minor frosts.
The Zantedeschia species are poisonous due to the presence of calcium oxalate. All parts of the plant are toxic, and produce irritation and swelling of the mouth and throat, acute vomiting and diarrhoea. A beautiful flower carrying a deadly secret!
Maree, your style in acrylic is free and sketchy and you are not wrong withe the colour as our own Pick & Pay had and assortment of arum plants in different colours the other day.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your info about Zantedeschia being poisonous is wrong? At the end of August and through September 2009, I painted and discussed this lily on my blog. We discussed uses for the plant and my daughter mentioned that she was served food wrapped in an arum leaf. Then Theresa Miller answered: "Guess what, I have eaten the stalks of the plants you've mentioned in a restaurant in the mountains of Nagano, Japan. They tasted delicious when seasoned with miso paste and delicious local spices....AUGUST 29, 2009 11:08 AM"
Glad to hear I'm not far off the mark with the colour Marie! However, as far as the poisonous info is concerned, Wiki says, "The Zantedeschia species are poisonous due to the presence of calcium oxalate. "All parts of the plant are toxic, and produce irritation and swelling of the mouth and throat, acute vomiting and diarrhea." However leaves are sometimes cooked and eaten." at this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zantedeschia and also from this link - http://www.health.qld.gov.au/poisonsinformationcentre/plants_fungi/arumlily.asp - it says, "All parts of the plant are poisonous including the yellow spike and surrounding white spathe. If eaten, symptoms can include swelling of the tongue and throat, stomach pain, vomiting and severe diarrhoea. Severe swelling or gastric irritation may become life threatening." - maybe there's a secret to the preparation like with prawns!
ReplyDeleteNever thought of eating them! Love the colours - next it will be little orange frogs that live in them!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Liz, and I doubt if I will ever be eating them Liz! I would actually LOVE to see those little frogs living in them, we don't get that up here in Gauteng...
ReplyDelete