Paphiopedilum glanduliferum, WIP illustration on porcelain:

Although I don’t want to completely ditch “The Pebble Line” of my work, my decorative process has evolved in a satisfying way that I must pursue. My new process involves drawing an outline of my subject (usually plant-themed) in graphite pencil, using my underglazes like watercolors to fill in color and some light fine lines, and then I wax resist the whole surface and carve the outline and defining details that I want to be bold and black, then fill in the carved lines with black underglaze. When I am painting with the underglazes, I think about the layers and which ones will show through after the firing. I painted the maroon lines first on the orchid above, and then used watered-down green to blend over the top of it and create shaded areas, because I want the green to appear on top after the glaze firing, but I also know that it is the weakest color here and that the maroon will blast back up through to the surface.

This is one of 4 dessert plates with different species of Paphiopedilum orchids illustrated on them. As spring here on the east coast creeps its way in, I will most likely be illustrating collected plant specimens. As part of a late New Year’s resolution, I decided that I want to start making a personal plant specimen collection, complete with professional scientific data, field notes, and photos. I plan to collect duplicates to send to the Intermountain Herbarium at Utah State University. The idea of my resolution is to bring myself back around to my inner botanist by practicing what I learned in the four years I worked in the herbarium. Guess I should shop for an Eastern North American plant key…