Margaret Saul
Limited Edition Botanical Prints
Pink Dogwood Cornus florida

Limited edition Cornus florida (Pink Dogwood) print

Cornus florida (Pink Dogwood)
56x43 cm (22"x17") $180

Click on image for detailed view

The flowering branch that inspired this painting grew low on the tree, presenting me with a fascinating aerial view of the action, not as one positioned in the typically horizontal layered effect commonly associated with dogwoods. It conjured up fascinating visions of a swirling dance, an image further enhanced when realizing all elements within the flowers were set in sequences of four. I also enjoyed how the spokes – formed by the slender yet rigid, radiating branches connecting this dance – created a pleasing contrast to the swirling movement of rounded elements. The tiny yellow bell-like, four-petal flowers (held within a domed, spiral cluster in the center of each set of four large pink, petaloid sepals) were, at this early stage of its flowering, still fresh and well formed – the stage before most new leaves appear. This work beckoned for a background of unobtrusive gray shapes to mimic the pink blooms and so create further interest, unity and dimension but I hasten to add that cast shadows they are not, as subtle three-dimensional form within some of these shapes can be realized upon closer viewing.

Original image area: 48.5x38.5 cm (19.5"x15") Watercolor and color pencil on Fabriano Uno watercolor paper.

The original painting is available for purchase.