My Christmas Paintbrush: August 2015

Monday, August 31, 2015

The 2015 Poinsettia Story

I have terribly neglected My Christmas Paintbrush page and I have to be remiss if I did not step in and post a why!?

I have been sidetracked in writing my book and most recently, Spring and Summer gardening, one of my other, dear to my heart, passions. (I really should punctuate that with an exclamation point as all of my friends on Facebook and Instagram get updates on my herb and veggie garden at least... every other day.)

My Puny Poinsettia

red poinsettia leaves touched with water droplets

I was on a journey with the growing things. I felt if I really wanted to understand poinsettias and other leafy creatures in my art realm it was most certainly necessary to help bring them to life through seed and start (impossible for a poinsettia), dedicate time to water and nurture them, and tend to them when the seasons wafted in and away. My only sickly poinsettia is actually a dollar store find and I have managed to almost kill it at least three dozen times. It recently found shelter behind my green grape vine and appears to be thriving at the moment.

I cooed in delight when I found this tiny plant in the store and set it on my table to enjoy its lovely color and shape that first winter. It had spotted flower centers touched in yellow and dashes of red. The leaves above were lovely, bright scarlet and the under leafy bracts were lovely shades of dark and lighter green. The leaves had a vein to them here and there in even spacing. The stems an odd slight turn and a noteable bow in small increments. The lively plant thing began to fade soon into the holidays and drop a few leaves and I adjusted it to the new life it would live here by removing the fancy paper around the pot and setting it where it would not find a draft. There it went on to live, Plain, plant life. A spent decoration.

Poinsettias are nice houseplants if you do not have a rowdy bunch of kittens or tumbling kids around knocking things about and being occasionally clumsy. The sharp looking leaves and small branches are delicate and destroy easily, dripping a sticky, milky substance upon everything around them if broken. They are reported to be poisonous, but I have never dared to doubt the claim. It looks like poison coming out of the stem, so I mind my creatures and small persons carefully and place the plant out of reach and bump. During warmer months, this tender plant stays in shady areas in my herb bed, but when chill threatens it comes back inside where it can stay toasty warm.

Some magical Christmas I shall find the right combination of light to bring out the colors on this plant, but for now I am content to use its shapes and curves as inspiration for my already favorite paintings, namely, the poinsettias I do every Christmas time on the window panes of my clients. During these times this song always sticks in my ear as do the other Carols of the season.

Browse the archives for now or step over to my site and learn more about this art form and the delight it brings both artist and admirer.