Feeling Fuchsia

Communing with Hummingbirds

Feeling Fuchsia with a Touch of Purple, acrylic & tempera on canvas

garden view inspirations
nature's cycle of life on my windowsill
la primavera
one never tires to watch
magnificent colors of procreation
tear drop shapes hanging boldly
magentas, purples, deep reds
communing with hummingbirds

There are 110 known species of Fuchsia.  Named after the German physician and botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566), the bright colors of the fuchsia plant attract hummingbirds (to pollinate them).

According to Trinity College Dublin, "Fuchs’ interest in realistic representations accorded with the Renaissance ideal of naturalism, but it also served a practical purpose – he wanted his book to be a reference for his medical students and fellow doctors. While the images were cutting-edge for their time, Fuchs was not as revolutionary in the text, and his description of each plant’s medicinal properties still draws largely on the writings of Greek and Roman authors such as Dioscorides, Galen and Pliny." 

Woodcut from Fuchs' book De Historia Stirpium
Source: Glasgow University Library

Leonhart Fuchs' book De Historia Stirpium features 400 native European species of plants and over 100 domestic species.  What is so interesting to me is Fuchs hired three artists to document and illustrate from life the 511 plants in the book.  The artists were: a painter who used watercolor to illustrate the plants from life; a printmaker who transfered the illustrations to woodblocks; a second printmaker who carved the blocks and printed the images.