Artists paint for various reasons, but nearly every painting has a story.  Today’s painting is ……

Lynda Earley’s Indian Pipe Under Black Spruce

This watercolour and pen image was inspired by photographs I took of this unusual plant growing on the forest floor on my son’s property near McBride, British Columbia.

This plant is unique because it does not have chlorophyll and thus does not need sunlight to grow.  Although it looks somewhat fungi-like, it has flowers.  In my photographs and in my painting, the plants have a greenish yellow glow because of sunlight reflecting off the surrounding greenery; in reality they are white.  Hence their other names: Ghost plant and Corpse plant.  The Coast Salish believe that these plants grow only where wolves urinate; they have medical and hallucinogenic qualities.  In my painting I tried to catch their dreamlike, mystical appearance.  To see more of Lynda’ paintings, click Lynda Earley’s Art.