Lady’s Slipper Orchid Mimics the Old Masters

There is a small patch of Lady’s Slipper Orchids in the ditch near our place. It really is a miracle that this small group of delicate flowers continues to live where they do. Browsing deer and the county mowing program reduce the chances that the flowers will multiply by seed.

Here are the photos I took of them, but I’ve described them as a painter would!

The Mona Orchid by Margio da Antelope Street

Margio used an inverted pyramid design to place the flower simply and calmly in the space of the photograph.

The enigmatic and slightly open mouth expression, common to the entire Orchid family, is a genetic adaptation that allows Mona to call out to her family, “Heads down! The county mowing machine is heading our way!”

Mona and her family really should move further from the edge of the road…

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Someone’s Mother by Margie (a Whistling Bird is nearby)

Margie achieves tonal composition and harmony in a simple pose of quiet contemplation.

You find a lot of junk when you’re searching through lost and tossed photo ephemera, but every so often you’ll find a gem, a wallet-sized masterpiece you’re certain could hang on the wall of a gallery if only someone with a name had taken it. Find one or two of those and you’re hooked for life.
– Ransom Riggs –