Cow Parsley
My flower of choice
First time ever
I’ve been preparing for my first ever teaching assignment. I set some homework, as requested, for my ladies which was to choose a favourite flower that’s blooming now. I’ve asked them to think about the flower and what it means to them. We will use this to help them paint intuitively in class in a couple of weeks time.
Abundance
I have chosen cow parsley. It is a favourite time of year to see this wild flower proliferate the hedgerows. Their abundant exuberance seems to come all at once and soften the vibrant greens everywhere. Creamy white blossoms, like clouds of loveliness gently nodding in the breeze as you pass by.
Cow parsley also known as Queen Anne’s lace or wild chervil has a willowy delicate habit. Tiny 5 petal flowers sit on top of tall slender stems. They’re known as umbels, forming umbrella like canopies. Their leaves are fine and fern like. They are a useful source of early pollen for insects including butterflies. It is vital not to confuse them with hogweed which looks incredibly similar but is very poisonous. This could be the reason for cow parsley’s more sinister other name of ‘mother-die’. Not so pretty! And finally, a university in Italy has discovered cow parsley holds high levels of an important compound, lignin, which are being used in some anti-cancer treatments. NOT just a pretty flower then!
Learning to see in a deeper way
Learning all about these details are useful in helping to build a picture in my mind of the flower. It helps hold the subject in my subconscious when it comes time to painting later. I am teaching my group of ladies to see their subject with a little more depth, not just in a looking way but also in a knowledgeable and a feeling way.
When I was a girl. . .
To me, hedgerows bursting with cow parsley remind me of being a young girl, cycling through country lanes on my bicycle with my friend. We were attempting to escape the confines of our homes and the boredom of the days during the long school holidays. Life was far more simple back then. No internet, precious little to see on the 3 channels we had on our TV’s and being in a village, very little entertainment of any kind, apart from that which we made ourselves. My Mum couldn’t drive and Dad was always working. My bike was freedom. An escape.
Finding a narrative
By giving the flower of our choice a bit more consideration than just a cursory glance, we are rounding it out, giving it a narrative. We can build stories and bring our hearts into our work. It brings expression and a part of us and is a wonderful way into intuitive painting. Yes of course there are all the technical skills we need to think about but getting bogged down in these takes away the joy in your painting, for you and perhaps for the viewer too.
Describing the experience
There are so many ways to approach painting and in the past I have used photographs and had a need to reproduce what I can see. This left me dissatisfied and underwhelmed. Now I can see that it is my desire to describe the experience of whatever it is I am painting and by giving it some forethought it can help lead a way in. And so this is what I hope to show to my class.
It feels very ‘grown up’ to have a class to teach. My friend always wanted to teach when we were growing up, I never did. I wanted to work in a bank - how glamourous! It wasn’t 😂 Now, being given the opportunity to teach feels exciting and a privilege.
I’ll write again after the class and let you know how it went.
What is your favourite flower of this season?
Does it bring back memories for you and have a special place in your heart? Perhaps it’s something you had in a wedding bouquet that holds special memories.
I’d love to chat to you. Post a comment below and let’s talk flowers, art and childhood memories.
A lovely post. I also enjoyed the photos. I remember Queen Anne's lace from when I was a girl growing up on a farm near many woods in Northern Minnesota in the U.S. They are a very prolific wildflower. I've never heard them called cow's parsley, but it is a fitting name. Nor did I know they were also called wild chervil. So you've taught me something important I should have known!