Of Serendipity and Yellow Lady Slippers

Yellow Lady Slipper, 10 x 8", acrylic on canvas
by Tracy Feldman

I got inspired to create this little painting on our annual family trip to the mid-west.  Carol, a self-taught naturalist, and niece of my brother-in-law, Lenny, took us on a nature hike in the Waterloo Recreation area.  The primary purpose was so Lenny would be able to photograph a blue-winged warbler.  The bird never showed itself, but the trip wasn't wasted.  We had a great walk and just happened to be during the time when Yellow Lady Slippers were in bloom in a swampy area by one of the lakes.  What serendipity!

     I had never seen a yellow lady slipper before, but I've loved this relative of orchids since I first saw a pink lady slipper when I was around 4 years old.  We were visiting the cabin of family friends at the eastern end of Long Island. Today it might be hard to imagine, but in the 1950's much more of that area was pretty wild.   After the long drive we took to get to the cabin,  I was disappointed by how small and simple the cabin was. But then I spotted the pink lady slipper  at the edge of the property. Its delicate beauty captured me immediately and my fascination was only increased when our friend  Ken,  told me how lucky I was to see it since they were so rare and special.  That moment ignited a life-long love of flowers and nature. 

Pink Lady Slipper

      I took a number of images of the yellow lady slippers on the walk, and I may paint other of the images later.  I painted this image first because I love the mysterious nature of the out of focus foliage in the back, and how the dark values make the yellow of the slipper seem to glow.

     On the right is an image of pink lady slipper that I found on a forest service website , so if you want to learn more about these lovely, threatened wildflowers, check out the site.  Notice how the hood and leaves are proportionately so much longer than the "slipper" in the yellow lady slipper.  But, both are still beautiful.

   As usual, I'm posting this little painting for sale on my Daily Paintworks gallery and auction site.  Check it out there if you might be interested in this piece.