Water Lilies

I find water lilies fascinating. I think it’s because of their unique aquatic nature and their over the top blooms. Below the surface water lilies, with their underwater stems reaching from the bottom to the surface, create a complex microhabitat sheltering fry, amphibians, and a myriad of insects. Their stems create the migration bridge allowing insect larvae, such as dragonflies, to crawl from their aquatic birthplace to the surface where they molt to adults. Above the surface the blooms create a perfect perch for flying insects, especially dragon and damsel flies. Like many flowering plants, horticultural varieties have been manipulated in attempt to meet our expectations, but even in the nature their range of colors and bloom size are incredible.

The 2018 Water Lily Collection is made up primarily of horticultural varieties. In hindsight it’s a bit heavy on the color red, but there is always next year. Their titles are self-explanatory, with exception of ‘Red Water Lily #6’. Within RWL #6, at the 8 o’clock position is a dragonfly nymph peeking between petals at the above water world, likely for the first time. I’m not going to suggest I saw the nymph when I took the photo, but I did enjoy the moment after I saw the little guy during processing the work.

Each member of the collection started with my photographs, which I then manipulated to add texture and interest.

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