This is a lovely artistic watercolor botanical print printed in hawaii in 1979. The lithograph presents the plant in the common composition of a floral print, as a close-up of the species on its own on a white background sans any landscape. The colors are vibrant in the leaves, petals, bulb, and stem and the drawing shows a definite artistic quality. With continued loss of habitat, these warm climate plants are of interest to the biologist and naturalist and may be subject to conservation, unable to be picked or transplanted from their temperate environment. Fortunately, such flora can often be found in a nursery or horticulture design center.

To see more prints from this series, please see our other auctions. Would make a great gift for the garden botanist or gardener. Fine wall accent in a bath room or for Laura Ashley decor.

DESCRIPTION OF FLOWER:

The Unashamed Hibiscus! The most flamboyant of flowers, hibiscus bloom for a day then fade for the next days' buds to open. They come in every color except blue, single and double, frilly, curved, full of nectar-seeking ants, ubiquitous. They are the State Flower of Hawaii. Nobody knows whether the hibiscus really is a native of China as its latin name, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, (rosa-sinensis = Chinese Rose) suggests or not. Some says it comes from India. Certain is that it has existed in Europe for centuries. Old Moorish (Arabic) sources mention hibiscus being cultivated in Spain, Andalusia to be exact, already in the twelfth century. How closely related these 'hibiscus' were to todays Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hybrids we can only speculate in. Many claims that Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is not a natural species at all but a collection of manmade hybrids. Its long history of cultivation could support such a view.

This large shrub or small tree grows to 15' high in frost-free climates. The toothed leaves are arranged alternately and vary a lot, but tend to be large, dark green, and shiny. This plant has a coarse texture and may be upright or broad and spreading. It is often many-stemmed. Flowers are glorious and huge at their best -- up to 6" in diameter -- and occur in many colors. Most are flared and have a bell shape and may be single or double, smooth or scalloped. They have a long central tube with stamens and pistils at the tip.

Gay Corran was born in Cambridge, England, during the war. In 1958/59 she came to Hawaii for the first time to spend a year with her grandfather, and attended Punahou School. After her return to England, she went into teaching, more by luck than good management, and taught Art at Boys Preparatory Boarding School for two years. From there she married, far too young, a clever cricketing mathematician and had five children in seven years. After recovering from this mistaken effort to populate Southern England with artistic cricketers, she started painting again and, rather to her own surprise, met with immediate success. She would recommend this particular route to career in art to no one, but began to find that her strongly stated flower pictures "walked off the walls" as soon as she put them up. A friend in Bermuda, where her parents live, began to sell her paintings from his art gallery and published a series of books of Her Bermuda Flowers, and also notelets. After this success came a book of English Autumn flower Prints. And in 1979, twenty years after her first visit, Gay was back in the islands with her family, doing water colors for Hawaii Flowers. Her original paintings are sold from Heritage House, Hamilton, Bermuda; from several English galleries; and from her own sixteenth century house, Mannings Hill, Cranleigh, Surrey, England.

SIZE: Print size is 8" x 11"

CONDITION: Condition is excellent. Blank on reverse. Printed on thick cardboard stock paper.