D e n m a n S t u d i o s Showcasing the Art of A n d r e w D e n m a n
Home Available from Denman Studios Available from These Fine Galleries Available at Special Events Limited Edition Reproductions Archive of Previous Work Solo Touring Show: The Modern Wild About the Artist Contact Purchasing Information News & Events Teaching & Workshops Videos Commission Policy Galleries Newsletter & Mailing List Facebook Linked In Links	<Back to Thumbnails "Spathe & Spadix" 11 x 11" Graphite & Nero Pencil on Watercolor Board2014 Anthurium Inflorescence SOLD How to buy, general information As a young teenager, I became fascinated with tropical plants. When other kids were buying CD’s and expensive clothes, I was spending my money on house plants, collecting seeds, and eventually even experimenting (mostly unsuccessfully) with cross-breeding. Though I’ve gone through many horticultural obsessions, from canna lilies to passion flowers, from bromeliads to succulents, the common thread has always been the exotic. Even when non-tropicals have caught my fancy, Japanese Maples for instance, I am never content to grow anything ordinary, instead seeking out only the rarest and most unusual cultivars. Even in the realm of cut flowers, I find it almost impossible to buy a rose or a daffodil, not when there are heliconia, protea, and anthurium to be had. I’ve never successfully grown anthurium (never having had a proper greenhouse), but I relish their long-lasting, waxy inflorescences in a vase. Their heart shaped bracts and long vase life have understandably made them a fairly universal symbol of everlasting love, but I think such niceties gloss over their more evocative qualities. With their glossy, wet-looking spathe and long, rigid spadix, it’s hard not to find something wonderfully sensual, indeed downright overtly sexual, about an anthurium. Of course all flowers are quite literally plant sex organs, but this one makes it clear with a curious mix of burlesque brashness and elegant refinement. I chose to portray this specimen in dramatic side lighting against a rich, velvety blackness in order to highlight the sophisticated, sculptural, quality of the plant. Set in the square format and striped of the distraction of color, this lone inflorescence becomes an icon of carved stone, a Venus idol no less potent than Willendorf, Lespugue, or Dolní Vestonice.
Welcome to the online home for artwork by Andrew Denman, a California –based, internationally recognized, award-winning contemporary wildlife artist. Denman primarily paints wildlife and animal subjects in a unique, hallmark style combining hyper-realism with stylization and abstraction. His dynamic and original acrylic paintings can be found in museum collections on two continents and in numerous private collections in the USA and abroad. His clear voice, unique vision, and commitment to constant artistic experimentation have positioned him on the forefront of an artistic vanguard of the best contemporary wildlife and animal painters working today. All artwork and text featured on this page and throughout this website is protected by international copyright laws. Use of these images or text is prohibited without the express written permission of Andrew Denman.