King Protea

The king protea — South Africa's national flower — explodes across the picture plane in a riot of coral, rose, and deep magenta. Rendered in pastel pencil with a botanist's eye for detail and a painter's instinct for drama, the fringed crown of the bloom dominates the composition while supporting flowers and foliage press in from every edge. Few subjects reward close looking the way this one does. Original pastel pencil on paper, signed by the artist. 19½" × 14".