New life
It is a beautiful sunny morning as I sit in my garden typing away at my keyboard. New life is sprouting through the warm soil, and the birds are flitting in and out of the greenery, busy collecting twigs for their nests. I have my eye on the progress of one particular plant, my peony. Over the last few weeks I've watched the red shoots of the peony emerge from the ground, and continue to grow upwards.
Over the last couple of days those red shoots and leaves have become darker green foliage, and a display of burgundy buds sit at the top of each stem.
I will need to wait a bit longer before I see the gorgeous pink blooms that this peony plant produces, they are one of my favourite flowers to draw. In the mean time I have been looking back through my collection of peony drawings and paintings and I have a put together a small collection to share with you.
A collection of my art and a story inspired by the beauty of peonies.
Pretty in Pink
Peony Buds
'Peonies at the Window' and 'Fern Trees' 2017- Water-based paint on mount board. Approximately 53 mm x 79 mm_
Pink Blush
My story and illustrations The rain fairy and the armies of ants
The Rain Fairy and the Armies of Ants
Down in the valley, between the rolling green hills, sat a quaint little cottage with a picturesque garden. In this garden grew poppies and roses, lavenders and daisies, and peonies.
There were lots of peony plants, red ones and white ones, and one solitary pink one. On this pink peony lived two ants. The two ants loved to drink the nectar from the peony, and spent their days running up and down the peony bud. There was more than enough nectar for both of the ants, but anytime their paths on the flower crossed they argued over which of them owned the peony. There was a whole garden of flowers, and they could have their pick of any, but they both only wanted this flower. The fact that the other seemed to want it made the flower even more appealing to them. The peony had become a prize they were both willing to fight over.
Each ant told the other ants they knew all about the peony flower, and their battle over its special nectar. Before long it wasn’t just the two ants fighting over the peony, but two armies of ants! They fought over the flower until the peony became weak from holding the fighting armies. The peony bent her head with sadness over the bitterness of the arguments and destruction around her.
The clouds looked down and saw the peony hanging her head low. They brought themselves nearer to the ground, lowering a mist across the garden. When the clouds came closer they could see the warring ants and hear the harsh words being spoken.
The queen of the clouds bent down to the peony and kissed her leaf, leaving behind a tiny blue dew drop. Inside the dew drop, wrapped up tightly in ball, was a small baby rain fairy. She was growing inside the tiny dew drop egg.
After 3 days and nights the surface of the dew drop broke, and the delicate rain fairy emerged. She could see the warring ants around her, and feel the sorrow of the peony running through the leaf beneath her feet. The rain fairy raised her arms to the clouds and drops of water began to fall from the sky, landing on the peony bud and rolling down its surface. As each rain drop landed and rolled down it carried with it one of the fighting ants, until all the ants were in a puddle of water beneath the flower. Waving their antennae in the air and calling for help, the ants looked like shipwrecked sailors. In an act of kindness, the rain fairy told the peony to bend her head even lower. The peony bent her head to touch the surface of the puddle and the ants clambered on to her soft petals and found refuge.
After that day the two armies of ants learnt to share the peony. The peony lifted her head to the sky and opened her petals as a sign of gratitude to the clouds. The rain fairy made her home on the peony nestled amongst the soft ruffles of the petals, but she always kept an eye on the garden. She was ready to step in if any of the creatures forgot how to share the beauty that was their world.
The rain fairy and the armies of ants by Ophelia Fu
I hope you enjoyed that reflection of my peony inspired work, hopefully in a few weeks time I will have a garden full of pink blooms to inspire the next lot of artwork!
