Arum lilies done one the back of a sheet of Photo printing paper, using coffee (Nescafé Instant) for the back-ground, and watercolour for the flowers. This paper is actually very thin, and ever so slightly glossy, so it was a completely different feel painting on this in stead of my normal heavy-weight watercolour paper I’m used to. It’s also not conducive to allowing the paint, or coffee, to freely flow and mix. I also gave the back-ground a slight salt treatment, which then promptly refused to budge once the painting was dry! I had to scrub it off with a nail brush! I used fine table salt, maybe that could be the reason… But it has somehow imparted a raw quality to the painting.

Zantedeschia is native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The Zantedeschia species are poisonous due to the presence of calcium oxalate. All parts of the plant are toxic, and produce irritation and swelling of the mouth and throat, acute vomiting and diarrhoea.

Did you know that the striking arum lily “flower” is actually many tiny flowers arranged in a complex spiral pattern on the central column (spadix)? The tiny flowers are arranged in male and female zones on the spadix. The top 7 cm are male flowers and the lower 1.8 cm are female. If you look through a hand-lens you may see the stringy pollen emerging from the male flowers which consist largely of anthers. The female flowers have an ovary with a short stalk above it, which is the style (where the pollen is received). The spadix is surrounded by the white or coloured spathe. According to Marloth, the whiteness of the spathe is not caused by pigmentation, but is an optical effect produced by numerous airspaces beneath the epidermis.

Some more Coffee Art : Click on images to visit the page.

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1. 8th October 2010 – FEATURED in Creative Cards & Calendars
2. 25th February 2011 – FEATURED in Bubblers’ Weekly Challenge
3. 13th September 2011 – FEATURED in Artists of Still Life
4. 30th September 2011 – FEATURED in Aquatic Flowers and Hydrangea
5. 27th March 2012 – FEATURED in All Glorious Lilies
6. 19th April 2013 – FEATURED by RedBubble in EXPLORE
7. 20th April 2013 – FEATURED in Everyday Women
8. 19th May 2013 – FEATURED in In Honour of Georgia O’Keeffe in ‘Women Painters’