Happenstance

Happenstance I Oil & conté pencil on canvas I 25cm x 25cm I 2020

Working painting the beautiful Gentian plant recently, s l o w l y learning more about nature and its medicinal properties as I go.

happenstance | ˈhap(ə)nˌstans | noun [mass noun] chiefly North American 

coincidence: it was just happenstance that I happened to be there | [count noun] :  an untoward happenstance for her. 

ORIGIN late 19th century: blend of happen and circumstance.

gentian | ˈdʒɛnʃ(ə)n | noun a plant of temperate and mountainous regions, which typically has violet or vivid blue trumpet-shaped flowers. Many kinds are cultivated as ornamentals, especially as arctic alpines, and some are of medicinal use. 

Family Gentianaceae: genera Gentiana and Gentianella.

ORIGIN late Middle English: from Latin gentiana, according to Pliny named after Gentius, king of Illyria, who is said to have discovered the medicinal properties of a common species.