In the greenhouses are the wonderful and inspiring orchids - some of the very earliest flowering plants and around when the dinosaurs were munching their way through the vegetation and each other. The garden is already working its magic on me so that I am learning amazing facts...do facts get in the way of art? Can facts be inspiration?
The orchids need a very artificial environment to survive while the cacti in the cool house with their spines and wax can survive the cold and heat but not wet. This one had black and white spines. Seeing a bench full of them while breathing in the scented air was magic.
I'm at the beginning of the residency - for me this involves being there. I am looking to produce a body of work, but, at the moment, just allowing things to swill around while working in the sketchbook and on sketchbook prints.
Although ... this took my fancy...Stoke House (now a college) - not far from the Botanic Garden was painted by Turner when he was 16 in 1791...
Lovely loose spontaneous sketches, the shape of the cactus is very draw-able! I can see these becoming prints... etching or screenprint?
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