Second hanging day at Palmengarten Botanical Gardens, Frankfurt

October 22, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

I’m afraid that I don’t have a single picture to brighten up this blog today. I have been very busy as we have had many more botanical art pictures to hang than in the two previous times we (the SBA) exhibited with Palmengarten.

When the hanging team arrived at Palmengarten this morning, our men mentioned in yesterday’s blog, got stuck in with hanging more pictures. They have been absolutely amazing, even though it is not them who are SBA members but us ( the women mentioned yesterday). They are extremely supportive and what we would do without them I don’t know.

We spent the rest of the day hanging pictures, reorganising a few, straightening and labelling them. Tomorrow will be spent cleaning the glass so that they are fully presentable in all their glory.

I think this evening will be spent easing backs and feet for all of us. How we will do this is anyone’s guess, but our hotel is not far from the student area of the city, so please use your imagination.

To brighten up the page a little I will include another picture of the Bears britches painting.

First hanging day Palmengarten

October 21, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

I think that this evening we all look rather tired, but first of all the British hanging contingent want to thank the SBA member who treated us to a drink. We are all very grateful and overwhelmed by her very unexpected generosity.

But many will wonder how the day has gone. Here are a few of the pictures taken. Susan Christopher Coulson headed up the decision making hanging party, with Sandra Wall Armitage.

The rest of us were ‘hanging dogsbodies’. Our husbands, Ian, Ken and Robin; Sue Henon and a DLDC (distance learning course) student, Miriam Pampas; Jonas & Peter (both from Palmengarten); Pam Henderson (SBA); Renate Tessmar-Leonardy (friend of Palmengarten and lover of Camellias) and her husband (lover of Fuchsias) and of course Karin Wittstock from Palmengarten who was involved with the Palmengarten/ SBA initiative from the word go.

We have not quite finished placing all the pictures yet, but had to stop today for fear of falling off ladders!

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Delivery of botanical art pictures to Palmengarten

October 20, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

Today has been an extremely busy day for all concerned.

Robin and I drove the van to Palmengarten, entering by a now familiar back gate. The rest of the British hanging team for today walked from our hotel and met us at the Palm House where the exhibition is to take place.

Luckily we were able to park the van directly outside the Palm House and we were welcomed by the able bodied German contingent. Now the work really began. Everyone helped to offload the van, checking each package off the list as they went.

Once the main bulk of the pictures were unloaded, two husbands from the group took the van to Dieburg about 3/4 hour outside Frankfurt. They collected the remaining pictures that had been sent directly to Sue Henon, our SBA member living in Germany, and returned to Frankfurt with these.

In the meantime, the rest of us busily unpacked the pictures, making a huge mound of packing materials to dispose of.

We have started placing the pictures, but more about this tomorrow.

Botanical art trip to Palmengarten, Frankfurt

October 19, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

It’s now Saturday at 23:00 and we are due to get up at 04:00 to drive to the Channel tunnel train leaving around 06:00. There is no wifi at the moment, so can’t even connect to get the pictures taken earlier today. However, as soon as a connection is made I will get this blog off. It’s amazing how dependent we have become on modern technology!

First thing this morning we were rushing around finding all sorts of extra equipment for hanging the SBA members pictures once we get that far. It was incredibly warm and felt like summer as I rushed thinly fled from house to shed (some call it a studio- but it’s a shed) and back again. Our journey to Kent was uneventful apart from the usual hold-up with road works.

Another SBA member had been the delivery point for most of the other half of exhibits and kindly offered us supper and a bed for the night once she had also helped with the reorganising and loading of her store of pictures.

She like I were amazed at the empty spaces we had once the collection was loaded onto the van. The van was packed fully. I’m glad that there weren’t more pictures.

Hopefully I can access the pictures I took today- tomorrow.

And the Bears Britches

Day before the journey to Frankfurt’s Palmengarten

October 18, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

My last blog mentioned that the botanical art exhibition at Palmengarten is now less than a week away. Each day that comes I think that I might get a little painting in before we go – but no such luck. I will show you a couple more pictures from the pen and ink drawing of Bear’s britches progression though.

I thought I had all the paperwork for Palmengarten clear in relevant folders etc, but then the cat jumped up onto the keyboard and knocked my tea all over the paperwork and the printing paper. That took a couple of hours to reprint it all as well as clear up the mess.

But today, my husband Robin got up early, gave me a cup of tea in bed and then took the train to Portsmouth to collect a van for our trip to Frankfurt. It is quite a large van, but he thinks we will be comfortable enough during the long journey, although it doesn’t seem to have all the mod cons one might expect/ wish for.

So we checked all the paintings etc against the spreadsheet I had done and loaded everything onto the van. Robin fastened everything securely and one of the cats, Fudge, inspected the lot to see that we had done it properly. His black and white brother (guess what his name is) inspected the suddenly empty spare bedrooms. They will be having a strict cat-sitter for the duration!

A good night’s sleep tonight and tomorrow we will be on our way to Kent to pick up the other half of paintings.

The bear’s britches (Acanthus)

SBA to Frankfurt Botanical gardens, Palmengarten

October 14, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

There has been little time to do the pen & ink drawing of the Bears Britches as I have been organising the co-ordinated exhibition between Palmengarten and the Society of Botanical Artists; or at least everything from the UK side of things. Additionally I have had to keep on top of marking assignments as the botanical art tutor for the London Art College.

So, the Bears britches has been done at stolen moments of time.

Last weekend however, The London Art College had their annual meeting of tutors just outside Bristol. It was a very nice break away from everything that had to be done, and being able to talk with the other tutors at the college. A very welcome recharge of batteries before the final Palmengarten onslaught.

The exhibition at Palmengarten starts with the official opening and private view next Thursday evening, 23 October. There will be 205 exhibits from SBA members around the world, from as far flung places as New Zealand, Japan the USA, France and of course the UK.

This is the third time that The Palmengarten Gardens and the SBA has liaised in this way. The first time was in 2010, then 2012 and now the largest exhibition will be this year. The exhibition will be open to the public from Friday 24 October until 23 November 2014 and I think will be well worth a visit.

Some of you may well have picked up from earlier blogs that I have been working on this, together with Sue another SBA member in Germany. It is thanks to her that the exhibition is happening in the first place, so our members have a lot to thank her for.

I intend to write a blog as the actual preparation is happening. I have received half of the exhibits in our home over the last few weeks. The remaining half have been collected in Kent. My husband Robin is collecting a van on Friday and with this we will make our way to Germany, collecting the rest of the pictures on the way, arriving on Sunday evening.

I will be glad once we are on our way as setting up is the fun bit – other people are then involved and the load will be shared rather than mostly on the shoulders of Sue and I.

The first couple of pictures are from our guest room. It will be lovely to have it cleared for a short while!

Now a couple pictures from the progression of the Bears britches.

The Dipladenia: Anything missing?

September 5, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

In between marking assignments and receiving pictures for the SBA exhibition at Palmengarten, the botanical gardens in Frankfurt, I have been painting.

Last time I suggested you find the part in the picture where I had made a mistake, but had rectified it.

Now I have three photos of the final work on the picture – I think!

Dipladenia picture: What is needed to balance the composition?

Dipladenia picture: Notice the difference? Does it work?

Part of my shed. The table looks as though a bomb has hit it, therefore hidden!

What to do with the plants now as it is poisonous. It nearly took the life of one of our cats and is very much a temptation to play with – as well as being very beautiful and exotic looking for our colder climate.

Botanical art workshop starting tomorrow

June 16, 2014April 3, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

Tomorrow morning I will be having another botanical art workshop. The subject is roses.

People often think it is very difficult to paint beautiful roses, but think about how the petals are attached in the flower head. Use that knowledge to create a proper line drawing and tonal drawing, then add the colour.

I am glad to say that as the weather has been a little cooler the last few days – and cloudy, there are still quite a few roses of differing levels of difficulty ready to be plucked to have their portraits drawn. It will be interesting to see which roses the students will choose. Watch this space to see the progression of some of the work.

Today I have spent most of the day on work in relation to the SBA exhibition in Palmengarten, Frankfurt in October. There is a lot of preparation in organising the collection and exhibiting of work from across the whole of the UK, Ireland, USA, New Zealand, France, Germany and Japan at Palmengarten. But it will be a fantastic exhibition with so many SBA members taking part.

I had hoped, to finish the Irises painting in coloured pencil yesterday, but think I have completed it today. I don’t feel the colours come out so well from a photograph, but will be better and easier to show online once I get time to match them on Photoshop.

Stansted Park Garden Show – the night prior to setting up.

June 5, 2014April 4, 2015 | Gaynor's Flora

It is 12:57 in the morning. My husband Robin has put his foot down. It’s time for bed.

This morning I had my last weekly botanical art class until the students return in the Autumn. This year they were positively dismayed at the idea of not having a weekly class again until then. I felt guilty.

After everyone had gone I caught up on emails about the Autumn botanical art exhibition being arranged between the SBA and Palmengarten in Frankfurt. Apparently the forms I had taken so long to do so that they could be filled out online, didn’t quite work! I had to sort that out and resend them – having tested them thoroughly this time. At least I’ll know how to do it another time.

At last I could get on with packing things to take to Stansted. Of course, I thought that I had a handle on everything and that it would go smoothly. How many small things (and not so small) one can forget! I have a list for tomorrow morning as I wasn’t allowed to do it tonight.

At the last moment we ordered a new hanging system with the hope that it will arrive early. My husband also went out and bought two folding tables rather than taking good ones. Last but not least he also bought some plastic sheeting to put over the stand at night in case there are any horrendous downpours that find leaky points in the marquis.

Robin has got the stand itself into the car already and all that remains to pack in the car is this lot – plus some, and not forgetting my easel and a chair, and another table, and……………

As you see one of the cats has started wondering if we are moving!

Don’t forget, the Garden Show is Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

GAYNOR'S FLORA

Botanical art, illustration, artist, illustrator, teacher, workshops, classes

Society of Botanical Artists (SBA)