Sunday, April 22, 2018

Rhododendron moupinense and Ladybird







Some of the painting stages of 'Rhododendron Moupinense and Ladybird'. I love painting raindrops and thought that they looked particularly beautiful on the leaves of the Rhododendron Moupinense. I thought a pencil background would help to make a highlight of one branch of leaves. The ladybird was just a bit of fun and a splash of colour to the composition.

This painting is one of two pictures selected for the Williamson Open Art & Photography Exhibition 2018. Held at the Williamson Gallery & Museum, Slatey Road, Birkenhead CH43 4UE. It is open now until 6th May 2018.

Sunday, April 8, 2018

SBA Madrid

Exhibition entrance

Crowds at the opening

View of the gardens

Beds of tulips

Madrid

Around Madrid
The Society of Botanical Artists exhibition 'Tulipa Tulipae - el tulipan ilustrado' held by the Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid is fantastic, so many beautiful paintings of tulips. It is open until 20th May.
The gardens are a lovely setting. They are planted with tulip varieties to match each of the paintings in the exhibition. The gallery is a large space with natural light.
What can I say about Madrid? It is a beautiful city and so much to see. We visited the Royal Palace, El Retiro - a fabulous park right in the middle of the city. We set aside a whole afternoon for the Prado Gallery. It wasn't long enough. What an amazing place.
It was fun trying out my Spanish although we only gave ourselves a few weeks to learn. I am not sure how much people were able to understand, but we managed to order food and buy tickets, and we survived.
We fell in love with Madrid. If you ever get the opportunity it's a city well worth visiting and I am sure you would fall in love with it too.