Killer Blackberries

Blackberries (Rubus ulmifolius), 2015, Watercolour on Saunders Waterford Paper, J R Shepherd ©, Inky Leaves

I panicked then that I'd lost all my images, but I had filed them under 'Rubus' rather than 'blackberry'! I really do need to sort out my taxonomic system on my computer, it goes from Latin to English far too readily. So yes, here they are in all their glory. BEHOLD THE RACEME OF BLACKBERRIES!

I would certainly be lying if I said that they were easy to paint, but even though they were a challenge, they were really fun to do. I haven't painted shiny berries in ages and had forgotten how fabulous they can be. I did miss my leaves, but it was good to step back from them. So the good news is I managed to finish them on time. I dropped my brush which was on both occasions loaded with the blackest of paint twice and marked the white background, but managed to recover the damage with a magic eraser - phew! So now I only have three more pieces to do before Christmas and all will be merry! Easy-peasy.

Blackberries (Rubus ulmifolius), 2015, Watercolour on paper, J R Shepherd ©, Inky Leaves

So after some more days in London, which were an absolute riot, I now find myself back on terra España and I am left feeling a little disorientated. I unpacked as soon as I got in - I always do. Almost threw myself into the washing machine as I vigorously put my four outfits into the wash (goodness knows how I kept going on four outfits) and got to work on sorting out all of my images, my accounts and many other boring little tasks, which is most likely why I have been rampant on Facebook this week. Being sat at a desk with a desktop is dangerous and highly distracting. I had hoped to get into the studio on my birthday, but that failed and today was also a failure so I am lining myself up for Sunday. Can't wait.

So news... Well Lucy the Loosestrife is now with her new owner, the RHS is still brewing in my cerebellum and I have had the misfortune to discover that Walnut trees are deceptive creatures that should never be depended upon, as are squirrels and Spanish foragers.  I have worked out that what has been making me so poorly these past 24 months (yes it is really that long) were the hormone pills I was taking, so I am coming off of those and now drinking a lot of eco-responsible soya milk (I love the idea of responsible soya beans - would make a good cartoon). I fell in love, yes, I unfortunately did that and no, it wasn't with a walnut tree (luckily) or a plant but with an actual human being, but they don't know, so alas we shall leave it there on that note. I had two very happy unbirthdays, and one real birthday yesterday, which was super nice and basically did a bit of growing up.

Oh, and I got myself a gallery... In London. 

A grand day out for the BBC

Filming with the BBC and Northern Town in the Chelsea Physic Garden

Well I haven't done the best job at keeping things quiet it has to be said, but then I was rather excited. Luckily I have got a green light from the producers to talk about my little bit of news, so here goes... Back in September, when I was living temporarily in my parents flat in Brighton I received an email from Edward Morgan from Northern Town, the production company that made that beautiful and touching short film about the life of Rory McEwen which was used for the exhibition at Kew in 2012. He wanted to let me know that the BBC had decided to commission a half hour programme on the life of Rory for BBC4 and wondered if I'd be interested in doing a spot of filming for it.  Naturally I was more than delighted to help.

Having recently moved the Inky Leaves studio to Spain I wasn't able to invite the crew to my Brick Lane studio, so we had to think of another UK-based location and it was then when I mentioned that the Chelsea Physic Garden is pretty much my 'second' studio. It's where I go for inspiration and I am frequently painting amongst their beautifully planted boarders. After a couple of recces it was decided that Chelsea offered an ideal spot, not only because it was it was a bit different to the usual indoor setting one might use for an interview, but because it is also quite close to Rory's old house in Tregunter Road. 

Conker Shells on Rory McEwen Vellum; gifted to me from Sam and Christabel McEwen in 2012

So now you all know why I took the plunge to paint on Rory's vellum a few weeks ago and why I flew back to Blighty this week... Well actually there were several reasons why I flew to England, but this was one of them. Thanks to British Airways, who were incredibly accommodating and helpful, I was able to bring my portfolio and vellum on board with me alongside my hand luggage. This was really important as the climate in the cabin is much more regulated and my work and materials were thus protected.

I originally thought that the day wouldn't be very long - as it is intended that the documentary will cover his musical career as well. With so much of Rory's colourful life to get in a short space of time, I concluded that I will probably get a maximum of a couple of minutes of air time. Therefore, I thought a couple of hours of filming would have been probably done the trick. Alas, it was surprisingly a rather long day and what was brilliant was I had absolutely no idea at the time. I was enjoying the experience so much that I hadn't realised how the day had flown by. I think we were at the garden for about five hours! We didn't have to do many re-takes - all the one's we did were due to aircraft flying over. There were some pretty cool planes at that because of course it was Armistice Day.

Painting on vellum in the Chelsea Physic Garden

A consequence of me enjoying myself so much is that I completely forgot to take some photographs of the whole event. This is what happens when I have too much fun, I get completely lost in the moment. Luckily, the Director of Photography and digital maestro Terry Wilson from Northern Town, has managed to take some screen grabs for me which I have loaded up on here. It feels a little self indulgent, as you only get me, but we do need some pictures to space out the text... so apologies for not being able to post images of the entire set up but I think you can get the gist...

The day started with the sun actually out - can you Adam and Eve it?! I was so utterly over the moon to see the sun shining through the Autumnal leaves and I wasn't the only one, therefore we begun the day filming shots of me walking around the garden while the weather was being ultra kind. Then, as the misty clouds started to roll in we went into the glasshouse with all the Germaniums and Pelagoniums inside. It smelt delicious. 

Once inside there were lots of other takes and two types of interview - one of me painting and the other not. Alison Grist, the Director, was really wonderful. She was really kind and really helped me throughout the day. I don't know what I would have done without her support, attentiveness and creativity - a seriously gifted producer. Hopefully, with all this assistance and with Eddie and Lily Middleton (Marketing & PR Assistant at Chelsea Physic Garden) filling us up with coffee it has come out well. Throughout the whole day I remember really trying not to muffle, stutter, hesitate or swear (the latter of which, as most of me nearest and dearest can confirm, is really difficult for me. I am no Malcolm Tucker, but the occasional word has a habit of slipping in when I get overly enthralled). Anyway, the production team were pleased with the material they gleaned from the day, so I guess we shall just have to wait and see what they decide to use and how they edit the content. 

Of course, I realise that all of you will be very excited to hear that there is a programme on Rory McEwen coming out and I know that you will want to know when it is being first broadcast. At this current time I don't have an official date, but I know it is likely to be sometime in February 2015 - I will keep you posted. In the meantime I am incredibly honoured to have been asked to participate in this project and really hope that that I have done Rory proud. I am very grateful to everyone in the production team, the Chelsea Physic Garden, the McEwen family, Martin J Allen and of course BA. 

Chelsea have since written their own a article about the day which can be found here.

Introducing Coco...

Here she is in all of her glory! Who would have thought she could produce something so delicious?

So the time has come for me to get on with my botanical illustration piece for the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. Every year, members and fellows of the Florilegium have to gift the Society/Garden with at least one painting of a plant from the Physic Garden. Over the decades of the society's existence, I think artists were generally allowed to pick what they wanted to paint from the garden, just as long as it hadn't been done before or wasn't in the process of being done, but this year, with the opening of the Garden of Medicinal Plants the Society has decided to focus on getting as many of the ethnobotanical plants documented as possible. This of course is joy to my ears, as economically useful plants are my favourite ones to paint. To me they have more personality and meaning.

Studying Coco in the Tropical Corridor at the Chelsea Physic Garden

After completing The Green Giant, I wanted to paint two other pieces to sit alongside it - a tea bush and a chocolate tree to make a triptych. So with this in mind I wondered if anyone had painted the chocolate tree at Chelsea Physic Garden and luckily no one had, so I put my name down pretty pronto!  I thought I could either hit two birds with one stone, or that the Chelsea piece would act as good preparation work.

Studying Coco in the Tropical Corridor at the Chelsea Physic Garden

There have been a number of times over my life when I have wanted to paint the chocolate tree. I have often tried to get up close to the one at Kew Gardens (and I still might use this tree for my triptych so it matches the coffee better) but the one at Kew is right at the back of the glasshouse and hard to reach without getting told off for stepping on the other plants. I also tried to paint the large one at the Eden Project, but at the time my now ex boyfriend was too busy trying to steal a pod and needed me to form a distraction further down the path. There is a big tree at Chelsea too (which I actually didn't know about until recently) in the tropical corridor, but as the Florilegium Society has strict guidlines on the size of paper you can use (yes, have had to 'downsize') I realised pretty quickly that what I needed to paint was a sapling, which ironically enough is what Caroline is too. 

The early stages of Chelsea Chocolate

So here is Coco the Chocolate Tree. I am calling this one 'Chelsea Chocolate' and am already really enjoying tackling the leaves. I am determined to get my leaves as good as Rory's one day and the only way is to look very hard at them. I didn't really look at the coffee leaves very well when I painted Caroline, but this time around I am making more of an effort. I am not sure if it is becuase of all the amazing colours that are present in the leaves of chocolate plant or if it is becuase I am keen to please the judges at the society!

What is so remarkable about the chocolate plant is that the new leaves are such an amazing colour of red/pink, which then changes to a yellowy lime green, which in turn changes again to a dark green towards the bottom of the plant. It's a real challenge to get this right in the painting, and as I have again chosen to paint this specimen with sunlight shining through the leaves, I have managed to make this doubly hard to myself (as per usual). I am not sure how three dimensional this painting will end up looking with all the multiple sources of light, but as I had to paint it in situ, I have little choice in the matter. Some members of the Florilegium can take cuttings home, but it seemed such a shame to prune any part off of Coco, so I made the effort of coming to her instead. 

Second day working on Chelsea Chocolate - the small size of paper is really hard work on. Plus I decided to work on Fabriano Artistico which I am not used to, just to increase the trickiness of getting this piece bang on perfect for the Florilegium! Call me a nutter.