Botanical Art at the RHS Secret Garden Sundays

It's been a while since I have signed into the blogosphere it has to be said, but then I have been incredibly busy and other social networking sites have taken over becuase they have better apps for android tablets. Who would have thought such a technological rat-race would happen right in my hands?! And so sadly the blog was neglected for much of the Spring, but fear not my friends, for I have just logged in and will make more of an effort now I have the summer months ahead of me in the UK.

The Inky Leaves stand complete with 10% discount on prints and bunting to RHS members.

So what's new? Well Last Sunday I took part in my first RHS Secret Garden Sunday event in the Halls on Vincent Square (above). This was a brilliant event full of really interesting stands which were manned by very knowledgeable people. There are plant stalls, food stalls (of which I can vouch the food tasted amazing), tea stalls, seed stalls, cheese stalls, massage stalls, live music (this month it was folk group Effra), do-it-yourself craft stalls and a games corner! My favourite stand was the one for gardeners questions, which was manned by the RHS itself - a good one to remember if you are planning on coming to the next one which is on July 6th. I shall certainly be there on the 6th, and also again on August 3rd and November 2nd. The November one will be an rather grand affair no doubt as it has a special Christmas theme - great for present hunting...

Inky Leaves bunting in action in the garden £9.99/14 piece length (c.4m) Interested? Email me!

Other things from the Inky Leaves studio... well I have been gallivanting around California... as you do. This was JUST what I needed as I completely forgot about everything and after what was '2013' one can only say I needed to forget everything and start over - 2013 was indeed a toughy! So after driving 1500 miles around CA (well actually Henry did that bit) and taking in all the beautiful scenery (yeah, I mainly did this bit) I got back to the UK and did another application for a PhD. Lets see how this one develops... Same proposal, different University. In the mean time, I have managed to scoop up some commissions (which I seriously need to get going with), been grappling with the idea of submitting something to the RHS (still unsure about that though as it would be mean dismantling all my beautifully framed works) and I have been tending to the garden A LOT.

I could go on forever putting images of the wonders of CA up, so I will stick to exhibitions here... The two BEST shows where this one in The Autry in Los Angeles and the Underground Gardens in Fresno, the latter of which is a permanent attraction and well worth a visit. The place is great for botanical artists - so many amazing fruit trees and grafted trees there. You'd probably need to check with them first if you wanted to paint there though.

I have also been doing a lot of sewing and the boarder of 'London Love' is almost complete! YAY! Once this is done I will get on with the text and try to fit in a sky line.

London Love up close

London Love - a work in progress

It's been great reading about what everyone else has been up to while I have laid dormant, especially to hear about the SBA show which I sadly missed as I was across the pond as well as the ISBA's first big show. Well done to everybody - all of the work looked amazing.

A pop-up shopping list

So, after the last post I thought it might be useful to all of you all to see what I brought to the event. This list of things grew and grew as the RHS show approached, and rather like my packing, it was fairly organic. My way of packing is to put things in the corner of the room as I think of them. By Monday the pile was a bit disturbing and looked like it might actually turn into some sort of life form, so I tidied it up and packed it all into cases ready for Thursday.

Here is the list!

• Foam board for packing duplicate prints and to stick my demo painting to
• Masking tape - very useful
• Scissors - very useful
• Paper bags for post cards
• Collapsible print cradle
• Collapsible easels for framed work
• A postcard rack
• Plant material
• Postcards in protective box to keep them clean and safe
• Business cards also in their protective boxes
• Table cloth
• Paints - well that would be handy wouldn't it?!!
• Brushes - ditto
• Magic easer
• Burnisher - nice starting point for conservation at the demo
• Jeweller's Loop - ditto
• My tablet complete with a photograph taken in the morning so I could identify where to put in the shadows
• An example of a framed piece of work
• Fine art prints, as many as you like
• Invoice book
• Change - mainly 50p, £1 & £5. Don't under estimate how hard it is to get hold of change these days! Banks like to charge...
• Clip board with crib sheet for information like postage costs
• A table light- it attracts people
• Collapsible chairs - wasn't sure if the RHS were supplying them and if they would be at the right height.
• Parcel tape - useful for securing boxes after the show finished
• Plastic carrier bags - for prints
• Stiffy bags for wrapping large prints and framed piece
• A card machine
• Chargers for the tablet, mobiles and card machine and a four way
• Sticky labels-you never know when you need them - I did, despite printing it all out before hand.
• Two pens
• Money belt
• A camera - to update your online audience on how the event is progressing
• Visitors book - useful to get emails from
• Tissue paper for prints
• Flask of tea - essential really
• Kitchen roll - ditto, especially when sitting in a pollen-filled hall. I used more for my nose than paint.
• Pot for water - I forgot to pack this.
• Suitcase to contain packing materials and framed work
• Rucksacks so you can carry more with your hands - handy!
• Portfolio for large prints

I managed to save a bit with the costs by using postcard racks and a table cloth from Kew and a print cradle and easel from my friend Piers Ottey (thanks guys!). I bought my prints and foam board in batches of 10 as it's cheaper that way, and got my cellophane wrapping on eBay. I was also very lucky in that my step dad designed all my cards for free and that I was able to update my website myself as it's on a WordPress template. However the costs of undertaking such a venture can still stack up. For example, I had to get a taxi to the venue. I had hoped to do it on the underground, but getting on a tube at rush hour on a Friday with an A0 portfolio is NOT fun! So... last bit of info:

 

Costs:

Board - £72.00

Visitors Book - £3.83

Invoice book - £3.93
Orchid to paint - £14.40

Taxi - £40.00

Prints - £997.50

Postcards - £166.00

Tea on day one £8.00

Meal out on Friday night (Henry's wages) £67.00

Paypal machine £99.00
Saunders Waterford 420gsm HP paper to paint Odette on £7.00

TOTAL: £1478.66 ouch!

Things I got for free:

• Acrylic shop signs - borrowed from Kew, but you can get them from Muji
• Bags re-used from older ones. I had been saving all my big bags over the last year
• Stiffy bags (I reused the outer ones used to package the ones Kew uses for Rory prints)
• Easels, table cloth and prints rack (borrowed)
• Business cards (a birthday present)

So there you have it. Not easy to compute all that money... but I consider it an investment. Some folk like to go on big holidays, or buy a car or a nice dress or make up. I don't. I have have made to decision to have my hair cut once a year, to use make up samples for my make up (or birthday presents) and buy cheap holiday deals. This year Henry and I are going to California to see some friends and we can't wait. We bought the tickets using his air miles during the sale and plan to camp over the two and a half weeks. It's going to be fun, fun, fun and hopefully cheaper, cheaper, cheaper! Yes, I am a martyr for my art, but aren't we all?!

The ups and downs of pop-up!

So, it's done. The RHS London show has come and gone and we are all left feeling rather full with a good mixture of inspiration and awe and are probably budding to get cracking on with our next pieces. A good friend of mine Alena said that she was really eager to get painting after seeing all the marvellous work which is nice, as all too often I see how incredibly well executed work can have an opposite effect and make the task seem all the more daunting. It's all about little steps though isn't it?  I always like to think about trees... they start small and take so long to grow. Little narrow rings that build up slowly into something beautiful, fertile and useful. For me, a painting and the journey is like being a tree.

Odette the Orchid - after two days of demonstration work, just the washes in, but not bad considering!

So yes, I after this weekend I had a good think about what I could write about that would be informative for all of you lovely people. Something that you might not have got from the weekend or from Katherine's amazingly informative blog (another post can be found here)... So yes, a top tip that could actually be rather useful somewhere down the line. This year the RHS decided to have a live painting session at the back of the hall and I was lucky enough to have been invited to take part. So, after weeks of preparation and two days of painting in front of you lovely folk I have decided that the art of creating a pop-up studio is really something worth embracing and developing.  So here it is - "the ups and downs of pop-up!"

This photo was taken by Alena - thanks for sharing your pics Alena - brilliant.

Up #1:

If you are demonstrating to a large audience think about the access. I decided to paint on an easel, not only because I am a vertical painter, but because I thought it would be nice for the visitors. They would be able to stand behind me, feel that they weren't intruding and watch from a distance. By being at the edge of my table I hoped to create a space so that people could gather around and not block each others views. 

I think a table can also work well. If you are a flat worker, maybe position yourself at the table end so the same effect can be achieved. I heard that cafe Nero never place their coffee machines between the customer and the barista and always put them at the back of the shop so that the customer can see what they are doing and feel part of the coffee making process. It also means - more importantly - that the machine is not acting as a barrier. Try not to put barriers up between you and the visitors - such as sitting behind the table.

I even put a chair next to me so people felt that they could sit and watch. Later on in the day I even had Christabel King sitting in the chair - who would have thought it?!

Up #2:

Paint something bright - it catches people's eyes - and maybe paint with the theme of the show. This RHS show was an orchid show, and (this was actually Henry's idea) so I painted an orchid. That seemed to be appreciated by RHS members. I also scaled it up, not only because I like painting big, but so that they could see the work from a distance.

Down #1: 

Pack a flask and some milk. On the first day I forgot my flask and ended up spending all the money I made on postcards on tea. Rather silly really, although I suppose the money went towards the RHS, so I guess it's not too bad. 

Up #3:

I reckon about 5-10% of the visitors will take a business card at similar events. I was told that 3000-4000 people came to last years show and about 200 of my business cards were taken over the two days.

Down #2: 

Bring a sturdy easel to display your work. I had stupid easels that would not behave and needed to be stuck down onto the floor using masking tape. Still, that seemed to do the job.

Up #4: 

Buy a card machine. This was incredibly useful for selling prints as there was no ATM nearby. I looked into hiring a machine, but the cost of that was the same as buying one, so in the end I pushed the boat out and got my own Paypal Machine that works on bluetooth. Clever stuff indeedy!

Up and down:

Bring a table cloth. I am so glad I brought mine (which I borrowed from Kew - thanks Kew!), as the RHS had covered their tables with hessian. This produced a nice rustic effect, but the amount of fibres that came off of it and into my paint was rather annoying and would have been worse if I didn't bring that white cotton cloth.

Up if you are you, down if you are Henry and have worked 12 days straight:

If you are going to be busy and you have been asked to demonstrate, see if you can get a friend to help you with sales. It was marvellous having Henry on board as it meant I could just get on with the work. Having Henry help was especially super because he knew me very well and so he felt comfortable answering people's questions about me. He is also a natural sales person. God bless him.

Up #5:

Smile - that's hard when you are trying to paint with some of the world's best artists and most informed botanists staring at you, but it can be done and it somehow helps with your own confidence. Fool yourself, go on... it's worth it trust me.

Down #3:

Bring brandy. I should have done this for Friday and if I did it again I would bring a little sippette of brandy for the nerves.

Down #4:

Print everything well in advance. I got my designer step-dad Andrew at Browse Digital on the case of business and post cards very early on, which was lucky as the printer he sent them to made a boo-boo and printed my logos upside down on a couple of the designs. So another piece of advice is to check everything is correct as soon as you get it and to not do what I did and not look properly and discover the error with 4 days to go. The proofs were fine, but the printing wasn't - never assume it's all ola kala.

Up #6


Bring a clip board with all your information on it. I did this for Henry so that he had information on things like postal costs for each print, paper types and the length of time it takes to do a painting.

Down #5: 

Wrap your prints up with plenty of time to go. I had a slight falling out with Atlantis because the card I needed for the Coffee prints was a complete disaster from the beginning - from being out of stock, miss delivered, lost in the system to finally, the day before the show - the wrong size. Argh! So yes - give yourself time and try not to get ill like I did. That also helps!


Ending on a positive 'up' #7

Just enjoy it. It's a lot of work, but completely worth it. It's a very humbling experience. I was very aware all weekend that I am not at the standard of the artists on the other side of the hedge/hall (yet), but it was still so lovely to show people what the journey is like and that we all have to start off from somewhere and that practice makes perfect.

With thanks to:

• My mum who taught me everything I know
• My step dad Andrew who designed my website, my cards and my postcards
• My dad who came up to London despite having a deep rooted phobia of the place and helped set up.
• My beloved Henry who has been a massive emotional support as well as an epic salesman and tea-fetcher
• My best pal Nick the super-dooper photographer
• My fine art prints printer, Andrew Turnball, for his amazing attention to detail
• My old science teacher who inspired me to pursue a career in Botany - Chris Watson, who also came
• Sarah, the closest thing I have to a sister who bravely travelled all the way up to see me despite being on crutches
• My fairy God Mother, Sue Freed, who taught me everything about retail
• Henry's amazing family who all came to London - thanks Barbara, John, Morag, Wid, Sheila, Duncan & Cat!
• My incredible friends Severina, Sasha, Tasha, Tam, Alex, Tim, Nikki and Dave who all came to join in with the fun
• Julia and Lynn from Kew who emailed everyone about the event and came along to watch.
• The other pop-up artists, including Julia who kindly pointed out my skirt was tucked in my knickers!
• The medallists on the other side of the hedge who are an inspiration to us all
• And all you lovely readers for all of your encouragement.

I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many kind, generous, supportive people.