"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home" (Twyla Tharp)

Artist Blogs ....

 Another year has gone by and it's been a very productive one. I started my blog in January this year as a personal diary of my journey studying botanical art and in particular the SBA Distance Diploma Course.  I was encouraged  to try this after seeing a few botanical artists blogging their own experiences and felt it might be helpful to combine artwork with technology. The interesting outcome from this blog is I that managed to have one of my artworks selected for the cover of a book after the author googled images.  I wasn't sure how to go about the negotiation process and spent time learning about copyright and ownership of artwork. 

Watercolour painting of Persimmon chosen for cover
© Vicki Lee Johnston




Other artists can be a great source of encouragement and knowledge and it is so helpful to connect to the online network and see what's around you. 
One of the most recent surprises was being nominated for the 
Making A Mark Awards for Best Portrayal of Nature in an art blog.
To achieve this you must be nominated by a fellow art blogger -  the artist who nominated my work was Jessica Rosemary Shepherd.  The ironic thing about this is that it was Jessica's blog Inky Leaves which first attracted me to blogging - I have found it so helpful to follow her progress in the SBA Course as she is a year ahead of me ... 
There have been many ups and downs for her and it has made me feel more comfortable about the course and the efforts required.  When you see how tiny her workspace is, her efforts at juggling her full time work with assignment deadlines ... it is actually reassuring to see that for so many of us, no matter how experienced, we do feel similar frustrations.

The nominated artwork as a work in progress- Alyogyne huegelii 'West Coast Gem'
© Vicki Lee Johnston

The voting has finished and my artwork recevied the least votes but it certainly is an honour to be nominated ... and has capped off a very difficult year in a lovely way.  Here are all the nominated artworks in each category of the Making A Mark Blog Awards:
Best Artwork on a Blog

I would really encourage those of you considering starting a blog to do so if you are able .. it has added so much to my artistic journey and I believe it really is a great way to network  - I see how well it works and may lead to all kinds of possibilities.

© Vicki Lee Johnston

I want to thank you for your support and in particular the lovely comments - art can be a very isolating experience at times.  I have a very busy year ahead with the course ....  so for the New Year I wish you all peace, health and happiness ... much inspiration and many completed artworks! 



A place to call your own ....


When I started this wonderful journey two years ago I was drawing and painting at my dining room table - in a room with light coming in from three sides.  You would think this is a great situation because of the natural daylight but it can play havoc with the lighting of your subject and result in endless confusion as the daylight changes and hence your highlights and shadows shift.  Not to mention the chaos on the table where you're supposed to eat family meals and the mad rush to clean everything up before dinner is served!



After struggling for a while over the inevitable conflict of whether the dining area is now an art table or a place for gathering  - we set up a corner of the formal lounge room to become my artist studio ... being the 'good' room it wasn't being used anyway so we bought an old dining table, used an old side table as a return to hold my jars of water and paints and voila - a place to call my own.  The natural light was coming from one  source and I positioned the table so the window was on my left.



However I still had some difficulty with lighting.  I always light my subjects at a forty five degree angle from the left to give the most flattering highlights and shadows ... the plant was well lit but my artwork was not.  I used a variety of lamps in the house until I realised my work time was limited to the bright daylight hours ...




I was pretty desperate with my last assignment and struggling to see the very fine detail.  A few of my artist friends were using good lighting and I felt it was time to invest in something better.  I found this extendable arm magnifying lamp - very easy to position anywhere over your work without getting in the way.  The light is amazing - a natural daylight bulb which helps to see your work clearly and work for longer without getting tired eyes from straining to see.

Very happy with my workspace now ... I am away from the noise of the household, I can play my favourite music and paint without interruption except for my beautiful dog Gracie at my feet.  At the end of the day I can just shut the door to the mess on my table, knowing it will still be there for me tomorrow...


Pierre de Ronsard ...


Summer is almost upon us and in our region means often heatwave, dry and harsh conditions. I know we aren't ideally suited to some plantings but while I do like many native plants, having been brought up around only those which grow happily in the wild, I have a very romantic idea of gardens and relentlessly pursue the option to grow stunning varieties less suited to our conditions.


Our climate is considered more Mediterranean - mild winters and hot, dry summers.  We have managed to cultivate a beautiful garden in progress - I choose and create the design of the garden and it would be nothing without my husband's back breaking labour - thankfully he loves to get dirty and feels more 'grounded' after a day's work in the garden.  Makes for a great partnership ...


This gorgeous climbing rose is one of my favourites -  Pierre de Ronsard.
It's a wonderfully showy climber with cabbage like flowers.  The roses are cream going through to a busy cluster of petals from pink through to carmine.  It has the most gorgeous fragrance and to me is the epitome of old fashioned romance and elegance.






I took these photos of our climbing rose 'Pierre de Ronsard' knowing full well that soon we will get a hot blast of summer and sadly the petals will brown and the flowers will be short-lived.But for a brief shining moment I can enjoy this beautiful rose before our hot sun and raging easterlies blow them all over our garden ....

Au revoir!


Composition ...





I have finally completed Assignment 5 of the SBA Distance Course - this assignment highlights Composition - bringing together all the elements of learning so far - line, form, tone, colour - and our studies with leaves and flowers.  The subject was not a whole plant on a page, more an arrangement of cut stems from a flowering plant - arranged on paper in a way that was aesthetically pleasing.

Painted the flowers first ...












The plant I chose was an Alyogyne ... there was very little in flower at the time of starting as our seasons are opposite to the UK.  When painting in such detail it helps if you have a great synergy with the subject.


Building up the washes

 The Alyogyne was growing on the side of the road during our recent visit to the country - the flowers are outstanding in their colour.  Also outstandingly difficult to paint as they change constantly - from pink/purple to a vivid violet and then blue/purple.  However I am always drawn to vibrant colour and wanted to learn about these pigments .... I posted previously about the time spent with colour testing and I am happy with the results....


Starting to paint the leaves ...







The washes were built up very slowly using only Quinacridone Magenta, French Ultramarine and Winsor Violet, each flower varying in hue.
The painting took many weeks of work in my spare time, and this courageous little plant even survived inside the house.  I had cut and arranged the stems while planning my composition but needed to use the plant for reference.  The Alyogyne is used to full sun and by the time I completed the painting there was only one flower left on it - it is now retired to the garden .....


© Vicki Lee Johnston



Thank you for visiting ... and for your lovely comments, they are very encouraging!

A home among the gum trees .....



It was such a pretty day today - I went into my garden and cut a bunch of roses to form a lovely bouquet  in memory of a very special person. 



We drove to a beautiful setting chosen by Dad to be his final resting place.  He loved that it felt like country while still being in the metro area and he had told us this was where he wanted to be.




It can get a bit crowded at times though, seems the kangaroos are literally in heaven here too!
They are everywhere ... quite content and very well fed.  Before leaving I took a wander around the beautiful grounds ... acres of treed property with many special places to spend quiet time.

Mum and joey not happy about the nearby crow




I came across a mother and baby kangaroo - a joey - such a familiar sight as I hand reared and bottle fed an orphaned joey kangaroo on the farm.






'Is he gone yet?'  
Back to the safety of Mum's pouch!

After spending some time we left the flowers beautifully arranged in Dad's spot ... when a very friendly kangaroo came very close ...




 He stayed and watched us for a while ... then we collected our things and left the flowers ...



Noooooo!!!!
We turned around and noticed our friend heading towards our spot ...

Our roses!!!




According to the groundskeeper they really love the red ones!!
Surely those thorns hurt?










Oh well ... I guess the lovingly picked roses are already fertilizer for the beautiful grounds ....
helping to make it truly the green, green grass of home ...... xoxoxoxoxo


Better late than never ...


Well ... it's been an interesting month.  After almost leaving the course for a number of reasons, I have taken a step back and reassessed priorities.  Kind of like a mid life crisis - an evolution of sorts.
After lengthy discussions about the involvement required over the next two years I decided to continue on .... and despite challenges - to put even more time into studying this art - not just painting a pretty picture but understanding more about the history of botanical art and the botanical structure of the plant I am working on.  

Eucalypt Leaves - watercolour washes in progress

I don't have a background in art, science, botany or anything remotely akin to this genre, so it's hard going at times.  So ... onward and upward ... after a great deal of effort I have almost finished my assignment and will post it shortly - I am also working on my essay assignment for the course and I will show the completed artwork here as soon as I send them off to the UK.

Leaf from a Cottonwood tree - WIP



 In the meantime there are a lot of very industrious botanical artists meeting a painting challenge being led by a wonderful botanical artist and teacher, Mindy Lighthipe.


Same leaf, overworked it but had fun.

Leaves are so difficult but such an important part of the painting and can ruin an otherwise beautifully executed flower study.  I have played around with leaves a bit over time, learning from trial and error mostly!

  The artists are attempting to paint a leaf a day or as close as possible to this .... Mindy's blog is fabulous and she is a very generous teacher, displaying her leaf diary as she goes.... 
Please enjoy the journey and wonderful instruction on leaf painting ...

Tenacity....

Tree planting alongside the Yarra River


On a recent trip to Melbourne I was amazed to see how nature persists even in the most challenging environments. 

In the web definition tenacity is defined as 'doggedness: persistent determination.'
It seems for me, thankfully,   a trait I am utilising to its full extent.
 Have spent the last few weeks wading through office work and the dreary day to day 'must-do's' that threaten to extinguish any creative urges.



With an assignment looming however,  it is always in the back of my mind to see what's on offer in the world of plants and flowers ... what a lovely way to get side tracked from the usual responsibilities.


I also reflect on our recent trip to see the wildflowers and the memories evoked from heading back home - it's my dear father's birthday today and when I think of Dad, as for all my family, I think of the country and all its blessings.




Back to the drawing board for now though ... on our return drive from the wildflower trip we kept spotting a bright purple coloured shrub which caught our attention for its ability to thrive in the most difficult circumstances .... a very tenacious plant!


My current assignment calls for a composition of stems of a flowering plant and as usual I've chosen these stunningly difficult flowers to portray ... for now have been colour testing and sketching and hoping I can bring it all together before all the blooms drop off!

New life ....

Wisteria is blooming and the fragrance is incredible!




I'm really enjoying our spring weather so far and especially  looking forward to longer hours of sunlight, an array of beautiful colours and abundant inspiration.



The May Hedge is in bloom, stunning white hedge

In amongst all the gorgeous foliage and blossoming flowers we found a little bird's egg on the ground today.

Love the pretty colours, almost edible!

I think it's probably a magpie egg, happy to be corrected though.  It has a small hole at the back and was empty but very fragile.  There is protective birdlife everywhere and much squawking and chasing of rivals.


The birds around here are pretty tame and often allow us to feed them and help them - many of the magpies are brilliant at mimicry and imitate dogs barking, sirens and people talking to you - can be most confusing!




They love our little world and are pretty spoilt with all the trees and creatures in our garden.


Pink and grey galah - comical birds 

This kookaburra came right up to our window at breakfast
The egg we found alongside a vintage picture of painted eggs

I would love to have the time to paint the egg but for now will have to put it on hold.  Instead please enjoy a beautiful painting of quail eggs done by my friend and botanical artist Sigrid Frensen, from the Netherlands. The link to her painting is below .....


Going back home .....

 An emotional journey heading home to the farming district  ... we took my wonderful Mum back to see where many memories were made .... at a time when the region comes to life in wildflower season.













 The journey was a  trip down memory lane  ... it was  wonderful hearing the old stories and memories of my parents  settling in this rural area.  Like so many families in the country, life was not easy - hard work for often little reward when you are at the mercy of nature.


But nature made up for it by the little things which  stand out, picnics with the family amongst the beautiful wildflowers, the lovely sunrises and sunsets and even the awe inspiring storms. 



Coming back in spring in the middle of wildflower season makes everything look so colourful ...
It was wonderful to see the beautiful displays in amongst the harsh landscape ....





 It was a whirlwind trip but we managed to get to the popular old picnic spots ... it was a lot of driving but worth it to see the wildflowers in their natural environment.



I look forward to returning again one day but for now I have hundreds of photos .... will post a few more as I sort through ....

All images © Vicki Lee Johnston