This workshop will introduce participants to the simple technique of Drypoint Etching and Chine Collé using the rich collection of botanical specimens, found objects and wildlife in the Botanic Garden as inspiration. Drypoint is the simplest and most direct form of intaglio fine art printmaking.

Drawing inspiration from landscapes in the Botanic Garden, we will adapt a sketch or photograph and transfer your image for a linocut. Using the ‘reduction process’ we’ll create a layered image using two sets of autumnal colour palettes.

Day 1

A colour workshop to create a plant-based watercolour–gouache paint using three historical dye plants: Madder (Rubia tinctoria) – red, Weld (Reseda luteola) – yellow and Woad / Indigo (Isatis tinctoria / Indigofera tinctoria) – blue. Participants will understand the basic theory of the making processes and knowledge of growing the plants to store for paint production. The course will also explore examples of art and textiles that have utilised these three colourants over the centuries in different cultures and how org

Developing and extending your watercolour technique, John Wiltshire will demonstrate some interesting approaches to watercolour composition, paint texture and effects which will extend and inform your own painting in the garden.

Suitable for those with some watercolour experience

Travelling through the seasons we will explore the history, folklore and culture of three wild plants in bloom (or at least in foliage!) that month. The session will encourage you to search out plants in all seasons and enjoy the history in folklore and culture, and their use for medicines, cooking as well as the many and varied traditional names which help us trace that history.

Inspired by the indigo plants in the garden, each person will build their own small indigo vat and explore the magic of indigo on cotton fabrics. We’ll do shibori – folded, bound, scrunched and stitched resists patterns. With indigo, the fabric changes from green to a beautiful blue and becomes even bluer as we progressively build up colour. This is an opportunity to experiment, to create some beautiful fabric samples and to learn about new ways of working with this ancient dye.

Session 1: 7 September; Session 2: 21 September; Session 3: 5 October; Session 4: 19 October

Four linked sessions will explore the wealth of resources available for researching the history of a garden or designed landscape.

On this two day course in oil painting technique, professional artist John Wiltshire will demonstrate techniques and approaches to oil painting in the open air. With enough time to create your own painting this is a rare opportunity to work in the beautiful historic setting of the Botanic Garden and explore oil painting over an extended period.

By July many of our finest native plants have finished flowering, with the notable exception of glorious shows of thistles, ragworts, dandelions and mayweeds – a great time therefore to concentrate on the Asteraceae or the Compositae as we used to call them.

This two day course aims to teach you how to illustrate Composite flowers, and a bit about the anatomy of this family of plants.  We’ll touch on the botany of both the flowers and the seedheads, think about composition, and there’ll be demos and handouts suggesting ways to illustrate them.  You will get to examine and draw some of these flowers and florets under the microscope, illustrate a variety of Composite species, and had the opportunity to look at Composite species in the garden and to work on a couple of watercolour illustrations of these wonderful flowers. Throughout