What a fabulous meeting we had this week! After stressing out all week because we could not use the Bowling Club due to Tulip Time commitments and needed to find another venue at short notice, we lucked out at the Scottish Arms in East Bowral. Not only did they provide an excellent venue but also a terrific meal choice and a drink thrown in. Cap all that with a highly informative and captivating presentation from the world-famous botanical artist, Susannah Blaxill, what more could you ask!? It is a tribute to her pulling power that there were more non-Rotarians at the meeting than Rotarians. Susannah ran through 60+ slides demonstrating her marvellous attention to detail, colour and shadow in her botanical art. She also revealed her fascination with garlic, onions, pears, mushrooms, eggplants and a variety of other unlikely botanical items. She also introduced us to the subtleties of water colours and charcoal to render the detail of the various vegetables, fruits and seed pods. Even a crass mining engineer like me was fascinated by the processes she uses and the artwork she produces. No wonder she is prized in a number of private and public collections around the world. And all of this from an artist who is unashamedly self-taught. As a final bonus, she explained the true meaning of FAIL – First Attempt In Learning – which would be a good thing for us all to remember. Even her “failures” looked pretty good to me. I suggest you view a compendium of Susannah’s work at www.blaxill.com if you want to know more about this wonderful artist. |
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