LIZZIE SANDERS' STORY BEHIND THE ART

Following in the Bartrams' Footsteps

Contemporary Botanical Artists Explore the Bartrams' Legacy

A Traveling Exhibition

Spiderwort

Tradescantia virginiana

My difficulty in choosing something to paint for Bartrams' was that many of the plants on the very extensive list don't grow here in Scotland and those that do are hard to get hold of. I trawled through the list a dozen times and was nearly ready to give up when I spotted the Tradescantia. It does grow here but was not in flower at that time, so I decided to submit one I had already painted. I believe the plant is considered to be a weed in the USA, but it is grown in gardens here. My specimen came from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

It is painted on an unusual paper - Schoellershammer 4G. This is lightweight and coated, best for pen and ink work. It is somewhat like painting on vellum and won't accept washes or really any water at all. However it does give a fine result if you can work dry, dry, dry.

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