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Artist Corner...
Mally Francis FLS
Living in Cornwall with my own private gate into the Lost Gardens of Heligan, with its 1/2 acre vegetable garden, is like having my own allotment but without any of the hard work. Admittedly I don’t get to eat much of the produce; however, I am able to bring some interesting specimens home for me and my art classes to paint in my studio which, for a botanical artist/tutor, is just as good.
Compared to the usual range of vegetables grown in an allotment, those grown here are all period correct to pre-1914, which is when the gardeners left Heligan to ght in WW1 from which many never returned and the gardens began to fall into a deep slumber which lasted until the mid-1990s. We moved into our house in 1997 just before Heligan became such a household name, and we were able to restore the adjacent ruined building, which had been the Heligan Saw-pit, for use as a studio in 2000.
I mainly paint and teach in watercolour, but I am also pro cient with coloured pencils and recently enjoyed using pastels for some quick results (see beetroot). Amongst the cabbages, squashes
and turnips there are more exotic offerings, such as the dear little pineapple grown in the traditional method in a glass frame heated by horse manure. Add to that the perfect pears, quinces, medlars, and, of course, all of the owers which would have been required to decorate a big house in the Victorian period, and you can see that there is no shortage of material to paint.
I now hold botanical painting courses here on a regular basis.
I teach using a structured method which my students are able to follow and all abilities are welcome, from complete beginners to RHS Gold Medal winners. The courses are very friendly and there
is no competition. Each year there are courses for those who live further away, and I hold weekly day classes for locals each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I hold master classes for other botanical art societies at the Eden Project, Bath, Gloucester and the Isle of Wight. I also teach tree and leaf drawing at Stourhead, that lovely National Trust property in Wiltshire.
For further details of my courses please see my website: www. mallyfrancis.com or contact me by email: mally@thewagonhouse. com or by telephone: 01726 844505.
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