May Plantbank Residency + Workshop, 2015.

Apologies for the disappearance of the images at this post... and no doubt at other posts. 

Not spending much time blogging these days I have possibly lost track of where images are stored and downloaded. Other sites I've downloaded images to have not presented a problem. Will see what can be done!

Sophie Munns

On Monday I commenced a 2.5 week residency at Plantbank, located at The Australian Botanic Garden Mt Annan in SW Sydney.

Diversity wall at PLantbanks Foyer.

This follows an intensely rewarding residency conducted here at virtually the same time last year. The drive from Brisbane was a drawn out over three days to visit friends along the way and take in the landscape of NSW where I grew up and lived for many years. 

Saturday night stopover in Newcastle.

Yesterday was a series of lively conversations, catching up with familiar people, settling in to onsite accommodation & creating a workspace in the Plantbank Staff work area which is expansive and has wonderful natural light streaming in.

Seed-collecting shelf next to my work desk at Plantbank ... looking out to the Garden.

I managed to fit in a two hour walk in the Connections Gardens seed collecting and taking photos in the afternoon but last night by 6.30pm I was ready for a simple dinner in the Residency flat & catching a couple of TV programs, too tired to even write on my laptop.

Today was more conversations, reading material and another quick trip to find seedpods.

Sophora tomentosa found today in the Wattle Garden.

Near the staff Kitchen at Plantbank I set up a drawing table and placed a large sheet of paper, sepia ink, seed pods and twigs for drawing implements. Everyone is invited to contribute to this #BigSeedDrawing.

After a few staff had dropped by and made a start of this communal Seed drawing which will be completed by the time I leave.

Gum blossom

Gum blossoms via Instagram and Apps.

Callerya megasperma found Monday in the Garden.

From Plantbank Seed Material

Gmelina leichardtii .... found in the Gardens on Monday.

You can follow the residency through extensive posts with images on my

 FACEBOOK PAGE:  Homage to the Seed

or 

at TWITTER: https://twitter.com/sophiemunns

Instagram will also have some posts.

https://instagram.com/sophiemunns/

READ ABOUT THE WORKSHOP HERE:

Add caption

I'm here till May 27th. Look out for the Workshop details on May 23 + 24... places left if you are local!  

MORE INFO HERE AT EVENT PAGE.

Cheerio,

       Sophie

Images from the PLANTBANK residency

Today is Tuesday and I leave PLANTBANK on Friday, May 9th so it has been an intensely busy period. I've been recording the days on my Facebook page : Homage to the Seed and on Instagram.

This is the photo feed from FB.  You will need to refer to May, 2014 for the appropriate images if you are reading this after May, 2014.

An introduction to the PLANTBANK Residency

In 2008 I bought a Mac Desktop computer and really for the first time started documenting images reasonably successfully, and frequently. In May 2009 I started blogging at Visual Eclectica and that PLUS getting onto a Mac computer, which gradually I could navigate with ease, represented a revolution in a sense for my Art Practice.

From a painter normally surrounded by canvases and works on paper, unceasingly productive whenever circumstances allowed, I gradually shifted the focus of my art practice so that writing became more public, articulating ideas and influences, researching and in time, further developing the Homage to the seed project after its launch in 2010 for a Residency at Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

Interactions particularly ... and research ... shaped what I investigated, how and when... and gradually that morphed into whole new chapters and directions, all within the Homage to the Seed project.

Why I mention this is to highlight the fact that whilst photography has long been a process of documentation for me .... its never been an art form in that I never took it seriously as a way for me to express what I wanted to say.

I've been surprised when positive comments were made about some images in the last few years  because it actually forced me to reflect on what one is doing when one photographs. As a painter I am not drawn to replicate everyday reality. My paintings invariably lean to abstraction no matter the starting point. Aesthetically I like nature to appear dusty and raw... seeds are often dusty and can easily disintegrate over time. Creating highly polished renditions never seemed to make all that much sense to me as a way of interpreting material as art work.

Scientifically speaking  Botanical Illustration makes absolute sense and can certainly be perceived as very beautiful or remarkable in its own right. And without doubt they can be artworks of great integrity. But personally I am pulled to a different journey in responding to seed material... be it pods, capsules, seeds and interpretations via micro imagery, drawings or photos.

At times though favouring abstract painting over photographing and drawing seeds has seemed at odds with something I very much like to do... and that is showcase the extraordinary diversity of seed forms. But back in the studio there are compering demands on my time and focus and without the availability of what I can access at a place like this the

On this residency the Microscopy Room has been like a voyage to another world ... one that I've been hoping to visit for some time. There is a lot more I could say about what this has given me but this in not the time as I have a painting in progress.

Two processes available in this room are the X-ray machine and Micro-imaging computer. I have worked on both finding X-raying seeds brought the best results to date. It takes time however and I made only a rudimentary start n the Micro-imaging.

This eucalyptus species, Eucalyptus erythrocorys , was the perfect example of a seed that at first glance seems quite ordinary. 100's of seeds fall from each capsule and its only when gathered up in a petrie dish like below... that one begins to notice each seed look different to the naked eye... size and shape vary a great deal. Three dimensional, the complexity is obvious under the microscope... but under the x-ray machine something even more fascinating can be observed.

These are the x-rays  of this same seed ...

In this image I was reminded how well over-lapping works

so made a point of crowding the seeds together in the petrie dish for this next image

...  then focused in and altered the back and white contrast tabs, using my iPhone camera to take a large series of variations and close-ups in preference to using the machine to capture images and slowly save each one... one at a time.

This imagery lends itself beautifully to artistic interpretation. It already has the appearance of a beautifully rendered tonal drawing.

I will be downloading more images soon... Ive taken 100's.  Until then you can go to Facebook for updates on this residency.  

Sophie

On residency at PLANTBANK till May 9th.

This is a very quick post on my current residency at Plantbank at the Australian Botanic Gardens, Mt Annan, which is in South West Sydney, NSW.

I'll be updating on this residency at my Facebook page and if time permits here at Homage to the Seed blog as well.

Stay tuned for more on this. ... and join me at the public page on FB for updates.

Up-coming Residency at PLANTBANK.

In Late April I will take up a two week residency at PLANTBANK at The Australian Botanic Garden south west of Sydney, NSW.

Plantbank

 

The Australian PlantBank The Australian PlantBank is a science and research facility of the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust and is located at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan. It houses the Trust's seedbank and research laboratories that specialise in horticultural research and conservation of Australian native plant species, particularly those from New South Wales. Click here to read much more about this fascinating facility which opened in November 2013 and is a partner project with the KEW Millennium Seedbank in the UK where I did a 3 weeks residency in October 2012. One of the projects I will be following up there is: Rainforest seed project - a project to save rainforest species, our most vulnerable resource  * Read more here. Images all from the PLantbank site! This will be a very tight time frame in which to achieve all that I hope to do... research, documentation,      photos will all be crucial for taking away material I can follow throughout  on back at home. However I felt it would be better to aim for 2 periods of two week residencies so I can make the most of the available resources! Watch this space for more information. In order to cover expenses I am holding a weekend OPEN STUDIO event April 12 and 13. I'll be posting information on that here and at other sites over the next 10 days. Contact me here for direct information! Cheers,       Sophie

A week to go ...and the rain is coming down in Cairns!

I'm staying in a large old-style Queenslander house... timber with a tin roof. Big verandah at the back to gaze over the vegetation. The Botanic Gardens is next door and Saltwater creek where crocodiles can be found (although not by me... no spottings since Ive been riding my bike over the bridge) is on the other side.

The weather has been sensational and so rain is a novelty I almost thought unlikely this month. Nothing nicer than the sound of a tin roof which rain pelting down. Rain is falling intermittently so I may get the bike out to go say hello to Gardens staff and have a coffee at the bustling Visitors Centre at the Gardens...but there is a lot of painting to do today....so I will be mostly home bound!

I am going to post the invitation to next week's Exhibition Friday Opening and Saturday talk here in case you are going to be in this part of the world. If so... please came and say hello on Friday 12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th as I will be there at the Tanks Gallery and returning to Brisbane the following week although the show will run for several weeks!

Signage from the Gardens - Tanks Art Centre Precinct:

The legible version

Go to the Tanks Art Centre website to read more.

Working with Lino printing has been a return to a process of art-making that I once really enjoyed. The raw edge and uneven print surface is an aesthetic I'm particularly drawn to... and has often featured in my paintings as well. I added 3 posts to date (Sept 23, 26 and Oct 1st)  at the Studio blog so you can see more images there of work from Cairns.

I also posted on the Weekend in Cairns at my main blog (Oct 2nd) ... getting out for the day on Saturday and seeing what was going on was a good break from the studio and several previous posts on Cairns there as well.


Here are some of the images of work in progress...

...

...and the previous week I set up studio and collected seed material  in and around the Gardens

I've worked in journals initially... so helpful as away to think things through.

Time to get back to the studio!

Back later!

Day Two in Cairns ... on sundown!

Day two

Seeing this poster reminds one the deadline is looming. One reason I 

was keen to produce work in Brisbane over the last couple of months.

People pour into the gardens to go walking all hours. 

This is the view into the Tank Arts Centre at the gardens where the exhibition will take place.

Love looking up and seeing all the ferns growing on tree limbs.

This week is busily being taken up with orientation and meetings. Its exciting to see what can be packed into a short period of time. Not every idea will have the chance to be brought to fruition ...but certainly its very stimulating to be considering many options.

LATEST NEWS... reporting a busy month!

I have been preparing for two main events coming up in the next month or so.

The OPEN STUDIO event has required much preparation, sorting through work from the last couple of years and on top of that long hours spent painting ...completing works and starting new pieces. 

New Logo

On October 12th I will be concluding a month long residency in Cairns (starting 17th September) with an Exhibition opening. The invitation is just out and of course you will find more on all this down the track...with regular updates at the Homage to the Seed facebook page and Website..

This time last year I was so preoccupied with organising and fund raising for the UK Research Trip that I had little time for painting ... so it has been an excellent few months lately dedicated to painting as often as possible. Blogging has been overlooked and the weeks have flown by as decisions were made  re the artwork for Cairns and the event at my Paddington Studio Friday week. 

You can view work on the website , also at the studio blog here and tumblr here.

Artworks are available for sale with a small series of limited edition Artist's Quality prints available for order from next weekend. 

cheerio,

             Sophie