Broomfield Conservatory's artist in residence for 2016 is Cathy Taylor. In conjunction with fellow Friend of Broomfield Park June Dawes, she will be exhibiting her botanical sculptures set among the hothouse plants in Broomfield Conservatory. The exhibition - Spirals of Life - starts this Sunday (31st January) and continues until the end of June. Between now and then visitors will see a varying display of sculptures on a background of a changing display of flowering plants (one of the nice things about the Conservatory is that it never looks the same on two visits).
Why "Spirals of Life"? Cathy explains that the spirals are for the spiral patterns of growth seen in many plants - most visibly in the unfurling tree-fern fronds, and the tightly-curled banana leaves. It is also for the way pieces grow on the potter's wheel - all February's 's pieces started off spiralling on the wheel.
Cathy and June will also be running workshops to teach visitors how to create works of art based on the plants in the Conservatory.
Schedule
A series of small botanical sculptures will be placed amongst the plants in the conservatory as follows:
- From 31st January - begonia leaves
- From 28th February – frond, spiral, spathe & spadix
- From 27th March – bamboo and grass
- From 24th April – hungry, hairy, spiky, sticky (insectivorous plants)
- From 29th May – flowers, fruits & seedpods
- From 12th June – spirals of life (final show including something from every month)
Workshops
These will be held during Sunday opening times and open to all visitors who wish to take part but limited by the numbers fitting round the table at any one time.
- 28 February – Leaf making (explore various ways of making leaf shapes in clay, including taking impressions from plaster moulds or actual leaves)
- 24 April – Pinch pots (hand make small clay pots and shape them into seed pods, fruit or pitcher plants)
- 29 May – Sketching (draw the shapes you see around you in the conservatory).
Broomfield Conservatory is open to the public on Sunday and Wednesdays only, between 2pm and 4pm (from the last Sunday in March the opening times will be 2.30pm to 4.30pm.)