By Engelbert Schmidl
STRADDLING the worlds of biology and fine art, botanical art stretches an artist’s technical skills like few other forms.
The recently formed Wyndham Botanical Artist Society blossomed from president Dolores Malloni’s desire to give her students a regular outlet for their detailed artwork.
She hopes the eight-member group’s inaugural exhibition in September will give local art lovers the opportunity to appreciate the intricate beauty of plant life through watercolour paintings.
“Initially it’s accurate observation: the more you see things, the more you know,” said the Argentine-born art teacher.
It is an explanation that indicates the art form’s scientific origins, from Roman times through to Charles Darwin and beyond.
Ms Malloni, a Werribee resident for 20 years, trained as an artist in Argentina before moving to Australia at the age of 23.
After seeing an exhibition at the Melbourne Botanical Gardens in 1992, Ms Malloni decided to take classes. She has now taught botanical art classes for about eight years and some of her students are members of the group.
Ms Malloni said “a person should draw or paint using the real thing, photos are good as a colour reference,” adding that the work was often very time intensive because the details had to be absolutely correct.
“You can’t paint something with six petals if it has only five,” she said.
The Wyndham Botanical Artist Society holds its Spring Awakening 2007 exhibition from Saturday 8 September to Sunday 16 September at the Wyndham Cultural Centre.
