Cactus Mural Anniversary!

Three years ago I had the opportunity to work on a wonderfully interesting project in one of my favourite places - the University of Durham Botanic Garden! The project was to paint a mural to go in the Cactus House.



Situated next to the Tropical House in the complex, the Cactus House backs onto another glasshouse. The Garden staff wanted a mural which could be installed to screen the room behind, and also to serve as an educational tool for visitors.


I was given a list of species to feature on the mural, which were to complement the collection of living cacti and succulents in the glasshouse. I produced a sketch/plan showing where the cacti were to be situated on the mural, with the landscape behind drawing the eye compositionally into the scene.



Below you can see the lovely smooth clean boards - primed with several coats of white gesso. I do love to start a new painting, and this one was in a particularly interesting environment!


The staff had made a kind of 'easel' for the boards to rest on in one of the glasshouses behind the cactus house.


To my right was an amazing feature - a raised pond housing the Victoria amazonica!


I worked during the afternoons, so that visitors to the garden could come and see what I was doing and talk with me. Later, when the gardens were closed, I was given the keys to the glasshouses so I could work uninterruptedly during the night. It was wonderful to watch the sky grow dark and the stars appear through the ceiling of the glasshouse!



I built the mural up in stages, from the basic drawing in pale colours, to laying in the blue sky, and then gradually working up the foreground.

More form and detail was gradually added.



To my right, the shapes of the lilypads in the raised pond were a constant source of fascination!

During the night, new lilies opened from buds. I would be painting away, then turn round, and a beautiful lily had opened!




Behind the pond were all kinds of cacti in pots - can you see the one with the little face that someone had made in it?

I had a comfortable bench to sit on to paint the details lower in the mural.


And little creatures to keep me company!






The mural was nearly complete ...


Details on the left ...


Details on the right ...


The Head Gardener asked me to paint a secret giraffe somewhere on the mural for visiting school children to find ... can you see the neck?



Why? ... Places can become secret portals to other worlds when mysterious intergalactic light shines on them!



After many days the mural was complete!


It was installed into position in the Cactus House. I love to go and see it and relive the wonderful time I had painting in such a special place. If you click on the picture below, you can view the website of the Botanic Garden.
Ingrid Sylvestre Mural Painter Mural Artist Durham North East England UK Newcastle Sunderland Teesside Darlington Northumberland Murals

Completed!

The Cactus House Mural is completed! I thought I'd start the post with the finished mural, and then go back in time to when I started today's session, (Sunday).

When I arrived at the glasshouse the sun was shining in, so I had to wear sunglasses!

Stepping back to survey the scene, I noticed what appeared to be a line of dots in the distance ...

A camel train! Where had they come from?

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My paintbrush - at the request of Mike Hughes, Head Gardener! They will be a useful addition when schools visit the garden, to talk about the desert habitat and how camels store water.

Having painted in the camels, I turned my attention to the Echinopsis pachanoi, adding more detail and definition to the flowers, and multitudes of spines.

The Cereus jamacaru also got its share of spines.

I wasn't quite satisfied with the Echinocactus grusonii. Their forms were OK, but they wanted a little more subtlety in the treatment.

That's better! (The colour is entirely different because between these two photos being taken it had gone dark and I had switched the lights on, affecting the colour on the photos). I had softened the contours and added a goldish 'halo' to indicate the fine spines.

The Opuntia robusta needed a little more shadowing ...

I added more deeper colour in places to achieve the desired effect.

I also worked into the rocks a little more to give the sense of depth.

Before deciding definitely that the mural was finished, I went along section by section, starting with the Aloe dichotoma. I had worked a little more detail into the leaves earlier, and was satisfied. The Agave americana were also ready.

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Next I checked over the Cereus jamacaru.

All was satisfactory there, and also with the Aloe buhrii.

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The Echinocactus grusonii were finished.

The Opuntia robusta was now complete, with its many spines indicated in the paint.

Lastly the Echinopsis pachanoi, and the foreground rocks - all finished to my satisfaction!

Creating the Cactus House Mural has been a tremendously enjoyable experience. I have found the artwork challenging and fulfilling, and the studio setting fantastic. Working next to a large raised pond in which Victoria amazonica has been flowering almost nightly has been unforgettable. The sound of crickets chirping has added to the magic of the moment.

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The mural will be installed in the Cactus House imminently.

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To see further examples of Ingrid Sylvestre's work please visit her main site Ingrid Sylvestre Art. 

For commissions and bookings please email: 

IngridSylvestreArt[at]gmail[dot[com

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Cactus House Mural University of Durham Botanice Garden by North East Artist Ingrid Sylvestre UK County Durham Newcastle upon Tyne Sunderland Tyne & Wear Middlesbrough Teesside Darlington Northumberland North Yorkshire Yorkshire UK Mural Artist Fine Artist Illustrator Writer Storyteller Live Event Entertainment North East Entertainment UK Caricaturist Silhouette Artist Wedding Caricatures North East Wedding Entertainment Corporate Events Entertainment Business Launches Trade Shows Party Entertainment Luxury Events Glamicature TM Caricatures and Silhouettes UK Artist Ingrid Sylvestre
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Floral Details

On arriving at the Botanic Garden today, (Saturday), I saw my first daffodils of the year! Maybe it is time to change to my Spring header tomorrow for March ...

Returning to my flowering cacti ... I had left the flowers on the Echinopsis in a preliminary stage yesterday, so worked on them gradually to build up the form and detail.

I added some pale colours for the trumpet-like centre and shaped the petals.

After those had dried, I added darker colours of subdued pink and greens for the stem shadows and the petals.

The Agave americana and Aloe buhrii also needed more detail. On the above photo the background mountains behind these plants are sketchy. After building up the details on the plants, I worked into the mountains.

A stage of detail was added to the Aloe buhrii.

I added further definition to the flowers and the leaves. The ground was also darkened around the plant, to give more emphasis.

Above, the Agave americana was just sketched in. The background mountain is also very 'loose'.

Here the plants have been considerably worked into, and contours more defined in the mountain.

Lastly for the day, I added shading and form to the Opuntia robusta.

You can see on the above photo that I have firmed up the mountains behind the Echinopsis, and also the two distant cacti.

All that remains to do now is to put in a few finishing touches of detail!
Cactus House Mural, University of Durham Botanic Garden.