A Week in Dedham, England

After a 10 hour flight from Los Angeles, I arrived at Heathrow at 9:30am.

Then off to London on the Heathrow Express.  Hopped on the Tube to Victoria Street Station then with luggage in tow, just a quick walk over to Westminster for the SBA Annual Exhibition

The cover for the SBA Exhibition (Society of Botanical Artist) was created by the wonderful Ann Swan.

Quick taxi drive over to the RHS Exhibit (Royal Horticulture Society) 

Both exhibits were wonderful.  Such wonderful art could be seen by some amazing artists.  Loved seeing the students art from the SBA Long Distance Learning program.

Just an hour by train from London is the historic town of Dedham.  Ann Swan holds week long workshops at Dedham Hall twice yearly in April and September.  

Dedham Hall is a 15th century manor house in the beautiful Constable Country.

Art courses are held in the large 2 story studio, originally the old barn.

This was my home away from home during my stay.  I had the entire upper flat with views in all directions.

Every morning a group of us ladies went for over an hour walk on the many footpaths in the area.  Every morning going in a different direction.

Its always fun getting the ladies to clown around on our walks.

Miss you all....... Mia, Sandra, Gill & Helen

The Daffodils were in full bloom around Dedham Hall and the surrounding area.

Color Pencil students hard at work!

Just another great meal.  We're always having a great time!  

Love these ladies :) 

Thank you Ann Swan for another memorable colored pencil workshop in England!

While having fun in Dedham, I did work on a new drawing of an Orchid.  This is blown up approx. 5X actual size.  It took me all week just to get this far.  Those little red islands on the leaves took days.  Now I'm starting to color in the green of the leaves.

Miss you all!  See you next year.

Lori V.

Ann Swan Colored Pencil Workshop

My travels to England!

I arrived in London on Friday, April 6th and then hopped on a train for an hour to Dedham, England.  To give you some history, Colchester near Dedham is the oldest recorded town in England, it was such a magical little town, located in the South East part of England not far from the English Channel. 

The workshop and accommodations were held in Dedham Hall which is a 15th century Manor House with a wonderful restaurant called The Fountain House.  The proprietors, Jim and Wendy were amazing.  Jim picked me up from the train station and got me settled before dinner.  Wendy amongst other things is an amazing chef.  All the meals were works of art and utterly delicious, I ate very well when I was there.

Saturday before meeting with the rest of the students I ventured off on one of my walks and discovered the foot paths that cover all of England.  You can literally walk across England on these paths meandering over green countrysides, thru farms and villages of England.  I had a fun time taking pictures of some of the amazing Doors of Dedham.

I was lucky enough to spend a week with one of the best Botanical Illustrators in the world,  Ann Swan.  She is not only an amazing artist but a wonderful person, I am so fortunate to have been able to attend this workshop.  Traveling all the way to England from California, I didn't know what to expect.  But, from the moment we all met at the workshop, it was like spending a week with my best friends.  All the students from beginners to advanced were so friendly and willing to share their knowledge.  I have never felt so comfortable in unfamiliar surroundings half way across the world.

Thank you ladies! 

Every morning, there was four of who loved to walk.  So, at 7:00am we all took off on the footpaths of Dedham for an hour or so.  Luckily, they all knew where to go and we always made it back in time for breakfast.

Thank you Jill, Sandra & Helen for including me in your walks!

Some days we would walk on footpaths that were clearly marked, other days the footpaths were thru a heard of cows but always, the paths we took were so beautiful.

Flatford Mill, Dedham Valle where the famous John Constable painted may of his famous paintings in the early 1800's

I spent all week working on one picture of Hellebore, Christmas Rose. I'm still not finished with it, but will working on it in the next couple of weeks.

Check back for the finished product.

Botanical Artist Ann Swan & aspiring artist Lori Vreeke

Thank you Ann for a wonderful time.  Look forward to many more workshops with you :)

Become one of my Blog followers to follow my art adventures!