Last weekend I travelled up to the Highland Folk Museum in the Cairngorms to take part in the Forest Festival event.  This event shares knowledge about Ancient Woodlands, traditional woodland activities and crafts.  Painting with Plants was the perfect activity, placed in the Ancient Township, nestled amongst the traditional timber framed buildings with roofs made from heather. One of the most peaceful places I’ve been.

This was my third year Painting with Plants at this event. Following such a dry year so far, including Scotland, this affected the wildflower growth on site. Buttercups and dandelions were more  difficult to find, so various people were collecting for me from their travels. Rosebay Willowherb, normally in abundance, was appearing in smaller clumps this year. Harebells were very hard to find, but Devil’s Bit Scabious was loving the heat and appeared everywhere. The latter produces a beige brown colour, so not what you expect. I love being able to forage flowers from this site in previous years, but this year I had a much restricted palette.

I met 45 small and big people wanting a Painting with  Plants experience, from the age of two through to more senior  non-creative folk. They were all up for exploring colours with nature’s crayons.

It was so lovely seeing a 10 year old boy so excited about discovering Painting with Plants that he said he was going to show them at school and tell them all about it.

Also, the retired gentleman who usually paints with watercolours had a go Painting with Plants and was very excited. He said; ‘isn’t it amazing that you can meet new people who open your eyes to new things.’ The next day his grand-daughter came up to me and said, ‘my grandad loves painting with plants.’

It’s moments like that which put a smile on my face.

Here are a few Painting with Plants creations from creative folk I met over the weekend. Feeling inspired, see my Painting with Plants blog on how to have a go. If you do, I would love to see your creations. Have fun!