Page 16 - IFV October Issue 2025

Lifestyle

BOTANICAL WORKSHOPS AT VERGELEGEN

The botanical bounty of Vergelegen provided rich subject matter for a series of four
botanical-inspired workshops at the 325-year-old wine estate in Somerset West,
Cape Town.

nalogue photographer and alternative printer Claudia
Schneider from Lady & Co., a women-led business in Somerset
AWest, led both a linocut workshop and a cyanotype printing
workshop, in which she taught a creative photographic technique
using sunlight to produce striking blue-toned prints.
Rose specialist Marie-Noëlle Favard guided a tour through
Vergelegen’s renowned rose garden and shared advice on rose care, Claudia Schneider,
drawing on years of experience to offer handy tips on topics such as analogue photographer
pruning and soil health. and alternative printer Cyanotype by Claudia Schneider
Master botanical artist Sally Arnold led an introduction to
botanical pencil drawing, where participants focused on drawing
leaves gathered from the Vergelegen gardens. The estate’s heritage
trees include the oldest oak in Africa, and five giant camphor trees,
proclaimed national monuments in 1942.
Schneider says: “Vergelegen has always held a quiet magic for me.
It’s a place layered with history, not just in its architecture and gardens, Botanical artist Sally Arnold Erythrina leaf by Sally Arnold
but in my own story too. I remember visiting with my grandfather – it
was a special place for him, and those memories have stayed with me.
“They live on in photographs: quiet portraits, glimpses of light
through trees, the gentle gravity of time. I still visit often, and each
time I feel that same sense of reverence. Certain spots – the camphor
forest, the stillness in the gardens – feel like old friends, always Rose expert Marie-Noëlle Roses at Vergelegen
waiting.” Favard
Schneider views workshops as a chance to slow down and reconnect
“with process, with materials and with ourselves.” While the technical “I then discuss pencil colours to most closely match those of the
aspect is important, she is most passionate about nurturing a way of subject matter. Great emphasis is placed on sharpening good quality
seeing that is reflective, patient and rooted in curiosity. pencils, and how to lay down the colour layers, beginning with light,
“I also see it as part of a larger mission: to keep historical and ending with dark layers. Technical expertise comes about later through
alternative printing processes alive. There’s something deeply learning many helpful hacks.”
grounding in these tactile, hands-on methods – the quiet rituals Arnold says she aims to help each participant see more subtle
of coating paper, waiting for light, washing prints - all of it invites colours within the overall colour, as well as light and shade, negative
presence. I want participants to feel part of this living tradition, to and positive spaces.
create with intention, and to experience the joy of making something “We discuss the composition and presentation of a drawing,
soulful and lasting.” which includes adding a personal signature. We finish by holding
The work of botanical fine artist and sculptress Sally Arnold, M.A., Dip a small exhibition of the work, as I feel that group members enjoy
SBA, has been exhibited in South Africa and European galleries, most assisting each other and, in doing so, begin to see their own drawings
recently at the Valentiny Foundation in Remerschen, Luxembourg. differently. I also want them to feel satisfied with what they can take
“As an artist, I feel a profound responsibility to act as a steward of away from the workshop.”
the natural world, capturing its quiet power and fragile beauty,” she Favard says her workshop was attended by rose enthusiasts who
says. were eager to get more in-depth information on the principles of
When holding a botanical workshop, Arnold first ensures that winter rose care, including pruning methods for different rose types,
participants, who are usually beginners, feel comfortable and relaxed. transplanting roses and soil rejuvenation.
“My aim is to teach careful observation of the subject matter, either For more information about workshops at Vergelegen visit https://
a fruit, vegetable or a leaf, the emphasis being on simple shapes vergelegen.co.za/events/
for beginners. As art critic John Ruskin said, good drawing is 90% Text and photos supplied by Judy Bryant of Meropa Communications,
observation and 10% drawing. on behalf of Vergelegen Wine Estate.

14 • October 2025 • The Villager