About this workshop

Spend a day immersed in art and nature with likeminded creative folk in the beautiful surrounds of Russborough House. You will explore the vast grounds of Russborough House and capture aspects of it in your sketchbook under the guidance and support of botanical artist Yanny Petters. You will focus on sketching En Plein Air in watercolour and water soluble pencil.

During your time at Russborough you will also enjoy a guided tour of Russborough House, followed by lunch together in the beautiful cafe.

Materials needed

A4 sketch book with 200gsm smooth watercolour paper or similar.

(sharp) 2H and 3B pencil, Water soluble colour pencils, set of 12 or more Caran D’Ache(Museum Aquarelle) or Derwent Inktense

two round pointed watercolour brushes, large (about 10mm thick) and medium (about 5mm thick)

Flat brush, 2 sizes; palette, can be a white ceramic plate or tile

Windsor and Newton/Cotman Artists watercolour in pans: Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Alizerin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Prussian Blue, Violet. 

Kitchen towel Water vessel/and small bottle of water, portable folding seat

Meet Yanny

Yanny Petters has been painting exquisitely detailed portraits of wild plants since the 1990s. Fascinated by colour, form and detail, her love and interest in botanical art stemmed from her work as a sign-writer where plant themes were common in decorative design. Yanny has explored many mediums including oils and painting on glass, a technique she specialises in. She has a deep knowledge of watercolours which she has been sharing through workshops for many years and here at the Schoolhouse for Art since it's foundation.

Yanny  has  had  many  successful  exhibitions  since 1995. She exhibited with renowned landscape painter Michael Gemmell in ‘The Living Bog’ which featured her Paintings on Glass of Irish Bog Plants, at the Davis Gallery, Dublin in 2003. She was honoured to be included in ‘1000 Years of Botanical Art’ at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, in 2005 as part of the Dr. Shirley Sherwood collection. Since that she has had paintings exhibited in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, London, as part of ‘The Art of Plant Evolution’ (2009) the 'Botanical Art in the 21st Century' (2014) and in  Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art (2019).

Her work was recently acquired by The National Gallery of Ireland and The National Museum of Ireland. A number of her works are in the  Dr. Shirley Sherwood Collection, the most prestigious collection of botanical art in the world.

Other collections include:

Office of Public Works State Collection, Wicklow Mountains National Park, Co. Wicklow, Connemara National Park,  HSE Community Nursing Unit at Clonskeagh, The Watercolour Society and many private collections.