Art workshop for adults and seniors / integration and intergenerational programme: Butterfly Time in Watercolour Painting I / for the GHMP Collections in cooperation with the Botanical Garden

The art workshops reflect the collaboration of the Education Department of GHMP with the Botanical Garden of the City of Prague. The concept of the mutual cooperation focuses on connecting two inspiring spheres; the garden and art. The series of workshops is about sharing the “butterflies” theme in the context of the ongoing exhibition in the Fata Morgana greenhouse at the Botanical Garden entitled Butterflies, the Magic of Transformation (7 April – 21 May 2023), and builds on the artistic rendering of the entrance to the greenhouse, which was created at GHMP’s Education Centre. The Botanical Garden provided exotic butterflies as inspirational materials for this project, which stimulated ideas for the work and also a context for the theme in a professional sense. During the workshops entitled Butterfly Time in Watercolour Painting, we will try out the transparent painting technique and its methods (wet-on-wet and dry-on-wet painting). We will be working with paints that we will mix ourselves using powder pigments, and it will be possible to get more closely acquainted with the actual procedure and process of producing the colour shades.

During the art programme entitled Butterfly Time in Graphic Art, we will focus on the drypoint technique. We will first focus on sketches as records of artistic ideas. We will use a simple engraving tool to transfer the final design onto the smooth surface of a plastic plate, which will then be used to create an impression. The theme of the artwork will be the butterfly, which brings both the symbolism of a life principle (ephemerality, transformation, etc.) and is closely connected to plants and flowers. The creative workshops will also introduce the work of selected artists whose works are present in GHMP’s collections and relate to the theme of butterflies (e.g. Vladimír Boudník, Václav Boštík, Alén Diviš, Jiří John, Naděžda Plíšková, Lev Šimák and Max Švabinský).

This programme is designed not only for adults and seniors, but also for their children and grandchildren as part of an intergenerational encounter. The workshops are also open to foreign visitors.