AN EXTRAORDINARY EXHIBITION IN GIRONA: Women Botanical Illustrators

Today, my daughter, her friend and I saw an extraordinary art exhibition in Girona. Running until September 14 this year, Women Botanical Illustrators is well worth a visit if you happen to be in the Girona or Barcelona area in the coming months.

The exhibition features some stunning paintings, drawings and cyanotype impressions by women over the last few hundred years, all of them different and really special. The attention to detail is incredible – there is a whole section devoted to mushrooms that is absolutely gorgeous, but sadly I was a twit and didn’t jot down or take photos of the name of the artist.

And the cyanotypes! My goodness, they were done in the early 1800s, and yet look so modern! I was so enamoured that I took a photograph of the information about the artist, but it’s in Catalan so I won’t insert it in here. Her name was Anna Atkins, and she was an English botanist and photographer.  According to Wikipedia, some think she might be the very first person to create photographs and even publish books with photographic images. Her work is beautiful, and I took a photo, but the light was harsh and so I had to take it from the side to avoid shadows. But aren’t they amazing?  So striking and modern!

It's a small exhibition, but there’s much to enjoy, and the fact that many of the images were created by women who lived so long ago made me quite emotional, because it seems that most artists celebrated centuries ago were all men, apart from possibly embroidery,  or tapestry.

I may have to go back again to have another look. The exhibition is in a tiny little square in the old part of Girona, on the way up to the cathedral where I’ve been told some episodes of Game of Thrones were filmed. Girona old town is gorgeous, so do go and have a wander around the narrow, cobbled streets if you’re close-by. I love it! It’s one of my favourite towns in the world, with such a lovely vibe.

I’ll leave you with my not very good photographs, but at least you’ll get an idea of what we saw.

Also, by the time we got back home, I was exhausted, as it was my first proper long outing in six months (really! Doesn’t that sounds crazy?!) and – as always – I’m never one to do things by half. We walked 4 kms, which isn’t all that much, but when you’ve not walked anywhere for such a long time, it’s a considerable distance. I promptly fell asleep for a few hours, failed to record my poem reading of the day, so may have to do two tomorrow. But it was great to be out! And to see people, and buy a few things, and talk to some of the ladies in the boutiques who know me by my name, and are always so friendly, and remember about my illness and ask how I am. And I natter away in my wonky Spanish and it’s just wonderful.

Can you tell it made me happy? What did you do today?

Lots of love,

Cesca

My new poetry book, Illicit Croissants At Dawn is available on Amazon, as is my romcom, Just Like A Movie