Suzanne Havens

My photo,Circle of Life, won first place in the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens 41st annual photo exhibition. You can see all the photos in the link below.

Bromeliaceae, Tillandsia streptophylla

https://selbygardensvirtualphotoexhibition.artcall.org/pages/web-gallery

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens is featuring a pop artist’s take on Monet’s paintings. Roy Lichtenstein created large collages of Monet inspired themes, the haystacks and the waterlilies. As a pop artist, Lichtenstein used contemporary devises, like the dots used to turn drawings into print. He oversized the dots so they became a signature part of his work/play. The blue/green is the iconic Monet color of his house and garden hardscape.

Along side Sarasota Bay flower boxes support the arches of newly planted flowers and vines, which will mature as the exhibit goes on.

Monet’s garden at Giverny features arbors in this iconic blue/green. The Selby staff interpreted this in the Lichtenstein style of wisteria and gate posts with dots.

Bridges in the iconic Monet color are repeating elements at Giverny and Selby. Water lilies are fashioned in the pop Lichtenstein style.

The facade of Monet’s house with its blue/green shutters acts as a backdrop in Selby’s tropical conservatory. Lichtenstein’s pop elements are the hashmarks on the windows and the pink dots on white to represent the pink stucco on Monet’s house.

The conservatory features many brightly colored orchids instead of the annuals and perennials that grow in France. The Lichtenstein/Monet gate serves as a fresh backdrop.

Just as the bridges are repeated elements at Giverny, they are seen throughout Selby. This time in traverses the koi pond where Lichtenstein inspired waterlilies and koi decorate the pond.

Lichtenstein made a pop version of Monet’s haystacks. Monet painted the haystacks at different times of day. Lichtenstein painted different color versions: red, yellow and blue. The Selby staff created one set of haystacks that display yellow from the right and red from the left using wood on the diagonal–another modern art treatment. Long grass was planted in front to express the hay field.

Lichtenstein’s original artworks of the waterlilies and haystacks are being shown in the Payne mansion, a part of the gardens.

Monet created paint boxes in his garden filled with plants and flowers of similar hues to test out the the harmony of the colors. Selby built paint box gardens with a larger than life tube of red paint and a yellow paint brush loaded with green paint, reminiscent of the larger than life pop sculptural objects of Claes Oldenburg.

Last fall I became a Volunteer Photographer for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. The Botany Department is building a data base of their whole collection with photos. This means I get to pose plants from the greenhouses and wander the grounds taking series of photos to give botanists different views of the plants and at different times of the year. Yes, there are seasons in Florida!

The winners of the Selby Gardens photo competition were announced this morning. My photo, Ballet in Space, won Best of Show! I also won an Honorable Mention for Pond Reflections in the Geometry category.

You might already know how reluctant I am to enter any competitions, but this year I felt the need to support Selby Gardens as a long-time visitor, a member, and recently as a volunteer. The entries had to be taken in the past two years at Selby Gardens or Spanish Point and could not have things added or deleted–so no Photoshop montages which I delight in making. My three entries are attached. Even though the bird portrait did not win a prize, I am happy with the photo.

Because of the Covid 19 Pandemic, this year’s competition is digital only (no prints), so the display is published digitally at the link below. They state that they will have all the entries displayed soon.

Also because of the pandemic, my volunteer work has not yet started. I read an article in Selby’s newsletter that they were looking for a few more photographers. I submitted Selby photos and shared my background, was invited in for an interview, and was invited to volunteer.

So please enjoy the virtual gallery visit!

Suzanne

https://www.yourobserver.com/photo-gallery/40th-annual-selby-gardens-juried-photographic-exhibition#photo-1