As well as being a teaching and research facility for Trinity’s Botany department, the garden provides the perfect atmosphere and inspiration for a variety of extra-mural courses throughout the year. Learn more about our botanical art,  woodcarving and nature connection courses which are held throughout the year and are open to the general public.

Nature Connection Workshop

Dr Kamila Kwasniewska, plant scientist and botanist, certified forest bathing guide and florist, works towards connecting people with nature through five pathways: senses, emotion, beauty, meaning and compassion.

By participating in a Nature Connection Workshop, you will learn new ways to tune in to nature on an emotional level and draw nature into yourself.

These seasonal workshops will focus on exploring our intrinsic connectedness to nature by using our senses in the mindful practice of shinrin-yoku, or ‘forest bathing’. They will explore how nature in each season brings meaning to our lives and sparks creativity. Course participants will learn to harness this creative spark through ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging, by creating seasonal flower arrangements.

 

For more information about the upcoming workshop and booking details, please visit the Trinity Botany Department website.

Botanical Art with Mary Dillon

What is it about flowers and plants that stirs us, that makes us stop in our tracks to take a second look? Do they evoke a memory? Is it their colour, light or form? Is it the simplicity or complexity of their structure?

Mary Dillon delights in the process of creating botanical art. To capture a plant’s true essence in a painting requires patience and forbearance. It challenges the artist to deep contemplation of their subject. A quiet space away from the distractions of our fast and furious world is fundamental for such artistic study. In this practical two-day course, students will be guided through the mindful process of creating botanical art in the peaceful surroundings of the historic Trinity College Botanic Garden.

Mary is an elected member of the Watercolour Society of Ireland, a member of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK, and the American Society of Botanical Artists, and is Founding Chairperson of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists.

For more information about upcoming courses and booking details, please visit the Trinity Botany Department website.

Introduction to Woodcarving

Conleth Gent is an award-winning Irish sculptor. Conleth has exhibited widely throughout Ireland and has been a multi-award winner at Sculpture in Context at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. His work has been presented to former President, Mary Robinson, and other dignitaries. He has also worked on several large-scale sculptures for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and Galway County Councils.

For more information about the course, and booking details, please visit the Trinity Botany Department website.