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Tina Bone AssocSBA
Biography
I won a painting competition when I was seven, and my teacher told me, "You could be an artist!" At age eleven, I was commissioned whilst on holiday in Italy (Maddaloni, near Caserta) to paint in oils on canvas a large mural of the Madonna and child to replace a wooden mural which had burned during firework celebrations.
I have always been self-employed in desktop publishing but in March 2005, I changed my career to realise a lifelong ambition to become a self-taught, professional artist - and have not looked back! My favourite subjects are botanical illustration, natural history (especially birds), and illuminated lettering, using gesso and gold leaf. But if offered a commission, I will take on any subject!
I designed and planted in 2004 a small ‘wild’ garden to provide specimens of live wild flowers and fauna, such as birds, frogs, newts, toads, hedgehogs, black and grey squirrels and wood mice, and all manner of insects, including lesser stag beetles, damselflies, dragonflies and butterflies. My friend and neighbour has a very large and beautiful flower garden and grows orchids and other exotic plants in his greenhouse which, all together, give me a wide selection of flora to paint. Whenever possible I paint life-size, using live specimens.
In April 2010, my painting entitled Passion Flower Bits was selected for the SBA's 25th Jubilee, where it was awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit. It was also featured in the March 2010 issue of Artists' & Illustrators' Magazine. In June 2010, I was asked to provide samples of my work for ProjectArt Limited, London (Interior Designers), and received my first order for prints in December 2010. And I was delighted to have one of my lily paintings accepted for the 16 designs to be produced by SBA and Ling Design. A world renowned botanist has also invited me to produce a book with her, but the idea is still in its infancy. I design and print my own range of calendars and cards, which can be viewed and purchased on my website: www.tinabonedtp.co.uk
As well as the SBA, other memberships, Galleries and affiliations include: BirdingArt (www.BirdingArt.com); Marwell International Wildlife Art Society (MIWAS); The Natural World Art Group (NWAG); The Wildlife Art Society International (TWASI); Association of Animal Artists (AAA); Society of All Artists (SAA); National Exhibition of Wildlife Art (NEWA); The Tavern Gallery, Meldreth, near Royston in Hertfordshire; Darryl Nantais Gallery, Linton in Cambs; Picturecraft Gallery, Holt in Norfolk; Saatchi Gallery Online; Friends of Paxton Pits Nature Reserve (cards); Cambridge Natural History Society (CNHS); The Wildlife Trusts; The National Trust; The RSPB; Haddenham Conservation Society; and the National Farmers Union.