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Fiona Strickland D.A. (Edin) S.B.A. G.M. C.B.M.
Biography
Fiona is an award winning member of the Society of Botanical Artists and an R.H.S. Gold Medallist. Her inquisitive nature is exhibited in her strikingly individual and contemporary approach to botanical watercolour painting. Her stunning compositions portray a remarkable attention to detail, her passion for intense colour, realistic form and the surface texture of plants. Part of her aim is to encourage the viewer to appreciate the beauty that exists when a plant is sometimes less than perfect, viewed from an unusual angle or its character is captured in a way that is unexpected.
Fiona studied Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art where she received a travelling scholarship to Italy and France before embarking on a year of Post Graduate study in a studio overlooking the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Her interest in botanical subjects began in1999 with a large drawing of a Dracaena later developing to a series of tonal drawings exhibited across Scotland. The response to this work encouraged her to pursue this interest in the natural environment and her progression to the use of watercolour. Amongst other influences attributing to her fascination for botanical work she lists; the modest but passionate interest in gardening of her parents and grandparents, her art training, twenty six years of teaching, thirteen as a Principal Teacher of Art and Design, an exhibition she saw whilst a student in Edinburgh of work by botanical artist Rory McEwen, the flower studies of her tutor Elizabeth Blackadder and most recently, the book, ‘Contemporary Botanical Painting, The Shirley Sherwood Collection.’
Since her first submission to The Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition in 2008 she has been awarded; full professional membership of the Society, the People’s Choice award, the runner up St. Cuthbert’s Mill Award, a Certificate of Botanical Merit, the Margaret Granger Memorial Bowl the Dawn Jolliffe Botanical Art Bursary, and an R.H.S. Gold Medal.
Fiona has work in the collections of Dr. Shirley Sherwood, the R.H.S Lindley Library and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation as well as numerous private collections.
Recently invited to participate in the inaugural exhibition between Fulham Palace Gallery and the R.H.S., the exhibition gave the visitor a taste of botanical art, using the best standard available today. In his opening of the exhibition, RHS president Giles Coode- Adams said: "These are the very best in contemporary botanical art. Although they are done in very different styles, they are all presenting flowers and plants in a way so they can be identified exactly from a scientific point of view. "We have got something very special here - it is not usual to get art of this quality."
Fiona has exhibited at many public and private galleries in Edinburgh and London throughout her artistic career including, the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, The Society of Scottish Artist, the Society of Botanical Artists, the Royal Horticultural Society, and Fulham Palace.
Fiona lives in Stirlingshire with her artist husband and two adult daughters. Currently completing commissions and preparing for exhibitions nationally and internationally she is working full time in her studio in Stirlingshire, occasionally fitting in time to teach botanical painting at a variety of levels including a botanical Master class at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.
Contact Details
Email: fionastrickland[at]yahoo.co.uk