Christina Hart-Davies

Biography

Christina graduated from Reading University with an honours degree in Typography and Graphic Communication and worked for a London design group before settling in Dorset. There she began combining her interest in art and science in the form of detailed and accurate plant paintings.

Christina has been a professional botanical artist and illustrator for almost forty years. She has illustrated many books and periodicals, both scientific and popular, notably the lion’s share of the ground-breaking Collins Wildflower Guide.

She has held many successful exhibitions worldwide and her work is held in prestigious collections including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, The Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art, RBG Kew and the RHS. She is a Founder Member, and was the first Honorary Secretary, of the Society of Botanical Artists. She retired for some years to concentrate on illustration work, but has now resumed full membership of the Society.

Christina travels widely to study and paint native plants, especially the British native flora. In the 1980s she was awarded three RHS Gold Medals for her paintings of lower plants, and one for her native orchids. She has written and illustrated a book on the history and folklore of wildflowers, A Wild Plant Year, published in 2016. She has also recently written and illustrated another on British trees.
She was awarded another gold for her RHS exhibit of lichens in 2018.

CLIENTS INCLUDE

Publishers: HarperCollins; Macmillan/RHS; Longman; Phillips; Dorling Kindersley; Crowood Press; Michael Joseph; Octopus; New Holland; Hamlyn; Elm Tree Books; Gilgamesh Publishing; Virgin Publishing

Publications: Kew Magazine; BBC Wildlife Magazine; British Wildlife; Successful Gardening (Eaglemoss); Sunday Times

Organisations: Dorset Wildlife Trust; Devon WT; Hampshire WT; BBONT; The Wildflower Society; The Hardy Plant Society; Plantlife; Waitrose

CONTACT

Email: c.hartdavies@ntlworld.com

Website: www.christinahartdavies.co.uk