Isobel Bartholomew

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Biography

Isobel grew up loving plants and flowers but had painted little until she taught herself the basics of watercolour while working on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, wishing to capture the glorious lush tropical flora.

Returning to the UK in the 1980’s she followed up her new found enthusiasm for Botanical Illustration by taking classes with Margaret  Merrit. Further inspiration from the paintings of Mary Grierson and Pandora Sellers has also led to a love of studying Composition.

As an already trained teacher in Adult Education, she first set up courses teaching Botanical Illustration in a local Technical College, and has since run many workshops in East Anglia, and continues to do so plus tutoring at home.

She has many published illustrations; exhibited at the RHS on 11 occasions with 8 consecutive Silver Gilt Medals; has exhibited at many other exhibitions and has work in the Lindley Library Collection.

In 2010 she founded Iceni Botanical Artists, and in 2014 was granted Heritage Lottery Funding to run watercolour painting workshops for the public, over a two year period.

Following a project to record some of the rare and endangered wild flowers of the Breckland area of Norfolk, the group published a book of IBA’s paintings in 2016, “Breckland Wild Flowers – Heaths and Grasslands”.

Website: www.icenibotanicalartists.co.uk

Email: r.ibartholomew@shadwell10.plus.com