Karen L Bailey

   After a career in teaching in higher education, in 2005 I had the time to pursue a long-held ambition to paint botanical subjects.  I attended many residential courses and eventually found a local tutor who gave excellent tuition and motivation.

My interest in alpine plants particularly was inspired by my father who was a Chelsea Flower Show gold-medalist for his show gardens in the 1940s and who had worked at and eventually managed, the famous Six Hills Nurseries in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

   I paint in watercolour on hot-pressed paper and vellum.  I use small brushes of Kolinsky sable and try, as much as possible, to use pure pigment with only a small amount of mixing.

   I was awarded full-membership (now Fellow) of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2016 and have exhibited regularly at the Society’s annual exhibitions and at other venues.  I gained a Certificate of Botanical Merit in 2013 at the SBA exhibition in Westminster, London.  In 2019 I exhibited at the RHS London Show and was awarded a Silver-Gilt Medal for my paintings of Gentians.