Simonetta Occhipinti

Biography

Simonetta graduated in piano and music education. When she was eighteen  she started to paint flowers in watercolour and fell in love with the wild flowers that grew in the countryside where she lived, near Florence. She felt the same sensations as in music: the nuances were like the crescendo, the tonalities like tonal values. She continued to paint and learn for many years and finally it became her profession too.

She paints with watercolour on paper and prefers different types of Fabriano Artistico cold pressed although she can use hot pressed if the subject requires it.

Botanical art is part of her life and through painting  plants,  flowers and  fruits she discovers the perfection of nature.

When she starts painting a new subject, she loves to study its history, its different varieties and the types of cultivation to better understand  the personality of the plant.

She is also a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Website:  www.simonettaocchipinti.it

Exhibition History

She has had personal and collective expositions organised by Associations and Institutes amongst which: Museo di Storia naturale of Florence, Ducal Palace of Camerino (Macerata), Accademia dei Georgofili, Botanical Garden of Florence, Lucca, Padova,  Edimburgh, Lindlay Hall in London, Villa Bardini Museum in  Florence, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh (USA).

Next 5 November she will participate in the exhibition “Exploring Botany” at the Manggha Museum for Japanese Art in Poland.

In February 2016 she received a Gold Medal at the "London Botanical Art Show" organized by the Royal Horticultural Society.

 In May 2019 she received a Gold Medal at the International Exhibition Biscot, organized by the Gardening Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden of Edimburgh. One of her works is in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh