Biography
Fellow, Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society
Having trained as a teacher of Modern Languages and spent most of my life travelling, I came late to botanical painting. However I have always had a passion for plants, and am fascinated by the details of the infinite variations in colour, texture and structure of the plant world. Whilst living in Zimbabwe I painted the region’s flowering trees and plants for the National Botanic Gardens, and in New Zealand, in addition to working on the native flora I was commissioned to produce stamp designs for the Pitcairn Islands, including the definitive botanical issue in 2000.
On returning to the UK I was elected to the Society of Botanical Artists and have exhibited annually with them, as well as more locally with Florum, and have become a Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. I was awarded a gold medal by the RHS in 2008 and had the opportunity to show 25 paintings, “Black and White, in Colour”, at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew, in 2013-4.
My work is held in the collections of Dr Shirley Sherwood, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Chelsea Physic Garden, the RHS Lindley Library, as well as the Isaac Sutton Collection and Hunt Institute in the USA.
Contact Details
Email: sueandmartin@tiscali.co.uk