Botanical Illustration

When I was 13 years old, my mother and I were walking through an upscale mall doing some window shopping. At that time there was a quaint little art gallery on the second floor, and in the window I saw a floral painting that stopped me in my tracks. At the time I was a student in a local art center in which I took watercolor painting classes. The teacher stressed the importance of personal expression and letting the creative juices flow. That was all fine and good, but I felt frustrated at the lack of instruction, and I didn't like the free-flowing watered down style promoted in the class. But this painting in the window was different. I had never seen a watercolor artist render a piece with such realism and detail. We inquired about the painting, and the man showed us some others by the same artist he had in another section of the gallery. After drooling over the paintings for several minutes we were ready to leave the store, and I remember saying "I wish I could learn to do that". The man must have overheard me and informed us that this artist was local and even taught classes at a local atelier of fine art. I was overjoyed! My mother promptly enrolled me in a class with the artist, Louise Gillis. She ended up being the best teacher I ever had, and to this day she means the world to me. I spent the next 4 years studying under her, and while I feel I could never be at her level, I know she was what molded me into the artist I am today.

While I did study other subject matter, much of my work centered around botanical illustration, learning from great master artists such as Pierre-Joseph Redouté . In fact the painting at the top, a rendition of Redouté's "'L'Hymenee' Rose", is just one of the many I did while attending the school in my teen years. There was just something about flowers! Originally, botanical illustration was intended to assist identification of a plant, often a medicinal one. But for me it was just the sheer beauty, organic shape, and form which drew me to this art form.

The Natural History Museum has a wonderful online resource for botanic art called the Endeavour Botanical Illustrations which features a searchable database.

There's nothing like the beauty in nature...