biography

I have been fascinated by flowers and all growing things for as long as I can remember and painted from a young age without formal training.

In 1979 I began a course of study and, three years later, gained a City and Guilds Diploma in Creative Studies. This was a very exacting course, which greatly improved my observation and composition skills.

I carried on painting during the busy years that followed but always felt the need for focus and inspiration. I finally found this in the botanical works and teachings of the late Eve Reid Bennett, and studied under her in the Royal Botanical Gardens, Edinburgh. I continued there for three further years under the guidance of Jacqui Pastell, the Artist in Residence, and graduated to the Advanced Class. I have been exhibiting and selling since 1997.

To capture the transient beauty of my subjects is a constant and absorbing challenge. Watercolour is an unforgiving medium and each painting takes many, many hours to complete. This makes it hard for me to part with originals, but now that I have found a sympathetic and skilled organisation to create superb reproductions of my works, I hope to share these with a wider public.