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… Read more