An enduring relationship with botanical art can be traced back to the Palaeolithic period. Man’s earliest expressions about aspects of his life included inscriptions of plants and animals carved onto fragments of bones and rock. Much later and for many centuries thereafter, botanical drawing and painting was more closely associated with science than art. The accurate depiction of flowers and plants was born out of the practical needs of early apothecaries and physicians, to identify specimens which could be used for their medicinal and health promoting properties. Eventually, the superb skills of these botanical painters which had hitherto gone unnoticed by the art world, were recognised as having artistic merit in their own right.

Our own interpretation of botanical painting involves time spent making preliminary sketches often using powerful lenses followed by more detailed drawings which are then developed into heavily stylised designs. We now have a growing collection of dried plants and flowers which we use as source materials. The gradual drying process helps to accentuate the exquisite ‘natural engineering’ and sculptural forms that are less apparent in some fresh flowers providing us with new creative opportunities.

Under magnification, the boundaries of perception start to recede and it is possible to allow the imagination to take flight. Exquisite shapes and patinas reveal themselves - designs within Design. The striated tissue like surfaces of a tiny, dead headed daffodil are seemingly transformed into an aerial view of a furrowed landscape. Or, the smooth interior of an acorn cup with its delicate tracery of capillaries beneath the surface - a familiar womb-like space. Even when the palette may at first appear unlikely, it has invariably been inspired by authenticity, minute flecks of intense colours glimpsed fleetingly within the fading petals of a flower.