The natural world is a fascinating and beautiful place. As a Botany student at Southampton and Cambridge Universities I began to appreciate just how special the ancient trees in Windsor Great Park and Burnham Beeches, which I had known since childhood, are.

 

Drawing such trees and the plants in my local area enables me to study them in detail and to learn so much about their biology and how they grow. Pen and ink is ideal for depicting the gnarled old trunks of trees and also their twigs and leaves, creating images that are full of the character of the individual specimen and show that it is more than just a tree.

 

Some trees may be over 500 years old, and it is humbling to think about all the changes that they have silently witnessed over that time. The manner in which the tiles and walls of buildings mellow with age may reflect this shared history, and I enjoy depicting such buildings in watercolour, which lends itself to the dappled patterns on the wall and roofs, and to reflections when the building is beside water.

 

I am a fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists and a founder member of the Association of Botanical Artists. In 2022 I was awarded a silver-gilt medal for my exhibit, Trees: Form and Structure, at the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show at the Saatchi Gallery, London.