Although I had won awards for other artwork before, this picture, a part of the Magnolia x soulangeana series of pictures, was the one that made me feel I was getting ‘there’ in botanical art. It was a mega piece of work done over three years and the largest one done to date. 

We had the tree in our garden on the south coast of England and as the seasons changed I added another piece to the picture, making sure it all came together properly in the last year. 

Funnily enough, whilst I was painting different elements from the tree, it had some very large fruit on it. No fruit this size has graced the tree since. Perhaps it really liked its portrait being painted.

Have a look on the Portfolio page, where you can see the whole series.

Awards

Royal Horticultural Society, UK April 2014:

Silver gilt medal for  ‘ Small is beautiful’ crabapple series. 

Society of Botanical Artists 2012:

Certificate of Botanical Merit for the picture ‘A year in the life of a Magnolia x soulangeana tree’

Society of Floral Painters 2012:

Chairman’s award highly commended for Magnolia x soulangeana: Bloom and Dissection.

Royal Horticultural Society, UK March 2011:

Silver  Grenfell medal for the series ‘A year in the life of a Magnolia x soulangeana tree’.

Lucca, Italy September 2010:

Silver Gilt Botalia medal for the series ‘A year in the life of a Magnolia x soulangeana tree’.

Society of Botanical Artists 2009:

Certificate of botanical merit for ‘The Bosham Hoe Celariac’.

Society of Botanical Artists 2009:

Distinction for the Distant Learning Course.

Collections

•  Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium, London, UK
• Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, USA
• Cumberland Lodge, Great Winsor Park, London, UK
• Esso Norge, Stavanger, Norway
• Saga Petroleum, Stavanger, Norway
• Private collections in Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, USA and UK.