Old Year, New Year
Colours of the Winter Garden: Watercolours by botanical artist Sue J Williams SBA
14th February to 24th March 2017
Open eve 20th February 7-9pm
Please ring to view 020 8464 5816
The garden at the turn of the year is brightened by camellias and hellebores, but also offers the botanical painter more subtle subjects, often overlooked. The delicate structure of a skeleton leaf or the nuances of colour in a faded petal are as challenging and exciting to paint on a grey winter’s day as the vivid blooms of a conventional summer garden.
I have always been fascinated by the endless variation in colour, texture and growth patterns of plants and the natural world. Having lived in the Far East, the Pacific, Africa and Europe I have had the opportunity to garden in various climates and to document the native flora. My paintings of the flowering trees and plants of Zimbabwe were exhibited to raise funds for educational projects for the National Botanic Gardens in Harare. Subsequently I was commissioned to design several stamps for the Pitcairn Islands, on shells and beekeeping as well as the definitive botanical issue.
I have no formal art training, but an intensive short course at Kew inspired me to concentrate on botanical painting. I was granted membership of the Society of Botanical Artists with whom I regularly exhibit both in the UK and abroad. My interest in the medicinal uses of plants began in Africa and I currently paint for the archives of the Chelsea Physic Garden with their Florilegium Society. Some of my work is in other collections both in the UK and abroad, including the RHS Lindley Library which holds some of the paintings of begonias for which I was awarded a gold medal.
My work aims to illustrate the beauty and complexity of plants in all seasons as they grow, bloom and fade, and the cycle begins again.