This is a series of work inspired originally by a visit I made to Oxford Botanic garden.
I started by making some simple black and white woodcuts, this led me to think more closely about what the work meant to me.
I am a very keen gardener and I feel deeply about our natural environment. The flora kept in Botanic gardens and glasshouses has echoes of Zoos and wildlife parks, bred in captivity and also showing ‘What we have to lose’ , possibly…
These works combine woodcut prints with hand-colouring in watercolour. I feel this gives to my work a greater range of colour, detail and texture to better show my intention which is to explore the natural world of trees, plants and flowers. Showing the amazing variety of colour and shape, the sheer diversity of what can grow in our own back gardens. But also, to explore plants which are bred and live in 'captivity'. A possible future for many plant species, and for our experience of them, certainly those which may not be able to survive and adapt to long term changes to their environment and the threats brought by climate change.
