Paul Curtis



Paul is a professional artist. His work is closely connected with the Derbyshire landscape and he has given regular exhibitions both here and abroad including events at the Royal Academy.

Click here to see some of Paul's work.

Gabby Hanlon

Gabby has a degree in Fine Art and has taught for many years in Sheffield. Her aim is to help artists, whether beginners or more experienced to explore and develop their own work in the landscape in all media. Her own work is exhibited regularly and makes extensive use of Peak District locations. Expert tiuition and a friendly approach makes Gabby a popular tutor.

Susan Christopher Coulson

Susan trained originally in fashion design, and worked for several years in London as a designer and illustrator. A return to the north of England allowed her to concentrate on botanical art which has been an interest since. Drawing has always been her preferred method of working using a variety of coloured pencils dry - not as watercolour. Subjects are always drawn from life, where possible from her garden, and are usually lifesize. Colours and tones are built up in layers through blending using combinations of individual colours (like painting but all of the colour mixing is done on the drawing itself) and will often include unexpected colour additions to produce the required depth of tone. There is an increasing interest and appreciation of coloured pencils as a fine art medium. Susan has held two solo exhibition and is an elected member of The Society of Botanical Artists and The Society of Floral Painters and exhibit with them annually. Susan has been presented with several awards for her work including two gold medals from The Royal Horticultural Society in November 1999 and 2001.

As well as three editions of greetings cards, she has published a range of prints from from original drawings.

www.floraleyes.co.uk

Valerie Oxley



Valerie has been tutoring botanical illustration for many years. She was the Programme Director for the prestigious Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the University of Sheffield and artwork from her students is featured in the book ‘Wild Flowers of the Peak District’.

Valerie is Chairman of the Florilegium Society at the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield, the purpose of which is to record and illustrate the plants in the Garden for an archive of the highest standards. She is a member of the Society of Botanical Artists and Vice President of the Northern Society for Botanical Art. Her own artwork has featured in a number of exhibitions including the Linnaean Society, London and Museum of Garden History, Lambeth.

Julie Small

Following a career in teaching, Julie has revived an interest in art. Initially working in watercolour she now works in pencil to illustrate a range of both botanical and wildlife subjects.

As a member of the Society of Botanical Artists, Julie has received several awards for her artwork. She is a Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medallist and received an additional award from the RHS for the Best New Exhibitor to the London shows.

Her work is held in various botanical collections, commercial and private both in the UK and abroad, and has been used for illustration in various publications.

Julie has been tutoring for a number of years and people return to her courses for her expert tuition.

Sue Vize



Sue is a full time artist and tutor of Botanical Illustration. Most of her work is in coloured pencil but Sue also enjoys watercolour, graphite pencil, and pastels, producing highly detailed work in each medium.

Sue has work in many private collections and has exhibited at the Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition at Westminster Hall, London.

Five of her botanical paintings have been purchased by a major greetings card manufacturer for their Summer 2007 range.

She is currently working on a project to illustrate a selection of rare trees from the Trent College Arboretum, Nottinghamshire.

Gael Sellwood

Gael is a qualified teacher and illustrator of over 15 years experience and runs local classes specialising in developing compositions that suit the material she is painting. Gael has written and published a number of articles, the most important of which was ‘painting nature on vellum’ in 2004. Gael has been teaching adults since 1992 utilising natural objects, affected, renounced and used by nature. Painting in watercolour (usually on vellum) recreating a season, a feeling, a scent or an experience for posterity. Gael relishes detail and is passionate about recreating this for the viewer to enjoy and treasure.

I have worked part and full time as a botanical and natural history artist for over fifteen years Following an early career in the NHS in human resources, I trained in fashion skills and pattern cutting, creating wedding dresses and evening wear, relishing the textures and colours of beautiful natural fibres. Continuing to paint and draw I also worked in senior management roles in the NHS and voluntary sector, and for six years ran a successful consultancy business, before becoming a full time natural history artist and teacher. I now develop work for exhibition and to commission from my own studio in North Hertfordshire.

www.gaelsellwood.co.uk

Susan Hillier

Susan has been a professional artist since leaving Art School in 1970. For several years Susan worked as a freelance illustrator for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, dissecting herbarium specimens to produce black and white scientific illustrations. She has painted prize winning orchids for the Royal Horticultural Society, and has RHS medals, including gold, for her paintings. She has been commissioned by British Rail, Tesco, McMullen s Brewery, The Law Society, The Police College, and many private and commercial clients. She is an accomplished facsimile painter and has worked by recommendation of the National Portrait Gallery. She is a keen gardener and a founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists. She has illustrated several books and has worked in commercial illustration, her work is included in The Botanical Palette. Susan works in various media and is currently using acrylics and watercolours. She also teaches botanical illustration for the Society on the Distance Learning Diploma course and gives classes in the West Country, as well as exhibiting in commercial galleries and executing commissioned work. She frequently shows in mixed exhibitions in Cornwall and London and has work in private collections worldwide. She has had several solo exhibitions, recently by invitation at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro. Susan is a member of the Cornwall Watercolour Society.

ANNA KNIGHTS



Anna lives in Surrey and grew up in rural West Sussex, surrounded by the lush beauty of the English countryside. Nature inspires her art and her paintings show us its beauty in all its perfection.

With her unusual use of close-up and composition Anna takes a modern and contemporary approach to botanical painting.

Anna is entirely self-taught. Having studied History and Interactive Media at university, Anna began botanical painting in her spare time in February 2006. Anna exhibited for the first time in June 2007 where she was awarded an RHS Gold Medal and Best Botanical Artist In Show for her series of paintings of the apple tree ‘James Grieve’.

Anna’s work is held in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and the RHS’s Lindley Library collection

Chris Gilbert



That my work is often compared to painting is not coincidental. This is because I approach photography as a frustrated landscape artist, with the camera substituting for the paintbrushes that I struggled with inexpertly for so long. In photography I have found a way that allows me to pay homage to the landscapes that inspire me in the manner that my inexpert daubings prevented. My choice of subject naturally gravitates around my home, the Peak District, and my aim is to represent and champion its wonderful variety, which I think sometimes gets overlooked. My portfolio contains, therefore, images from its every quarter, with both external and internal landscapes. The former cataloguing the Peak District's more familiar vistas and the latter bringing out its countless beautiful minutiae. If I have a slight advantage over my peers in this quest then it is the depth of my knowledge of the area, having been a keen walker within its bounds for over 15 years, criss-crossing the landscape time and again. Many of the fabulous places that I have discovered in my walking now find a place in my collection.