A sketchbook nature study.

Working in my sketchbooks brings me so much pleasure.  It’s wonderful to integrate my love of painting flowers, writing, beautiful lettering and the joy of decorating the pages to make them look aesthetically pleasing.  Bringing together art and science using words and illustrations satisfies an innate drive to wholeness instead of seeing the world as disparate parts that don’t sit comfortably together.

The artist intuitively senses the energy of each bloom and recreates its beauty as a visual image, whilst the scientist illuminates its biological nature and ensures botanical accuracy.  However, a flower is more than its component parts, and the writer creates the narrative that brings it to life, imbues it with character and reveals the fascinating story of its daily existence, seasonal change and ruses for survival. 

The stunning daffodil flower comes in many guises, exhibiting a dazzling array of harmonious colours in the yellow to orange spectrum.  Dominated by what appear to be brightly coloured petals, instead, this unusual flower has tepals and a crown or cup.  When petals and sepals are indistinguishable, like the bloom has a bet each way, they’re known as tepals.  And the central crown or cup topped with deeply fluted edges, protects the reproductive parts whilst enhancing the beauty of these blooms.

Like pixie’s dancing in the sunlight, the field of daffodils in front of our house delights the eye and lifts the spirits, heralding the lengthening days, increasing warmth and fragrance of spring that is just around the corner. A wonderful time of year!