Carolyn JENKINS
The renowned botanical artist on contemporary compositions and the power of growing your own plants. Interview: REBECCA BRADBURY
I had my own garden in my late twenties and I started to grow plants specifically to paint
My graphic designer father encouraged me to paint. I spent hours making my own magazines full of pictures.
When I was seven, I won a Blue Peter badge for my art. I came runner-up in a competition to design a “Keep Britain Tidy” poster. I was so proud of the badge.
Painting definitely came before plants. I went to art school and didn’t become interested in horticulture until I had my own garden in my late twenties. I started to grow plants specifically to paint and took Royal Horticultural Society courses to learn more about caring for them.
Growing your own plants provides more interesting subjects than buying cut flowers. Watching their development, from seedling to seed pot, inspires lots of my ideas. I have an abundant supply of flowers, which aren’t always perfect, but this adds to the composition.
Colour, scent and texture interest me the most. Roses are my favourite thing to paint – the velvety petals and different form that each species takes intrigues me. It helps that a lot of roses are repeat flowering, which provides an abundance of specimens to work from.
I can rarely use my own specimens for a commercial illustration. For example, I’ve painted ylang ylang, vanilla and avocado flowers for beauty care products, but I’ve had to use stock photos as references.
Cedric Morris’ paintings of his own-bred Iris varieties are beautiful. They’re highly decorative and slightly Impressionistic. He started the East Anglian School of Painting in 1937. My great aunt Joan Warburton was a pupil there and I grew up being greatly influenced by her.
I constantly refer to Rory McEwen’s The Colours of Reality. His simple but brilliant compositions remind me not to add too many elements to a painting.
I can’t work without my Omega 5 magnifying lamp. The daylight bulb is essential to give a truer representation of the colours I’m using.
I learnt so much at the English Gardening School. The exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are also wonderful to look at for creative ideas and motivation.
Carolyn’s book, New Ideas in Botanical Painting, is published by Pavilion Books. www.carolynjenkins.co.uk