Catherine Day UK
RHS SILVER-GILT MEDAL 2008
Why botanical art? I am drawn to botanical art because of the detail, complexity and variety of form and colour of plants. I like illustrating scientic descriptions of plants and exploring microscopic details. I enjoy working from life and I like to grow my subjects to paint in my sheltered garden. Mediums: I work mainly in watercolour, which is the traditional medium for botanical illustration. I also work in silverpoint and graphite. Although silverpoint does not reproduce well, it gives a beautiful range of silvery-grey tones that suit botanical subjects. Favourite ower or plant to draw: I enjoy working from life and I like to grow my subjects to paint in my sheltered garden. Working from something I have grown myself gives me a deep feeling of satisfaction. How long do they take: Painting my lily exhibit took a long time and it depended on the owering season as to how much time I had to work on each painting since I work from life. All the paintings in my RHS exhibit took at least two months to complete and I was only able to complete one or two a year as they all ower between June and August. The importance of the RHS show: It has given me a focus for a project over a number of years, which has been valuable, certainly whilst the pandemic has been with us.
The RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show starts on 29 April. rhs.org.uk