painter and landscape architect

I am an artist based in the Scottish Borders, trained in Drawing and Painting with a post graduate degree in Landscape Architecture. As the recipient of scholarships and awards to further my work, I have taken up residencies in Sri Lanka (Geoffrey Bawa Trust), Berlin (Edinburgh University Small Projects Grant) and Hungary (British Council Scholarship). I exhibit regularly with the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists, the Scottish Society of Artist Architects and the Scottish Society of Artists. My work is concerned with land and plants, and how to create conversations open to all artists, ecologists and community groups. I am an enthusiastic educator and practitioner, and work both on site and in my studio. I am represented by The Dockside Gallery in Berwick-Upon-Tweed.

paintings in oil on canvas

My recent work is of the Lammermuir Hills: upland and remote, where land and cloud often merge.The series began in 2019 and continues to the present. I work both outside, and in the studio where my work has become the result of a longer dialogue with my surroundings and is deeply reflective. One painting may take 2 years, the seasons become indistinct and the feeling of me being there deepens. I work on 3 paintings at a time, and rest them, waiting for the next move to be revealed.

flemish landscapes 2010-2018

Living in a flat landscape has perceptual challenges that can be disorientating and require persistent analysis.

This body of work, on canvas, was founded in the practice of daily oil pastel sketches over 5 years, executed in small bound books. The culminating solo show, called 'The Four Seasons', took place in the panelled library of the Lakken Halle, a Heritage Building in the medieval city of Zoutleeuw, once used for weaving and selling cloth. I am also a classical violinist and the Four Seasons by Vivaldi accompanied this exhibition.

These paintings are in acrylic, they took less time to complete, stayed true to the seasons and remain a more literal body of work.

Examples of daily oil sketch practice, over 3 years, from my studio in Belgium.

botanical illustration

I have been practicing this discipline since I graduated as a Landscape Architect in 1993 and received a scholarship to record Brief Garden, by Bevis Bawa one year after he died. The Geoffrey Bawa Trust commissioned me to do a conservation plan and study of the artist' garden in Sri Lanka. In an effort to identify the plants by careful observation, I drew and painted them. The illustrations underpin the conservation plan of the 2 acre garden in pen, ink and watercolour on hot pressed watercolour paper of archival quality.

I have continued to paint in botanical gardens in India, Belgium, Australia and the UK. Being self taught, I have developed a style of my own, which, although true to life, omits the stricter rules of Botanical Illustration. However, recent developments have prompted me to attend more rigorous and traditional classes.

Historically, botanical artists of the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries fascinate me. Many of these artists were intrepid women explorers, or unknown Indian and Chinese artists who painted catalogues commissioned by collectors and shipping companies trading in plants for Kew Gardens.

In March 2025, I became a director of the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists, much to my surprise and delight.

Avocado

Lock down project - growing avocadoes from pips

Anemone 'wild swan'

Smeaton Nursery and Gallery, East Lothian

Iris siberica

My garden, Duns

Eucapyptus

Northern Rivers, NSW, Australia

Iris germanica

My neighbours' Garden, Duns

Rhodedendron

Smeaton Nursery, East Lothian

Lily

Brief Garden

Below are some Sri Lankan plants, from the collection of illustrations (1994) exhibited at Brief Gardens and in Colombo at Gallery 706, Barefoot. These are now held in Brief Garden House and Museum and in the Geoffrey Bawa Trust.