Sue

I spent most of my working life behind a desk, in London, Amersham, Oxford and Bermuda where latterly I lived and worked for 10 years before moving to France in 2007.  I now spend my time travelling between France and England. 

It was in Bermuda that I met my good friend, Christine Watlington, fellow of the Linnean Society, and a skilled botanical artist who had learnt her craft at Kew Gardens.  It was she who sparked my enthusiasm for botanical watercolour painting and encouraged me to develop my work further.

In 2009 I completed the diploma course with the Society of Botanical Artists in England and was awarded a distinction for my efforts, receiving a prize for “most improved student”.

In 2010 I was accepted as an Associate Member of the Society and five of my paintings were admitted to be hung at the Silver Jubilee Exhibition of the SBA at Central Hall, Westminster, London.

My mother taught me to sew when I was very young.  She passed her skills onto me and helped to develop my love of all sewing, crochet and knitting.  She is still a better knitter than me!  While living in Bermuda I began to appreciate the American tradition of quilting and joined a quilting group while there.  From these early experiments I began to explore different techniques and made my first spectacle case with my own design of the rising sun motif.  I love working with Batik fabrics and jewel colours and use machine stipple quilting to add texture to my work.  

I hope that my work gives you pleasure to look at and perhaps the pictures you see here might just tempt you into buying the odd bit of stuff as well. Do come again – I’ll be adding to the site over the year as I paint more and sew more.

I have exhibited my watercolours in London, France and Bermuda.

Lament on the death of notelets

With the advent of email and social networking, sending cards seems to be a dying art. Which is a shame from my point of view since I would like to sell more of them, but also it is a shame for those “never to be” recipients.

E-cards have their place, but do they substitute the personal action of a written note?  As a friend pointed out, when e-cards become ubiquitous, will one really want to keep opening endless trails of them arriving in one's in-box?

A card can be used to deliver news of the whole gamut of emotional experiences – from birth to death. It can bring feelings of warmth, sharing, concern, on even the darkest days and the recipient knows that the sender has taken the time to choose the card, write a message by hand, find a stamp and put it in the post box.

Writing and posting a card shows a level of care in a world where such things are rapidly becoming subsumed in the tumult of mass over-communication.