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Botanical Artist - Sue Wickison BA Hons, SBA
Sue was born and brought up in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Her passion
for natural history was nurtured by her father, a teacher, amateur
botanist and artist who used to take her on expeditions Sue took a four year degree in Scientific Illustration at the Middlesex University, London, followed by a nine year career as a botanical artist with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, one of the foremost botanical institutions in the world. She was awarded a Winston Churchill Trust Travelling Fellowship to travel to the Solomon Islands to collect orchids for Kew. There she photographed, drew and painted plants in the wild, recording pertinent botanical and geographical details. Walking into remote areas with guides or travelling by helicopter into inaccessible locations with prospecting geologists, Sue was able to find plants new to science. "Getting into areas where few people have been before has been one of the highlights of my life and the excitement of finding orchids in full bloom in such inaccessible places is an incredible experience never to be forgotten".
Sue discovered several new species of orchid and was honoured to have one,Coelogyne susanae named after her. As well as working for Kew, Sue has worked for the Royal Horticultural Society and in publishing for a number of popular botanical and gardening books. She has travelled extensively and worked on illustrated books for the Agricultural and Forestry departments in the Solomon Islands, Nepal and Vanuatu. She has produced over 50 natural history stamp designs for several countries in the Pacific, including New Zealand. Sue has been accepted for full membership of the Society of Botanical Artists in Britain. A high level of excellence is required to become a member of this exclusive society. Sue is also a member of the Botanical Artists' Society of Australia. Sue's style of painting is very slow and meticulous working in the traditional watercolour discipline capturing the details and nuances of colour of the plants. Paintings can take weeks or months to complete as layer upon layer of fine washes are built up to recreate the living plants on paper. Sue and her family have now settled in New Zealand which has a unique and, in many cases, endangered flora. Many of these plants are spectacular, fascinating and intriguing and a challenge to paint. Sue is working as a freelance artist with the Plant Conservation Network to produce accurate and appealing illustrations of these plants in an effort to help raise the awareness of the plants and their critical status. In early 2006, Sue applied to show her work at the Royal Horticultural Society exhibition in London. She was accepted and displayed eight pieces depicting New Zealand native flora at Westminster Hall in November 2006 - her work was accorded a silver award. Sue also exhibited her artwork at New Zealand House in London during October and November 2006 at an exhibition opened by the New Zealand High Commissioner in London, the Rt Hon Jonathan Hunt ONZ. Many of the species illustrated in this exhibition were New Zealand natives; most of them threatened in their natural habitat. This success was followed by an invitation to present a five-week solo exhibition at Savill Garden in Windsor Great Park in April 2007. Sue's exhibition was timed to coincide with the opening of the revamped New Zealand garden, the Park's only country-specific garden and the home of Britain's largest collection of New Zealand plants. Her contemporary paintings of native plants attracted great interest from visitors and helped publicise the colour and diversity of our local flora. The New Zealand garden was officially opened by Prince Andrew and she was also able to show him round her work. This is a list of some of the books Sue has illustrated: |
locating, identifying and collecting specimens.