I tried to replace this image on the homepage, but was unable to….!!! Much too complicated for me. However, surprise, surprise, when I opened my site it had worked anyway. Ah, the wonders of the internet…
River and Plants
All articles filed in botanical paintings
Open House Printmakers: New Work
We set up our new exhibition at the Oxford Gallery, on the 6th October. As you can see we have very different approaches to printmaking.
OPEN HOUSE PRINTMAKERS : NEW WORK
Kathy Anderson, Jo Ernsten, Casey Macaulay, Ruth Stanton-Mcleod, Kris Waldin, Tessa Warburton & Celia Wilson
7-24 October 2021
Here is my submission.
For this set of hand coloured prints I concentrated on the flora and fauna of the River Eyre/Waiaraki to show the displacement of bird life by introduced by exotic plant life. The plants take on an imaginary shape, though based on actual plants. These prints were influenced by medieval illustrations; I felt our present day understanding of nature is in some respect no different to their ideas of what exotic animals might look like. My work always comes out ‘pretty’ no matter how hard I try to make it the opposite! I really enjoyed painting these prints.
Ed 2/5 EV “Herbarium Exotica V” Celia Wilson
A Wrybill is the bird shown in this print.
April 2020
Repeat Patterns
Autumn now in the garden; mallow flowers still calling the bees, and dandelion clocks lingering in the grass.
Two patterns, one off-register. This was accidentally the result of painting in watercolours a sheet of tracing paper laid over the ink outline pattern. I married the two scans together in Photoshop to create this first image. The second image is the pattern created from painting an A4 version of a print of the outline tile.
Really enjoyed this, feel I am getting somewhere now with this process. Thanks to pandemic lockdown I have had the time… As we say in New Zealand, “Kia Kaha” – Be Strong. And take care.
Autumn Garden Colours
Autumn is such a colourful time, and especially so when some of the summer flowers are still blooming.
Was really caught up in some artwork based on the plants in the autumn garden.
I recently completed a Skillshare class by illustrator Sara Boccaccini Meadows – and this was the result. My painting is in gouache with a touch of ‘Ultramarine Deep’ watercolour to highlight the delphiniums. I have not really used gouache before, but discovered for me that using it is an interesting cross between oil paint and watercolour – you can layer on top of dry paint and also mix the colours together on the paper.
LOCALity
I took part in this exhibition, and showed some of my paintings made with ink from empty seed pods from Harakeke (NZ flax plant). I also held a paintmaking workshop.
Here is the published information:
Last days for the exhibition LOCALity at Arts in Oxford, 72 Main St, Oxford. Exhibition closes Tues 10 July 2018.
LOCALity: a group exhibition exploring location, materiality & positioning
Arts in Oxford is pleased to present a selection of artworks by Canterbury artists Mark Adams, Mike Boot, Tony Bond, Cheryl Lucas, Elfi Spiewack, Tessa Warburton and Celia Wilson.
Artists each have diverse, unique practices but collectively are themes of rural life that connect all the works. Local geology, farming industry, water issues, native and introduced flora, recycling, repurposing are all reflected in this curated exhibition.
Images by Arts In Oxford.
(You can just see my artworks on the wall in this photo above.)
Press Release:
Art_in_Oxford_LOCALity_Press Release_final-1
Seeds, hips and twigs
I completed a Skillshare course on botanical sketching by Laura Ashton, and was really pleased to get a few tips that really helped! So pleased to find a use for some of my dried plant material.
Celia Wilson 
