Although I am from an artistic family (my grandfather taught at Liverpool School of art, and my cousin Hugh Miller is an oil painter) I didn’t do art at school. Then, when doing my horticulture course, during the plants idents I would always draw the plants on display as a way to memorise their characteristics. This led to a couple of botanical illustration courses, and then a local life drawing class which I love. I also draw animals when I can. I like to think gardening is part of this same creative process – particularly when selecting plants for a bedding scheme for example, thinking about colour, foliage, texture and harmony as part of the overall design. I will be studying a drawing for garden design in the summer term, as I need to improve my garden plan sketches.
Finally, I have always enjoyed photography, and although I haven’t got round to taking any courses yet, I always try and think about the composition first, and generally try to avoid any editing or retouching – probably a slightly old fashioned approach. Hope you enjoy this selection of pictures.