Elegant and graceful: Anna's illustration of a swallowtail butterfly is as detailed as it is vibrant. Watercolours of moon white and azure blue depict a species found ubiquitously across the British isles.
Materials: Paper, ink, watercolour paints.
Commission time: 10 days
Care instructions: when your piece arrives, remove from the packaging and lay on a clean, flat surface. Where possible, hang your framed piece out of direct sunlight, in a stable temperate and non-humid environment. Dust frame regularly with a cloth or unused make-up brush: do not allow contact with water or chemicals.
34.7cm by 41.6cm
The Process
Anna's process involves enveloping herself in woodland and the rugged braes of the east of Scotland. By marrying black ink to white paper she instills beauty, nuance, and personality into each piece. Yet her style remains minimal and detailed, referencing the newly hand-cut trimmings of wild local flora, and exotic houseplant alike.
The Process
The Maker
ANNA DORWARD
Artist & Illustrator - Edinburgh
Anna’s connection with nature was fostered in her youth and continues to grow with her throughout the seasons of her life. Anna cherishes time spent in natural spaces surrounded by trees and native plants, foraging for salves and provisions, nurtured her fascination for the usage and practice of all things flora. Upon discovering that she can formally study her passion, Anna enrolled in Herbal Medicine at Napier University. Her time spent here facilitated the development of a deeper knowledge for that which lays behind her art: all while continuing to draw, paint and illustrate the plant and animal life investigated. It was during a botany course that she fell in love with all things flora. With this passion came an opportunity to work as a freelance artist, sketching commissioned botanical illustrations at Edinburgh Botanic Gardens, many of which have been published in scientific papers, including The Edinburgh Journal Of Botany. The turbulence of life shifted Anna away from her craft for almost a decade, although facilitated the exploration of alternative avenues and lifestyles. Nonetheless, after the passing of a long-term relationship Anna rekindled her love for painting, sketching, and illustrating with healthier balance, skill, and poise than ever before. Continually drawing inspiration from the natural space around her Anne is inclined to paint and draw with new techniques and mediums, such as oil paint, allowing for the production of both accurate illustrations, and poignant profiles. Anne’s values are both instilled in and reflected by each of her pieces: returning to our roots and practising life with balanced respect and honour, mirth, kindness, strength, beauty, and power, so long as no harm comes onto others. Her time spent gathering, wandering and wondering is made permanent as ink from her pen flows onto paper, and mind ponders the sacred and the mundane. From trading portraits of pets at twelve years old, to working alongside botanical institutions, Anne is a plant-hoarder in practice and pagan at heart: each of her illustrations echoes and projects a piece of her into this wild auld world we call home.
