Gillian Payne

Jill paints plants simply because she is interested in the plants, their form, natural habitat and origin. She likes to observe the detail and patterns in the seeds, leaves, bark, etc.

Jill grew up in the industrial West Midlands and has always worked in science and technology, the greater part of her working life being in the Department of Computing at Imperial College, London.

She pursued her desire to paint plants in watercolour when she retired in 2002, attending classes given by Kew artists Helen Greenop and Linda Gurr.

In 2004, she enrolled on the Botanical Painting course at the English Gardening School, attaining a diploma in 2006. The subject of her final project was plants collected by the great plant hunter, Ernest ‘Chinese’ Wilson.

Jill enjoys visiting gardens and is interested in design as well as the plants and their origins.

She has always loved dance and she feels that this makes her see patterns and movement in plants which, she hopes, is reflected in her paintings.

The exhibition at Shepherd Market in September 2008 was her first experience of exhibiting paintings.

Jill can be contacted on 0208 892 8704 or email .