After painting the Medicinal Botanicals, I was left with a mixture of conclusions. The first was that while the botanical illustrative style can be mindful, beyond a certain point I found it increasingly restrictive. Alongside these pieces, I had been creating looser, more vibrant and expressive works. The constrained style of the first collection had been intentional, reflecting the era in which these drugs were discovered and how these plants would originally have been scientifically documented.
Through exploring more abstract and intuitive approaches, I discovered how a freer style can carry a more emotional and personal message. I wanted to develop this further, particularly as the subject of my next medicinal series was cancer, a topic that touches so many people with such rawness.
The second conclusion came from the reactions I had received to my medicinal artworks over the preceding two years. I began to realise how deeply they connected people with art in a completely different way, making it, without doubt, more accessible. I had scientists who were blown away by work they could genuinely relate to. Educators told me they were inspired to share my paintings with their pupils because they were both informative and artistic. Patients expressed amazement that medications they had relied on came from nature rather than being designed in a lab. Pharmacists reminisced about preparing these medicines by hand.
This piece brought both conclusions together. It provokes a visceral reaction with its shocking contrasts of light and dark, and the powerful splashes that hit you in the gut, even from a distance. I have witnessed people moved to tears, overwhelmed by the multitude of emotions it stirred and the connections they made to treatments they or their loved ones had endured. Then, to see them bowled over again by the science woven into it, showed me first hand the power of art.
This collection is already demonstrating to me the power of discoveries when concerted efforts are made to look for cures. This is why I will be donating a proportion of my sales of this collection to Cancer Research UK.