Biography
Since semi-retiring to the heart of the South Downs, creating a new home and garden with her husband, Siriol is inspired to paint the landscape, garden and still life in oils and was re-energised by joining PACS (Petersfield Art & Craft Society) in 2024. She often sketches ‘en plein air’ using watercolour or pastels, which she now uses to create oil and mixed media paintings in her studio.
Siriol is well known as a botanical artist but unlike many others who tend to work with tiny brushes and layers of watercolour, she rarely use a pencil and paints with fairly large brushes loaded with wet washes to capture the freshness and translucency of living flowers. This is less laborious than the techniques used by many botanical artists and yet great detail can still be achieved when required. She also loves to be out and about with a small box of Artist's quality paints, a good Kolinsky sable brush and a small watercolour sketch pad, painting the landscape. With home-building and garden landscaping projects completed she is now determined to find more time to work in her new studio in West Sussex and is starting to exhibit again in 2024 after a very long break.
She grew up in Hampshire and studied Textile Design at Winchester School of Art, obtaining her BAHons degree in 1977. She then worked in the textile trade and as a freelance designer creating floral furnishing designs. In 1986 she began to exhibit watercolour flower paintings and exhibited continuously for many years at The Society of Botanical Artists Exhibitions in London. Her work has been shown in The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (RI) Exhibition and in one-woman shows at The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and The Kew Gardens Gallery, plus many other galleries and exhibitions. She was President of The Society of Floral Painters for five years.
Siriol used to exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society shows in Vincent Square, London and was awarded four RHS Gold Medals and two Silver Gilts and was, for eight years, a member of the Picture Committee who judge botanical art at RHS Shows. She has been commissioned to paint rare plants for The Kew Magazine (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine), The New Plantsman (RHS Magazine) and several eminent botanists. Her paintings are in the collections of The Royal Horticultural Society, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation (Pittsburgh, USA), The Hillier Gardens and Arboretum (Hampshire), The Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art (often on show at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens) and many private collections world-wide.
She wrote and illustrated two highly acclaimed art instruction books: Exploring Flowers in Watercolour (first publ. 1998), and Botanical Illustration (first publ. 2004); both books won the prestigious ‘Art Instruction Book of the Year’ award. There were DVDs to accompany each book. She has tutored many courses such as those at the Hillier Gardens in Hampshire, the RHS Garden at Wisley, RBG Edinburgh and Master Classes for Orient Express Hotels in Madeira, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Venice.
From 2011 to 2018 Siriol gave up painting and worked tirelessly for an exciting arts initiative in Hampshire. Rum’s Eg (Old English name for Romsey) was a contemporary craft gallery and Arts space in Bell Street, Romsey run as a social enterprise by Hampshire Art & Craft CIC to support artists and makers by selling their work and employing them to teach courses whilst educating and engaging the public in art and craft. It was opened in 2012 to add to the attractions of this heritage market town as an accessible, affordable gallery with a café and education spaces. The gallery represented over 150 talented Artists & Craftsmen working or living within 70 miles of Romsey and became a renowned centre of excellence in the South of England – helping to conserve the rich and varied art and craft of this region by encouraging public awareness, education and participation and providing creative opportunities for all ages, abilities & walks of life. ‘Arts for Wellbeing’ community projects were facilitated and supported by HA&C CIC. Very sadly Rum's Eg was not able to secure Arts funding for further development and was not resilient enough to withstand difficult high street trading in 2017/18 which included the closure of Bell St for street enhancements for many months. However, our legacy lives on through the artist networking groups, links, friendships, community arts groups and charities that were formed.
Siriol is well known as a botanical artist but unlike many others who tend to work with tiny brushes and layers of watercolour, she rarely use a pencil and paints with fairly large brushes loaded with wet washes to capture the freshness and translucency of living flowers. This is less laborious than the techniques used by many botanical artists and yet great detail can still be achieved when required. She also loves to be out and about with a small box of Artist's quality paints, a good Kolinsky sable brush and a small watercolour sketch pad, painting the landscape. With home-building and garden landscaping projects completed she is now determined to find more time to work in her new studio in West Sussex and is starting to exhibit again in 2024 after a very long break.
She grew up in Hampshire and studied Textile Design at Winchester School of Art, obtaining her BAHons degree in 1977. She then worked in the textile trade and as a freelance designer creating floral furnishing designs. In 1986 she began to exhibit watercolour flower paintings and exhibited continuously for many years at The Society of Botanical Artists Exhibitions in London. Her work has been shown in The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (RI) Exhibition and in one-woman shows at The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and The Kew Gardens Gallery, plus many other galleries and exhibitions. She was President of The Society of Floral Painters for five years.
Siriol used to exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society shows in Vincent Square, London and was awarded four RHS Gold Medals and two Silver Gilts and was, for eight years, a member of the Picture Committee who judge botanical art at RHS Shows. She has been commissioned to paint rare plants for The Kew Magazine (Curtis’s Botanical Magazine), The New Plantsman (RHS Magazine) and several eminent botanists. Her paintings are in the collections of The Royal Horticultural Society, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation (Pittsburgh, USA), The Hillier Gardens and Arboretum (Hampshire), The Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art (often on show at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens) and many private collections world-wide.
She wrote and illustrated two highly acclaimed art instruction books: Exploring Flowers in Watercolour (first publ. 1998), and Botanical Illustration (first publ. 2004); both books won the prestigious ‘Art Instruction Book of the Year’ award. There were DVDs to accompany each book. She has tutored many courses such as those at the Hillier Gardens in Hampshire, the RHS Garden at Wisley, RBG Edinburgh and Master Classes for Orient Express Hotels in Madeira, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Venice.
From 2011 to 2018 Siriol gave up painting and worked tirelessly for an exciting arts initiative in Hampshire. Rum’s Eg (Old English name for Romsey) was a contemporary craft gallery and Arts space in Bell Street, Romsey run as a social enterprise by Hampshire Art & Craft CIC to support artists and makers by selling their work and employing them to teach courses whilst educating and engaging the public in art and craft. It was opened in 2012 to add to the attractions of this heritage market town as an accessible, affordable gallery with a café and education spaces. The gallery represented over 150 talented Artists & Craftsmen working or living within 70 miles of Romsey and became a renowned centre of excellence in the South of England – helping to conserve the rich and varied art and craft of this region by encouraging public awareness, education and participation and providing creative opportunities for all ages, abilities & walks of life. ‘Arts for Wellbeing’ community projects were facilitated and supported by HA&C CIC. Very sadly Rum's Eg was not able to secure Arts funding for further development and was not resilient enough to withstand difficult high street trading in 2017/18 which included the closure of Bell St for street enhancements for many months. However, our legacy lives on through the artist networking groups, links, friendships, community arts groups and charities that were formed.
Curriculum Vitae
Siriol Sherlock BA Hons.
Education:
Fernhill Manor School, New Milton, Hampshire, 1958-71; Brockenhurst College, 1971-73; Winchester School of Art, Foundation Course and B A Hons Textile Design, 1973-77; Hampshire L.E.A., Regional Stage 1 Certificate in Teaching, 1990.
Career:
Textile designer 1977-85.
Exhibiting artist 1986 to the present day.
Tutor of flower painting and botanical illustration courses for: various art groups; Hampshire Adult Education ; The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens; RHS Wisley; Womens Institute; Artists & Illustrators Magazine; Orient Express Hotels' Masterclasses in Madeira, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Venice; Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.
Member of the Royal Horticultural Society Picture Committee, from 1997-2005.
Founding Director of Hampshire Art & Craft CIC and their community craft gallery Rum's Eg from 2012 - 2018.
One-person exhibitions:
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire, 1990.
The Kew Gardens Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1992.
The First Floor Gallery, Romsey, Hampshire, 1998.
Group Exhibitions:
The Society of Botanical Artists, Westminster Central Hall, London, annually from 1988-2006.
The Society of Women Artists, Westminster Central Hall, London, 1988 & 1989.
The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (R I) Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 1989.
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000.
Art & The Rainforest, Wyld Court Rainforest, nr Newbury, Berkshire, 1994
Botanical Artists of the World, Tryon & Swann Gallery, London, 1998.
The Society of Floral Painters, Sofiero Castle, Helsingborg, Sweden,1998; The Societe Jersiaise, St Helier, Jersey, 1999; Mottisfont Abbey, nr Romsey, Hampshire, from 2000.
Flora Exhibition, Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, Kent, annually 1996 to 2000.
Romsey Art Group Exhibitions, The Mountbatten Gallery, Lee, Nr Romsey, annually from 1993.
Wessex Artists Exhibitions, The Guildhall, Salisbury, Wiltshire, annually 1988 to 1998.
The Gordon-Craig Gallery, 9a Trevor Place, London, 1999, 2000.
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens - paintings included in retrospective botanical art exhibitions on many occasions.
Petersfield Arts & Crafts Exhibition, Festival Hall, Petersfield, Hampshire, August 2024
Honours/Awards:
Elected to membership of the Society of Botanical Artists, 1988.
Gold Medals, Royal Horticultural Society, London, 1993, 1994, 1995. 1999.
Silver Gilt Medals, Royal Horticultural Society, London, 1995, 1998.
Certificate of Botanical Merit, The Society of Botanical Artists, 1998.
The St Cuthberts Paper Mill Award, the Society of Botanical Artists, 2000.
Member of The Society of Floral Painters from 1997. President 1997-2001.
Art Instruction Book of the Year, 1998 for ‘Exploring Flowers in Watercolour’
Art Instruction Book of the Year, 2005 for ‘Botanical Illustration’.
Collections:
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire.
The Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.
The Royal Horticultural Society, Vincent Square, London.
The Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art.
Commissions:
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire.
Roy Lancaster, Dr Shirley Sherwood , Royal Horticultural Society and many other private commissions.
The RHS ‘Chelsea Flower Show’ Plate design, 1999
Books by Siriol and publications which include her paintings:
The Kew Magazine (Curtis’s Botanical), Vol 10, Part 3, August 1993.
The Kew Magazine, Vol 14, Part 1, February 1997.
The New Plantsman (RHS) Magazine, Vol 2, Part 4, December 1995.
The New Plantsman, Vol 4, Part 3, September 1997.
Siriol Sherlock, Exploring Flowers in Watercolour, London, B T Batsford (now Anova Books), 1998, reprinted 2000, 2002, 2004.
Siriol Sherlock, Botanical Illustration, London, B T Batsford (now Anova Books), 2004, reprinted 2007
Maggie Campbell-Culver, The Origin of Plants, Headline, 2001.
Shirley Sherwood, Contemporary Botanical Artists – The Shirley Sherwood Collection, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1996.
Shirley Sherwood, A Passion for Plants, Cassell & Co, 2001.
Shirley Sherwood, Treasures of Botanical Art, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 2008
Shirley Sherwood, The Art of Plant Evolution, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 2009
Education:
Fernhill Manor School, New Milton, Hampshire, 1958-71; Brockenhurst College, 1971-73; Winchester School of Art, Foundation Course and B A Hons Textile Design, 1973-77; Hampshire L.E.A., Regional Stage 1 Certificate in Teaching, 1990.
Career:
Textile designer 1977-85.
Exhibiting artist 1986 to the present day.
Tutor of flower painting and botanical illustration courses for: various art groups; Hampshire Adult Education ; The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens; RHS Wisley; Womens Institute; Artists & Illustrators Magazine; Orient Express Hotels' Masterclasses in Madeira, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Venice; Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh.
Member of the Royal Horticultural Society Picture Committee, from 1997-2005.
Founding Director of Hampshire Art & Craft CIC and their community craft gallery Rum's Eg from 2012 - 2018.
One-person exhibitions:
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire, 1990.
The Kew Gardens Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1992.
The First Floor Gallery, Romsey, Hampshire, 1998.
Group Exhibitions:
The Society of Botanical Artists, Westminster Central Hall, London, annually from 1988-2006.
The Society of Women Artists, Westminster Central Hall, London, 1988 & 1989.
The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (R I) Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, 1989.
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000.
Art & The Rainforest, Wyld Court Rainforest, nr Newbury, Berkshire, 1994
Botanical Artists of the World, Tryon & Swann Gallery, London, 1998.
The Society of Floral Painters, Sofiero Castle, Helsingborg, Sweden,1998; The Societe Jersiaise, St Helier, Jersey, 1999; Mottisfont Abbey, nr Romsey, Hampshire, from 2000.
Flora Exhibition, Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, Kent, annually 1996 to 2000.
Romsey Art Group Exhibitions, The Mountbatten Gallery, Lee, Nr Romsey, annually from 1993.
Wessex Artists Exhibitions, The Guildhall, Salisbury, Wiltshire, annually 1988 to 1998.
The Gordon-Craig Gallery, 9a Trevor Place, London, 1999, 2000.
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens - paintings included in retrospective botanical art exhibitions on many occasions.
Petersfield Arts & Crafts Exhibition, Festival Hall, Petersfield, Hampshire, August 2024
Honours/Awards:
Elected to membership of the Society of Botanical Artists, 1988.
Gold Medals, Royal Horticultural Society, London, 1993, 1994, 1995. 1999.
Silver Gilt Medals, Royal Horticultural Society, London, 1995, 1998.
Certificate of Botanical Merit, The Society of Botanical Artists, 1998.
The St Cuthberts Paper Mill Award, the Society of Botanical Artists, 2000.
Member of The Society of Floral Painters from 1997. President 1997-2001.
Art Instruction Book of the Year, 1998 for ‘Exploring Flowers in Watercolour’
Art Instruction Book of the Year, 2005 for ‘Botanical Illustration’.
Collections:
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire.
The Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA.
The Royal Horticultural Society, Vincent Square, London.
The Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art.
Commissions:
The Sir Harold Hillier Gardens & Arboretum, Romsey, Hampshire.
Roy Lancaster, Dr Shirley Sherwood , Royal Horticultural Society and many other private commissions.
The RHS ‘Chelsea Flower Show’ Plate design, 1999
Books by Siriol and publications which include her paintings:
The Kew Magazine (Curtis’s Botanical), Vol 10, Part 3, August 1993.
The Kew Magazine, Vol 14, Part 1, February 1997.
The New Plantsman (RHS) Magazine, Vol 2, Part 4, December 1995.
The New Plantsman, Vol 4, Part 3, September 1997.
Siriol Sherlock, Exploring Flowers in Watercolour, London, B T Batsford (now Anova Books), 1998, reprinted 2000, 2002, 2004.
Siriol Sherlock, Botanical Illustration, London, B T Batsford (now Anova Books), 2004, reprinted 2007
Maggie Campbell-Culver, The Origin of Plants, Headline, 2001.
Shirley Sherwood, Contemporary Botanical Artists – The Shirley Sherwood Collection, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1996.
Shirley Sherwood, A Passion for Plants, Cassell & Co, 2001.
Shirley Sherwood, Treasures of Botanical Art, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 2008
Shirley Sherwood, The Art of Plant Evolution, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, 2009
