The Star: June 03, 2016

42 Style | arts
Helen nutt:
A BotAnicAl
Artist
Anne Hudson explores the
difference between botanical art, botanical
illustration and painting flowers. Through
Helen Nutt’s artistry she finds a new
appreciation for botanical paintings.
I love flowers, and I love paintings of
flowers, but Helen Nutt’s paintings
are not just beautiful they are also
scientifically correct; they are a record
of a species. Helen is a botanical
illustrator and artist.
“The greatest flower painters have
been those who have found beauty
in truth; who have understood plants
scientifically, but who have yet seen and
described them with the eye and hand of
the artist.” – Wilfrid Blunt.
What is the difference between
botanical art, botanical illustration and
painting flowers? Botanical illustration
is concerned with the scientific
identification of a plant. The illustration
must be accurate so that the viewer
might use the information to identify
the plant in its natural habitat.
Botanical art, on the other hand,
emphasises the flower and is less
concerned with providing all the
botanical information. The aim is to
draw on the aesthetic qualities of the
plant to show the beauty of the plant.
The last category, flower painting, is
about pleasing the viewer with a nicely
composed representation of flowers
and does not have to be accurate – in
fact, it may only give an impression of
the plant.
Helen Nutt’s paintings seem to
encompass all three definitions; they
are accurate, beautiful and aesthetically
pleasing. Helen trained in Australia at
the acclaimed Melbourne Botanical
School, which encouraged her
attention for detail and a passion for
the pursuit of excellence in her work.
As one of New Zealand’s finest
botanical artist she is a leader in
this field. Helen is meticulous in her
research, studying the plant over its
life cycle, so as to understand the
plant through the seasons from winter
dormancy, to leaf bud, to blossom,
petal fall and to the ripening fruit
or flower. All of which is recorded
meticulously in her workbook using
pencil. “Observation is the key,” says
Helen, “My subject is drawn true to
size and I usually spend time preparing
a tonal drawing, recording the direction
of light onto the plant and where it
falls together with notes about the
botanical features of the plant including
its colour. Light gives the painting
life. The final painting is done with
watercolour taking many hours of
patient concentration.
“It is surely a labour of love but
when I have finished I feel the painting
is a part of me.”
Helen’s interest and commitment
led her to becoming founding and past
president of the Botanical Art Society
of NZ Inc. She has also exhibited in the
Canterbury Plains Florigium, which was
prepared for the Christchurch Botanic
Garden’s 150th birthday celebration
in 2014.
You might ask, “What is a
florigium?” This art genre likes to use
correct classical terms. A florigium
is an exhibition of plants that are
site-specific in that they are from a
particular geographic area, in this case
the Canterbury Plains. The artist’s
objective is to compile a collection
of scaled, measured and botanically
correct paintings and drawings of
plants from a specific location. Helen’s
Clematis paniculata was included in
the Christchurch Botanic Garden’s
Collection.
Opportunities to exhibit are
rare, but Helen Nutt’s paintings are
appropriately part of the North
Canterbury’s Art in a Garden’s
exhibitions, too.
Helen’s commitment to this genre
has convinced me to look at botanical
paintings with a new appreciation for
not only their aesthetic appeal, but also
their accurate portrayal of nature.
At The Tannery
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