My home is near Saffron Walden, East Anglia. As a botanical artist I portray the wild flowers, fruits and insects, all within my conservation garden. The small imperfections of nature are faithfully recorded in watercolour on paper and vellum. Some original paintings are available together with limited edition prints and unlimited editions in various formats.
'Helga Hislop is a botanical artist whose work is exquisitely executed in watercolour on paper and vellum. She paints from life, faithfully recording what she sees, in minute and sensitive detail before its beauty fades.
Her early career was spent as a graphic designer but for the past 30 years she has devoted her time to botanical art, capturing the delicacy and fragility of nature.
Helga’s Essex conservation garden is filled with wild flowers and fruits and, as the year progresses, she races nature to record them. First come the snowdrops and aconites, then primroses and violets, cowslips, narcissi, celandines, fritillaries and many more. Autumn brings new bounty: mulberries, blackberries, pears, apples, quinces and medlars, along with rosehips, hazelnuts and acorns.
She paints as she sees, painting the flowers and the fruits as they are, in all their modesty. If there is a flaw, she will record it – an insect bore hole in a crab apple, a nibbled edge to a leaf, a torn butterfly wing – recognising that nothing is perfect, least of all ourselves. A deep love of nature shines through her work.'
Paula McWaters May 2010