Power of plants to endlessly fascinate

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but the copycats who plagiarise Angie Lewin’s work will never get it right.

While they may have some artistic skill, they don’t have her love and in-depth knowledge of plants and they won’t have got damp and dirty in pursuit of perfection.

Angie sketches her subjects in the wild; in woods and fields and on moorland and beaches, and she does it sitting down, whatever the weather. “I always sit on the ground when I sketch, so I always carry a bin bag with me to sit on just in case it’s wet and chilly,” she says.

Her twin passions for art and horticulture appear to be genetic. Her father, a blacksmith and engineer, was “a good drawer” and he had a lifelong love of gardening.

Angie, who grew up in Cheshire, made his hobbies into her career. After studying art and printmaking at Central St Martin’s College, she did an RHS certificate in horticulture and ventured into garden design.

After buying a second home in Norfolk she began printmaking using her close-up, botanical sketches that usually show a hint of landscape or a glimpse of horizon. Inspired by pioneer printmakers Edward Ravilious, Edward Bawden and John Piper, she has developed her own distinct style that reflects the joy and wonder she finds in common flora.

“Doing the RHS course really influenced my work because we studied plants in detail and I found that fascinating. I rarely sketch anything exotic. It’s the more insignificant but structural plants like scabius, wild valerian, yellow rattle and grasses,” she says. “I also like to add gathered objects, like feathers and shells, to the scene.”

She and husband Simon, a musician and marketing expert, also set up St Jude’s in Norfolk, which puts her designs and those of other well-known printmakers like York-based Mark Hearld and Emily Sutton, on fabric and wallpaper.

“A lot of people said that my work would look good on textiles, so we thought we’d have a go at printing them ourselves. It worked well because printmakers produce strong, graphic images and are able to work in a limited number of colours, which is necessary when designing fabric. Also, because neither I nor the other artists are trained in textile design it has produced interesting results.” Her latest project is a solo exhibition for Yorkshire Sculpture Park, which includes work created especially for the event. She spent time on the 500-acre site, near Wakefield, sketching and the result is a series of watercolours, screen prints, linocuts and wood engravings.

For those who can’t afford an original as a souvenir, there will also be silk and wool scarves, cards, mugs and her new fabrics, Stella and Meadow’s Edge.

“I have really enjoyed preparing for the exhibition because it’s not just producing work, it’s making products,” says Angie, who is now based in Edinburgh, from where she makes forays into the Highlands and back down to the salt marshes and beaches of Norfolk. “They are very different landscapes and I like the contrast between them. I especially love sketching in Speyside,” she says.

Those of us who adore her work will be pleased to know that she intends to stick to her subject matter. “I have always drawn plants and always will. They are an infinite resource,” she says. “At the moment I’m doing a little watercolour comparing lichen with seaweed. I find it endlessly fascinating.”

Artwork and merchandise

Angie Lewin: A Natural Line is at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, from November 16 until February 23. The exhibition in YSP Centre features Lewin’s paintings and prints, including an exclusive, limited edition, five-colour screen print hand-pulled at Jealous Print studio in London. Exclusive merchandise, including two Creamware mugs and a canvas bag, is available to buy, as is Meadow’s Edge, Lewin’s new screen-printed fabric for St Jude’s. A series of associated events, including a two-day wood engraving course led by the artist on February 8-9, accompanies the exhibition.