Susanne Thompson-Hill
I am part of a group of women flower painters following a long tradition of painting flowers; a tradition which goes back to antiquity. Flowers have long been valued for their beauty as well as their symbolic association. This history goes back to the Egyptians who adorned artistic objects with flowers to symbolise their religious associations and to discoveries in tombs where they were used for decoration on linens and treasured items. In early Western art flowers too were used in decorative art forms, and also given symbolic meaning. Medicinal properties found in flowers led to flowers and plants being drawn and painted to provide a scientific record of this knowledge. I am interested in the painting of flowers in a way that bridges the gap between the scientific record of plants and the depiction of the sheer beauty of flowers in the natural world.
Recent Work
2023: Curly sedge from Spring Bay Mill garden – Botanical Remediation – The Regeneration of the Spring Bay Mill
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- Curly sedge – Carex tasmanica
2022: Roses from the gardens of Government House
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- Rosa sp. “Nancy Hayward”. Watercolour.
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- Rosa sp. “Ringlet”. Watercolour.
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- Nothofagus antarctica – Antarctic Beech
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- Patersonia fragilis – swamp iris. Watercolour by Susie Thompson-Hill
Images of watercolours in the Frederick Mackie Exhibition
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- Magnolia grandiflora by Susanne Thompson-Hill
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- Magnolia buds – water colour by Susanne Thompson-Hill
Previous works
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- Blood lily over Mt Dromedary. Watercolour by Susie Thompson-Hill
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- Blood Lily – Haemanthus coccineus
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- Purple Hellebore – Helleborus sp.
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- Fig – Ficus carica
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- Oriental Poppy – Papaver orientale