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I welcome your comments and questions.
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Welcome to my website. I live and work in Santa Cruz, California, where I grow many of the plants I paint in my garden. I’ve been drawing, painting and studying art for most of my life. Since 1990, I’ve specialized in botanical art, merging traditions of botanical fine art with scientific illustration to document the distinctive characteristics of a plant in a clear and pleasing way. I think the beauty of a plant lies in the small details at least as much as in the flower and foliage. I hope to capture that beauty in form, color and detail with botanical accuracy. I always work from live plants and real specimens from nature, often studying them at different times of the year to observe and portray seasonal changes in their life cycle. I like to create art that will serve the goals of education and conservation. I take a particular interest in portraying native plant species with a view to their preservation, and in documenting rose species and heritage roses. I’ve been pleased to show my art in solo exhibitions at the Horticultural Society of New York and San Francisco Botanical Garden, in international juried exhibitions and numerous group shows in venues around the U.S. For a list of exhibitions, publications, classes I have taught, and affiliations, click here. — Maria Cecilia Freeman Read more about my art, techniques and purpose in two recently published articles:
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