Kilcoe Studios - Botanical Illustration
Tell us a little about what you make...
Using the natural surrounds of where I live near Skibberen in Co Cork, I paint in watercolours a wide variety of plants and more recently fish. In their pure and simple form I then, with the help of a local graphic designer, reproduce them into my annual calendar and greeting cards. I chose to use the name Kilcoe studios as I also then use this to show my other craft work which is stone carving and my husbands furniture work. Even though my art disciplines are so different, in my mind they all connect as studying nature in drawing is a basic start to many designs and forms inspiration for other work, and the decision to reproduce them in this way means that they are affordable to a wide range of people.
Could you describe your studio to us? What is your favourite thing about the space and how do you get into the mindset of making?
My studio is the wonderful organised chaos that some people think is very charming, but the reality is we would love to have a fairy godmother come along each day to organise it and set up more storage etc . It is essentially a typical cottage business, where the life of studio and home is constantly interconnected. I do keep a division between where I paint { the creative space } and where I ‘Work’- i.e. e-mails/packaging. It is very important to keep that creative space clear, and the whole studio is separate enough from the rest of the living space to help me function.
What is your favourite tool and why?
A couple of years ago I did move to using the best watercolour brushes there are, which are of course expensive, but they really make a huge difference.
Can you describe the making process and inspiration behind your annual calendar?
My background is in fine art sculpture and painting and several years ago I had been doing detailed studies of plant forms. I then looked into using this style of painting in other ways and created a calendar with a local seed company in 2011. Now I create 12 new images each year on a different theme and these make up the next Kilcoe Studios calendar each year. Each image is painted in watercolour from life and with each set of images, I learn more and more about the plants and folklore and history. Each habitat in nature has its own range of plants, so I have chosen each year to feature new areas or new themes, in the past, I have done one on Kitchen garden, Native trees, Healing herbs, Foraged foods and this year Coastal plants. (Available here)
What led you to choosing this craft as a profession?
It is not something I ever really made a conscious decision to do, because I had always been drawing, painting and making from a fairly young age and after spending brief periods not creating knew that I could never do a job where I did not create. I am one of these people that finds it hard to keep my hand still. I think I need that sense of excitement in creating new ideas and seeing them through.
You can purchase Sonia's beautiful work here.
