Sponsored: Botany isn't boring

Cathy Jones holds an interesting place in New Zealand art as a semi-retired professional botanist expressing her love of New Zealand native plant species in stylised, strongly outlined acrylic paintings.

“A great deal of my working life has been spent carrying out fieldwork, particularly in the Southern Marlborough region and to a lesser extent in northwest Nelson,” she says. “These wondrous environments are filled with an extensive array of ecosystems and plants, some very rare and many are not found anywhere else in the world.”

Working for the Department of Conservation and the Wildlife Service before that, one of her roles has been to search out and monitor rare plant species and advise on their management.

“I have been fortunate to be helicoptered in to places few people have ever seen,” she says. “I feel completely at home in the often-dramatic landscapes I encounter and there is nothing quite like studying the local flora with all its special characteristics.”

“It is the landscape and the plants that have mostly driven my determination to make art,” says Cathy. “My father loved botany and was also an artist, as was my grandfather, which has obviously rubbed off on me,” she laughs.

Her latest exhibition is called ‘With Thanks’ and is divided into four sections, one of which is an acknowledgement of gratitude to artists who have influenced her work. “I have taken images of the work of artists like Robin White, Modigliani and Colin McCahon who have taught me so much and am incorporating them into my botanical works,” she says. “It has been a fascinating process and really pushed my boundaries.”

‘For My Daughters’ is another section of work being shown. “One of my two daughters is a nurse and while working in a relief role on the Chatham Islands she sent me images to use in my art from her walks in the bush and on the beach,” says Cathy. My other daughter lives rurally and has requested paintings that include her plantings and some of her favourite creatures, weta and puriri moth.

The other series of work features plants growing in places where she worked for DOC, the South Marlborough coast, and the Clarence-Molesworth area which is one of the driest parts of the country. “It has been an opportunity for me to introduce people to the drama of the landscapes and the wonder of our native plants,” she says. Some of her favourite plants, the non-invasive natives Convolvulus waitaha and Carmichaelia species (broom, mākaka) are highlighted in her paintings as are native gentians and forget-me-nots, amongst others.

“Many of our native plant species are endangered,” says Cathy. “Featuring them in my artwork is one way I can share what botanical treasures we have on our doorstep and hopefully encourage more interest in them.”

The exhibition opening is at NSAS’s McKee Gallery, The Suter Te Aratoi o Whakatu on Wednesday 23 August at 5.30pm.

Cathy Jones 4 Art
027 546 9499- 1/47A Washington Rd
Open Wednesdays 12-5pm and by appointment
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