The following lectures are delivered principally to NADFAS groups which specialise in art history, but also to garden societies, botanical artists, antique collectors and National Trust societies. The lectures are designed to last one hour but can be extended, or grouped together to form a one-day course, or expanded into study courses. Occasional lecture venues include: the National Gallery, London; Birkbeck College; Courtauld Institute; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Chelsea Physic Garden. Lecture tours have included Australia, France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Symbolism of Plants in Art

In the fifteenth century a great flowering took place in paintings, tapestries and manuscripts, all of which, from the Netherlands to Italy, were decorated with a great variety of decorative and useful plants. The religious, romantic and individual meanings of plants are explored, as well as their histories. The survey continues with a brief look at flowers in portraits; and with the Dutch and Flemish flower pieces where exotic blooms symbolised both wealth and transience

Tulipomania

The Dutch and Flemish flower pieces of the 17th and 18th centuries were a celebration of wealth and new discoveries. Flowers were introduced and bred to emphasise their most striking features, becoming collectors' items and the subject of many beautiful paintings and artefacts. Tulips were among the most prized, with a swashbuckling history of their own, and they appear alongside many other flowers arriving from the East and the New World.

A Feast for the Eyes

The history and meanings of fruit and vegetables in art from the time of the Pharoahs to the Surrealists; via medieval manuscripts, Dutch and Spanish still lifes and Cezanne, with a hint of the orient. This lecture is wide ranging not only in time but in subject matter, from the religious significance of date palms to Charles II's pineapple and Picasso's leeks. Few subjects could be more surprisingly diverse.

The Artist's Paradise

Garden settings have attracted artists since Egyptian and Roman times. Chinese scrolls, Japanese screens, Persian rugs and Moghul miniatures all contain abundant flowerbeds by water. These features are echoed in our own garden traditions; medieval walled gardens with flower-strewn lawns; formal gardens glimpsed in the backgrounds of stately portraits; eighteenth century landscape and parkland enlivened by statues and follies. Finally Impressionist and modern paintings mark the return of more colourful and personal spaces.

The History of Kew Gardens

This is an insider's view of the history and development of Kew Gardens, presented by one who has lived and worked there. The botanic gardens were founded in the eighteenth century and became a centre of royal intrigue, architectural fantasies, plant-hunting expeditions all over the world (including the mutinous Bounty), and also botanical art - even Redoute visited here. The history of Kew is by no means simply an account of plants and glasshouses!

Flowers and Gardens of the Impressionists

A new way to enjoy and study Impressionist paintings, through a survey of their gardens and flowers. The lion's share of the lecture may go to Monet and Van Gogh, but Pissaro's cottage gardens, Bonnard's sunbaked vistas, Renoir's dahlias and even Seurat's watering-can are all important. The individual gardens also give a lovely framework for exploring the personalities behind them.

Shakespeare's Flowers

This lecture illustrates Shakespeares many references to flowers, fruits, gardens and even weeds with the contemporary art of his time. Shakespeare used plants for a whole range of purposes; to create beautiful poetry, rude jokes or topical comments. He was well aware of their symbolic and medicinal properties; and from his works it is possible to compile lists of rose and apple varieties, or some of the latest plant introductions, or poisonous plants. In a Winter's Tale there is even an argument about genetic engineering.

More specialist lectures are available including: Flowers in Illuminated Manuscripts, Flowers in Tapestries. Also lectures on particular types of flower as they appear in art, notably: Orchids or The Compositae family (daisy, sunflower, dahlia and chrysanthemum) Invitations to diversify further, or to deliver academic lectures, will always be considered.