Coral Guest, author, teacher, and fine artist launches a new website about her life and her career as a flower painter. The site features selected works representing Coral’s amazing 40-year career as a painter and draughtswoman.
In the very early days of the current renaissance of botanical art, Coral Guest’s book, Painting Flowers in Watercolor: A Naturalistic Approach, stood out from other books and became one of the classic references used in the field of botanical art. We had the opportunity to learn more about this book in a conversation Coral had with ArtPlantae readers in 2012.
While we may be most familiar with Coral’s watercolor paintings, Coral has worked in a variety of media throughout her career. On the new website, you will find examples of works created in oil, acrylic, carbon and watercolor, as well as pieces created with carbon, charcoal and watercolor. Coral’s online portfolio is composed of ten sections, each highlighting work from a particular time period or project. I recommend viewing each section of the portfolio (and website) in the order they appear because these sections are not merely a collection of images, but distinct chapters in Coral’s life. Within each section viewer’s are lead on a docent tour, if you will, by Coral Guest herself. You might want to wait until you have more than a few minutes to explore the new site. You will need time not only for the story Coral tells but for the opportunity to learn from her paintings. You won’t want to miss the story about light told by the chrysanthemums and butterhead lettuce. You’ll also not want to miss the lessons to be learned from Coral’s color studies.
This week, carve out a few moments for yourself and visit CoralGuestBotanic.com.