To Bennett, the botanical Kew Gardens is an oasis in the south west of London; A source of inspiration - and vast. One special spot for her is The Palm House with a specially created humid climate, where many different species of tropical plants grow in very unique shapes and colours. Being in the Palm House reminds Bennett of when she was a child growing up in the Far East. It was where her senses were really awakened to the exotic smells, sights and sounds all around her. At home the garden was filled with tropical plants with vibrant colours and beautiful shapes, most which she had never seen before. This experience imprinted itself on Bennett’s mind and instilled a real love of nature and piqued her artistic sensibility.

Bennett wanted to create a series of three drawings from the early start of making sketches for Dandelion, Honeysuckle and Tigerlily. The creative process came very naturally to her. Relatively quickly she realised how similar they seemed to the format of the women she often does; Standing centre stage, simple and linear, holding a dynamic pose. They instantly made Bennett think of characters, each with individual personalities and behaviour.

Back in the studio Bennett saw how the drawings of Dandelion, Honeysuckle and Tigerlily appeared to interact with each other, hanging side by side on the wall for the first time. Like dancers they had a rhythm together.

Often, she creates the separate pieces which go together in pairs or trios. Lucie Bennett intends to have a rhythm this way, like with the Buttercup Wink pieces, the Jungle pieces and the Burgundy Nudes. For this series of botanical prints, she spent quite some time choosing the right sketches that would work together as a trio.

Nature has been an integral part of Bennett’s work, and exploring the similarities between the human body and botanical forms. This series takes her work to a new level, where noticeable human presence has been removed altogether and only symbolic reference remains. No doubt, those familiar with Bennett’s work will welcome this connection as what appears at first to be merely plant life becomes something more; Each structure with its own personality, delicately standing tall and strong just as her women do.

In each of the prints, Bennett has selected a single leaf to be filled in, deliberately leaving space in areas between the line and the block colour. For the flower buds, a watercolour wash has been used to create tone and texture; a welcoming contrast to the flatness of the line and filled in areas of the leaves. The backgrounds for all three editions have been kept neutral, tying them together as a triptych. The stems and flowers themselves however are a different story as punchy and vibrant tones of pink, blue, orange and yellow jump from the page causing the free flowing forms to spring to life and jump from the surface of the paper.

Each elegant structure is hand drawn from life studies of the plants. The fact that the artist’s hand has had a part in the construction of the works means these are original serigraphs, and each print is signed, titled and numbered by the artist.

In 2019 the print Honeysuckle was selected by art curator Beth Greenacre, for the art collection at the female member’s club ‘The Allbright’ in London and West Hollywood, LA.

The three print editions Dandelion, Honeysuckle and Tigerlily, each editions of 45, are available at £575.00. See them in more detail on Lucie Bennett’s artist’s page here.