· ABOUT THE ARTIST ·

Susan Christopher-Coulson is an award winning botanical artist working in coloured pencil.

Childhood walks and gardening engendered a love of nature from a very early age. Plants became a particular interest - the joys of spotting something new, learning to identify them with their common names and following their life cycles through the seasons sparked a life-long fascination.


An early career in fashion design and illustration in London followed from Susan’s fashion degree at Kingston School of Art. A return to her beloved North of England was the catalyst for a renewed focus on the plant and natural history drawings she had always enjoyed.

The response to her first solo exhibition at (now, RHS) Harlow Carr Gardens in 1998 encouraged her to focus mainly on the botanical work. Susan’s work has attracted  many awards including two Royal Horticultural Society gold medals (1999 & 2001) as well as many awards from both The Society of Botanical Artists, and The Society of Floral Painters and from Florum. Her first award, from The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists’ drawing exhibition, encouraged her to begin her professional career.

Susan is an elected fellow of The Society of Botanical Artists, where she was Vice President for eight years, and is a member of the Sheffield Botanic Gardens Florilegium Society. Her original artworks are in private collections in the UK and abroad as well as in the prestigious Shirley Sherwood Gallery collection at Kew Gardens, the RHS Lindley Library and the Florilegium archive of Sheffield Botanical Gardens. Artworks have been commissioned by the Tudor House and Gardens in Southampton and for the greetings card industry, whilst examples of her work have appeared in several books mostly on the subject of botanical art and in art magazine articles.

Alongside exhibiting her own work, Susan also encourages budding botanical artists too. She was first invited to teach after her first RHS exhibition and is an experienced tutor with a wide breadth of experience from workshops to week-long residential courses. Susan was also the coloured pencil tutor for several years when the Society of Botanical Artists established their Distance Learning Diploma Course. 

Teaching continues to be an enjoyable aspect of her practice and she regularly tutors at various residential courses (varying in length from 3 - 4 days to week -long), as well as workshops and classes at venues across the UK. You can learn about upcoming courses on the Events page of the site.

· CAREER HIGHLIGHTS ·

  • It was an unexpected honour to be invited to write a book for Two Rivers Press as part of their series: Botanical Art Portfolios. ‘The Tapestry of Life: A Botanical Artist’s Miscellany’ charts the course of her life-long interest in the plant world and where this led her. There are insights into her processes and technique, lavishly illustrated with work from her botanical art career.

    Published by Two Rivers Press, you can learn more about the book here

  • As an artist with work in the exhibition, an invitation to attend the private viewing of ‘Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art’ from The Shirley Sherwood Collection was a highlight! It was an extraordinary gathering of botanical artists from around the world whose work is included in The Shirley Sherwood Collection and was an opportunity to collectively thank Dr. Sherwood for her generous patronage and to meet and mingle with some admired artists.

  • An honour to be included in Charlotte Brooks’ book ‘RHS Botanical Illustration The Gold Medal Winners’

  • A beautiful commemorative book: ‘Tulipa, Tulipae - El Tulipán Ilustrado’ was published for the occasion, including sections about the history and cultivation of the tulip followed by images of the exhibited SBA pictures.

    Susan chose to illustrate historic tulips including English Florists’ Tulips.

  • Two surprise invitations to be part of group exhibitions.

  • At the final SFP exhibition, Susan was presented with the Roy & Sue Lancaster Award for work in coloured pencil.

  • Invited to hold a demonstration stand at this exciting newly launched show. Also attended two more in 2016 and 2017.

  • Invited to exhibit with the Florum group. Received the Elizabeth Smail Memorial Award for Colour and Composition. Continued to exhibit with Florum until its closure in 2018.

  • The SBA’s first exhibition in Germany which, after its success, continued bi-annually until 2018.

  • Became the first recipient of the Suzanne Lucas Award (SBA founder).


    Elected as SBA Vice President which she held for eight years.

  • Work selected for the first exhibition and for ‘The Joy of Spring’ exhibition in 2015.

  • Awarded a prestigious Certificate of Botanical Merit, also in 2011 and 2014.

  • Joint winner of the first President’s Award for work in a medium other than watercolour.

  • Joint winner of the Visitors’ Favourite Exhibit which offered the opportunity of a solo exhibition space in 2005.

  • Susan’s second exhibit with the RHS was awarded a Gold Medal.

  • Given the Award for Excellence, also in 2002, 2004 and 2008, The Chairman’s Award in 2005 at the Hillier Gardens Exhibition and the Caran d’Ache Award for Excellence in the use of coloured pencils at Mottisfont Abbey in 2010.

  • Elected to membership of The SBA and became the first recipient of the Margaret Granger award for the best work by a new member.

  • Susan’s first exhibit with the RHS at the ‘Westminster Flower Show’ was awarded a Gold Medal.

  • Held at RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate, success and interest encouraged Susan to focus on botanical subjects full time. Other solo exhibitions followed at Beningbrough Hall, near York in 2002, Howarth Gallery, Accrington in 2005 and Newby Hall, near Ripon in 2010.