Three Botanical Muses

Sometimes all it takes is something as small as an art class to unearth a new lifelong passion. Juliet Kirby teaches botanical painting at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, and whenever she’s not working on a piece, she’s working with plants in a different way: in the garden. 

“I love the feeling of using the paintbrush as much as I love putting my hands in the dirt and making something grow.”

Through her classes, Juliet gets to inspire others who are just starting out doing botanical art. It’s never too late to find new passions or new friends, and Lizzie McCowen found both after an art class on a cruise led her to going to the Lewis Ginter and joining Juliet’s class. 

“She gave us each a dead beech leaf. And I painted that dead beech leaf. And I looked at them and I said, ‘This is the thing I want to do for the rest of my life.’”

Featured alongside her friends Juliet and Lizzie in a show, Lynne Frailing has always had a connection to both art and horticulture. She’s been both an art teacher and Master Gardener, so it was only natural for her to step into combining the two.

“When someone looks at a piece of botanical art, they get to examine it like the artist did it. You just kind of take a moment, breathe deep and see the way the petals fall.”

All three women have found inspiration in this friendship that blossomed, as they learn and grow from and alongside each other.

Director of Photography: Terra Turner

Produced and Edited by Laura Christian.

Music by Lane King.