Botanical Illustrator Florence Gendre

“Everytime I glance somewhere, I think about how I can interpret it, what I could do with it.”

Botanical Illustrator Florence Gendre is an observer, an interpreter, and an admirer of nature and plants. Her watercolor interpretations of the natural world speak to her ability to see things that others can’t.

Inspiration came from summers spent at her family’s country house surrounded by nature, but also from the influence of her grandmother.

“My grandmother really instilled in me this way of looking…it’s about going in-depth, not looking superficially at artwork, at a plant.”

What makes botanical illustration unique from other ways of capturing a plant, is the need to take a closer look to get every detail. Florence says she always looks at plants this way.

Botanical drawing is also about the artist’s own representation of his or her subject.

“It’s giving your interpretation of a plant, your feeling.”

For Florence, coming into this profession from her work in advertising was life-changing, an opportunity for travel and adventure.

“It’s this botanical watercolor that really reconnected me with who I truly am deep down inside.”

Film by Leslie Askew

Photos by Carl Labrosse.

For more of Florence’s incredible work, visit her website.

She also posts her work regularly on her Instagram.