Leonie Norton

Location: Sydney
New South Wales, Australia
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Leonie is a practising and exhibiting professional botanical artist, one of Australia’s most prominent and highly qualified botanical educators and a leading artist in her field.

Strelitzia Nicolai by Leonie Norton

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Biography

Botanical Artist, Educator & Author

Leonie Norton Leonie is also an international tutor of high regard and demand.

She has won the Maitland Art Gallery Prize for Plant and Wildlife Illustration as well as many other art awards at various exhibitions. Her botanical paintings can be found in private and public collections, both in Australia and overseas. The Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in the USA has purchased several of Leonie’s Australian native plant paintings for their prestigious Collection and travelling botanical art exhibition.

Her qualifications include BA/Visual Arts degree, B.Fine Arts ( BFA Honours) in Plant and Wildlife Illustration and a post graduate degree (Grad Dip) in Adult Education (Vocational Education and Training).

She teaches regular courses and weekend workshops in adult education centres in Sydney, and extensive workshops in New Zealand and throughout Australia. Her Summer School tuition includes regional NSW, WA, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada and the UK. Leonie is the only Australian botanical tutor who has been invited to teach at the renowned Marlborough College in England as well as in Canada.

She successfully exhibits annually with the Botanical Art Society of Australia and the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, and also in the UK and New Zealand. Leonie has had a solo exhibition at the Oriel Gallery in Ascot, Brisbane, and she was Featured Guest Artist for the Canberra 2005 Botanical Exhibition. In addition, she is an International External Examiner for Botanical Art Certificate courses in the USA.

Leonie is past President of the Botanical Art Society of Australia, a member of the American Botanical Art Society and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Magazine publications includes articles in Artists Palette August 2001, April, October 2006, May, July 2008, October, November 2009, Australian Artist February 2009, January 2010, The Gardens RBGSmagazine, Our Gardens Magazine, Queensland Homes and various local newspaper publications. She also illustrates botanical herbs in each issue of Nature & Health Magazine.

Her new book ‘Women of Flowers: Botanical Art in Australia from the 1830s – 1960s’ is available from the National Gallery of Australia book shop and leading book stores.

As a balance in her life, Leonie also teaches Holiday Sketching, and takes tour groups to places such as Fiji, Vietnam, South India, Bali, New Zealand and the Kimberley in WA.

Teaching

Teaching Experience

Leonie began tutoring in botanical art 12 years ago, following a BA/VA degree at UWS and a BFA(Hons) Plant and Wildlife degree at the University of Newcastle, followed by a Post Graduate qualification Grad.Dip VET(Adult Education) at UTS.

Leonie was the first artist to begin botanical art classes in Adult Community Colleges in Sydney, opening the way for others to follow. She is the most experienced and qualified botanical artist in Australia, and is invited to teach in various Workshops, Summer and Winter Schools in Australia and overseas.

Her popularity stems from her structured and informative tuition, many class and individual demonstrations, and individual tuition throughout her classes. Students work at their own pace with guidance and encouragement and every step of the drawing and painting process is explained simply and thoroughly.

Teaching Style

Basically the classes begin with an explanation of the processes necessary to produce a botanical painting. Demonstrations on every aspect of these processes are given, and students work through various exercises and studies before attempting their final painting. In this way, along with intensive individual guidance, there are no mistakes as students understand the importance of the foundation work.

Testimonials

Leonie is in high demand for tutoring, and all of her classes have waiting lists which attests to her reputation for encouragement, subject knowledge, patience and popularity.

Botanical Artist, Educator & Author