Balfour, Judy ( - )

Judy Balfour's initial interest in plants began in childhood. She grew up in the Sydney suburb of Oatley which included in its environs the 100-acre Oatley Park, an area consisting of native bush.

Here Judy collected plants (probably illegally) and pressed them into exercise books. She was also lucky to be able to occasionally borrow Wildflowers of Australia by Thistle Y. Harris and copied many of the illustrations found in the book with coloured pencils.

Although Judy studied her favourite subject of art at high school, a teaching career and family commitments meant she did not paint again until she retired and moved to Albury in 2004. In 2006 the Beechworth Institute of Botanical Art started in northeast Victoria. This was when Judy's journey into botanical art began and her love for the detail and preciseness that is demanded of this art form.

Her favourite medium is watercolour although she also loves working with ink, graphite and coloured pencils. She finds it a great joy to be retired and to have the time to pursue her passion for painting portraits of plants. Judy has exhibited in many botanical art exhibitions. Her work was included in the Florilegium of the Albury Botanic Gardens, 2012.

She is a member of the Albury Wodonga Artists Society; the Botanical Art Society of Australia and the Mayday Hills Art Society.

Source: Extracted from: 'Flora of Australia - A Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition', published by the Botanical Art Society of Australia, Canberra, May 2018
Portrait Photo: Extracted from: newspaper Border Mail online, https://www.bordermail.com.au/story/4894631/botanical-exhibit-spring-bloom/ (June 2018)