Meet The Artist
About Libby Bell Art
Artist, illustrator, leaf-lover, enamoured with beautiful homes, at home in beautiful gardens, advocate for the adding of more hours into the day.
“The downward curve and flick of the leaf, the deep crevice of the centre of the blossom, the gentle, linear reach of the leaf stalk. My love for painting flowers goes so much deeper than the obvious and popular aesthetic of illustrated blooms for wall display. The connection forged between artist and subject when choosing the perfect colour and shape for capturing the tiniest parts of a beautiful plant, is one which I feel so deeply.”
I’m an artist and illustrator who lives on a farm in South Africa. I have vowed to paint only the most beautiful and worthy things I can think of – and these are mostly flowers. Although I do love leaves the most.
I work in watercolour on thick, rich, 100% cotton paper with perfect brushes. I’m a perfectionist and a creative but I do love admin and business too.
I draw my inspiration from almost everything beautiful I see around me but classical botanical paintings, exquisite homes and their interiors, glorious, old gardens, decorated antique vases, the miniscule detail of orchids and the hundreds of perfect feathers that make up a bird are sources of consistent, unwavering awe and artistic motivation.
My Crest
A summary of my personal and business life,
My Love For History, Antiques And A Little Symbol Of My British Heritage, So Often Embodied In A Shield Within A Crest.
No crest is complete without a beautiful crown!
The Stag Is The Symbol For The Scottish Clan Of Brodie, The Name Of My Oldest Twin Son.
The Star With Three Arrows Is The Symbol For The Scottish Clan Of Callum, The Name Of My Younger Twin Son.
The Gladioli represent my love for botanical art.
Wooden Cross; a symbol of my deep faith in God.
My maiden surname is Bell (Kept on as my artist name).
Bailey And Peppa; our two beautiful twin Belgian Shepherd dogs.
Signum Pacis Amor: The Bell family motto “Love is the token of peace”.
The artist’s hand holding a brush: As I do, many many hours everyday!
Surrounded by beautiful florals; wild purple Bellflowers and Jasmine Blossoms.
The central part of the Wood family crest, my marital surname.
I also harbour a passion for all things dendrological, so much so that my Honours thesis for my Fine Art Degree was entitled “Dendrologica Romantica: The tree as a Romantic motif in South African art: Modernism, Postmodernism and beyond”. The Elm tree in particular holds a special symbolism as my Dad’s furniture business is called Elmswood as was his father’s business before him.
