Lil Tudor-Craig
Painting and ConnectednessI have always painted nature and have always been
delighted by all our native creatures.

A profound realisation for me, when studying land management for wildlife conservation, was learning that many butterflies (and moths and other insects) had particular wild plants on which they laid their eggs and which were the foodplants of their caterpillars or larvae. Although some caterpillars can eat many different plants there are some that have only one foodplant. For example the beautiful Adonis Blue butterfly is ‘specific’ to one rather rare plant, the Horseshoe vetch, found only in old grassland on chalk. In some of my paintings I explore the intricate and amazing relationships between a habitat in a particular place and the varied creatures that live there.

Looking at the information the other way round, I also became fascinated by the realisation that certain wild plants support a multitude of different species. Often these are more common plants such as bramble, nettle, dock and dandelion.

In order to research and paint these webs of relationships I found I had to look more deeply into plants and habitats in a slower time dimension. I stood about in a wood among a stand of thistles for five days before I saw the creatures I knew were there but which had remained hidden until I had forgotten about the rest of my life and was able to be still in my mind for long enough. Once seen I realised that they were everywhere around me. The tiny picture-wing flies are amazing insects with strongly patterned wings and they perform a kind of semaphore with their wings to signal to each other. There are several species with different patterns and they have various thistle preferences.

I also found I needed to change focus. Instead of looking for a large feature in a foreground I was looking at a rather homogenous repeating pattern of leaves or grasses, spangled with living jewels. Letting our eyes refocus in this way allows more peripheral vision, which in turn has a physiological effect – the shoulders relax, the chest opens, a sense of calm is felt.

I also stopped looking with the eye of the gardener or the forager. I want to see what is, not just what I can use it for or how to eradicate it. The amazing part is that if you look into a nettle bed or a stand of thistles you will see something interesting and delightful. I make the picture to reflect a time window of around a month – there will be many other creatures who may use this plant at other times.

In the dandelion painting (above) all these creatures are associated with dandelions in spring. The species list included is to attempt to show by the use of asterisks the closeness of the relationships between the creatures and the plant. Dandelion does not have any specific species associated with it, but it is important for many species through the year.

My paintings start from my reaction to something I perceive as beautiful, and then the ideas evolve through close observation, drawing from life, and research to make a picture that tries to convey that beauty on several different levels. I feel as though I am weaving together the threads of art and science, and the different threads of my life's journey. As well as expressing my love of nature, I am also driven by the grief of seeing how much of our natural heritage has been lost and how much is still being destroyed. Without their foodplant, there will be no creature. Without their precious habitats, whole life supporting systems disappear.

My hope is that the paintings will inspire people to look more closely at the nature around us. There is so much life hidden from the hurried glance. Even a corner of brambles support many small creatures which provide food for birds and other animals.

These glimpses of the lives of other creatures are uplifting and meaningful. We are part of nature but we often feel isolated and distant, even afraid and exploitative, in our relationship with it. Noticing a damselfly or a jewel-like beetle can bring so much pleasure and bring us back into connectedness.

I paint most of the pictures with everything life size, using magnification for painting the tiny things, and the paintings can be examined with a magnifying glass to reveal their full detail.

In order to even come close to the divine detail of the natural world of the British Isles, I use paints that I make myself using egg yolk and pure pigments. This paint is called egg tempera. It is a tricky medium but capable of fine detail and very intense colour. The pictures take at least four months to make. Of course, when reproducing the paintings photographically some intensity of colour and sharpness of detail is reduced. tudor-craig.co.uk
Dandelion (detail)
2013. 18" x 24" Egg Tempera on gesso
on birch ply panel. Scale lifesize
Based on a road verge in mid-Wales in
spring. Dandelions provide a vital early
source of nectar as well as a caterpillar
foodplant for many species
All species are associated with
these plants/habitat types at this time
*** exclusive to this plant
** strong association with this plant
* strong association with this habitat
PLANTS
Dandelion
Taraxacum officinale
Greater stitchwort
Stellaria holostea
INSECTS
Butterflies
* Small tortoiseshell
Aglais urticae
Moths
** Hebrew character
Orthosia gothica
** Setaceous Hebrew character
Xestia c-nigrum
** Angle shades
Philogophora meticulosa
** Knot grass
Acronicta rumicis
** Chestnut
Conistra vaccinii
** Dark-barred twin-spot carpet
Xanthorhoe ferrugata
** Muslin
Diaphora mendica
** Nutmeg
Discestra trifolii
** Silver Y
Autographa gamma
** Treble lines
Charanyca trigrammica
** Ruby tiger
Phragmatobia fuliginosa
Hoverflies
Eristalis nemorum
Rhingia campestris
Bees
Common carder bee
Bombus pascuorum