Hip, haw, holly, elder, sloe – Holly Somerville

Holly Somerville lives in the Glen of Imaal, west Wicklow. She has an MA in botany from Somerville College Oxford, and a BA in visual communication from Edinburgh College of Art. Holly has had sell-out exhibitions around Ireland and has exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy annual exhibition. She has been commissioned by the National Trust and by Trinity College Dublin, and is a Fellow of the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ballycastle, county Mayo. For some years she was based in the herbarium of Trinity College’s botany department, drawing botanically correct pen and ink illustrations for researchers and botanical gardens around the world. Here she also updated the drawings for the seventh edition of Webb’s An Irish Flora (Dundalgan Press). Holly now works from her studio, mainly in watercolour on hot-pressed Fabriano paper. She is available for commissions.