I went to Peru to see and paint the orchids in their natural habitats from 22 August 2006 to 5 September 2006.

I had not thought about going to South America before.  So why Peru?

The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society, www.rhs.org.uk) created a new bursary called “The Dawn Jolliffe Botanical Art Bursary” in July 2005, thanks to Mr Brian Jolliffe.  This bursary is to assist a botanical artist to exhibit at one of the RHS shows, or to travel in order to paint and/or draw plants in their natural habitats.

Dr Henry Oakeley, the chairman of the RHS orchid committee, mentioned about this new bursary.  I got interested and applied.  I am really glad to become the first awardee of this new bursary.

I chose “Peruvian orchids” as my theme.  There are two reasons; 1) I have painted a series of Encyclias, which are the orchids from Middle to South America, and 2) I was at that time planning to paint Masdevallias, which are also orchids from that area.

I am going to write about my trip to Peru.

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You can read about the RHS bursary here: http://www.rhs.org.uk/learning/education/bursaries.asp

You can also read the RHS bursaries newsletter No.2: www.rhs.org.uk/learning/education/documents/BursariesNewsletter12.pdf