Vanessa Pasqualetto artist

I studied Biology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. Upon completing my degree, I received a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to continue research in the field of plant phylogenetics at UBC. Since then, I've worked in biology labs and botanical gardens in BC, South Africa and Germany.

I am a self-taught artist and began painting botanical watercolours towards the end of 2004. Although my main interest is watercolour, I also work in graphite, charcoal and coloured pencil.

In April 2005, I had my first exhibit at the Botanical Garden Potsdam, Germany. Shortly thereafter, I was commissioned to illustrate new interpretive signage for this garden.

Many of my weekends have been spent meandering the mountain and coastal trails of two of South Africa's botanical paradises-the provinces of KwaZulu Natal and the Western Cape; much of my inspiration to paint South African flora arose from these weekend get-away explorations. Currently, I am living in Germany.

I am a member of RedBubble (a print-on-demand, on-line art shop and community of international artists), BotanicalArtists.com, the American Society of Botanical Artists and a supporter of E-Flora BC (an electronic atlas of the plants of British Columbia, Canada).