Caroline's painting of a scene in the Cambridge botanic garden was part of an exhibition at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History that accompanied a film festival.

Communications officer Caroline Reid writes press releases and articles about the department’s research for her day job, but most staff may not know she is also a talented artist.

Path closed - badgers

In July, Caroline’s painting of a scene from the botanic garden was displayed in an exhibition at the Conservation Optimism Good Natured Film Festival. The festival, now in its fifth year, is held at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. It presents independent short films which share hopeful stories of nature’s recovery and people’s stewardship of it. The accompanying art exhibition was based on the question “What does nature recovery mean to you?”

Caroline’s artwork was from a photo she took last month in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. The painting is in gouache, a water-based paint, and shows a rope blocking the path leading to a cherry tree. She says: “If you go there now you can probably find the spot that’s been roped off.”

The scene first caught her eye because the path was closed, which she initially found frustrating until she realised the purpose was to protect a family of badgers who had taken up residence by the tree. She called the painting “Path closed - badgers.”

Caroline says: “I think I have to give a shout-out to the University wellness programme for providing free passes to the botanic garden, because I use it a lot.

Caroline's painting of a scene at the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, gouache on board.

Photography

Caroline's series of frozen lilies at different stages of the life-cycle was displayed at Wolfson College last autumn.

Caroline is also a talented photographer, and last autumn her three-photograph series of frozen lilies was included in Wolfson College’s “Kill or Cure” exhibition, which featured the work of 32 local and international artists on the theme of the natural world’s connection to the medical sciences, both in terms of its ability to save lives or destroy them.

The digital age

Since 2016 Caroline has also been creating digital art with her tablet. She first took it up because she was travelling a lot and it was portable. She says: “Digital art is extremely challenging. There’s something really tactile and physical about working with a pen in your hand, and you can see the medium on the paper. But when you’re working with digital, it’s just pixels on a screen, so you have to learn from scratch. It’s taken a very long time for me to get to the stage where I feel like I’ve made progress.”

Caroline’s digital art also led her to become involved in designing video game artwork. “A friend realised I needed something to do during lockdown and roped me into a video game project, which was amazing fun,” she says. She started participating in game jams, where teams compete to make a video game from scratch over a limited time period, usually a weekend. Caroline is looking forward to her next game jam in August.  

Caroline at the festival.

Branching out

Caroline also designs uniquely personal wedding invitations for friends and family. “They’re some of my favourite pieces, because I incorporate their story as a couple into the design, plus they are completely unique.”

Caroline would still like to do more. She says: “I’d love to do some oil-paint portraits, and I’d like to do a lithograph class.”

The creative process makes Caroline feel good.  “It’s a unique way I have of expressing my ideas. What motivates me at the moment is improving so that I can reach a place where I can express the things I want to say.”