U.K. artist, Julia Loken, worked for 20 years as a botanical illustrator, making detailed pen and ink illustrations for textbooks and botanical publications. She was employed for many years at the Forest-Botany Herbarium at Oxford University, England.

In 1980, she turned her attention to watercolors, and with no formal training, began to paint. Her interest in botany, and her love of plants naturally led her to choose these forms as her main subjects, but she also enjoys painting a variety of country landscapes, both at home and abroad.

Since 1980, Loken has had over 20 solo exhibitions in England, Switzerland, France and America as well as participating in over 100 solo exhibitions.

Indulging her passion for plant collecting, she and her husband have created a beautiful flower and vegetable garden around their 200 year old cottage in Eynsham, near Oxford, England. There she grows many of the plants that appear in her paintings. “I am endlessly fascinated by the beauty and diversity of plant forms, and I attempt to express this wonder in my paintings by varying my style and technique, according to how I feel about each particular subject”.   Julia Loken