Ridge Gourds, Bitter Gourd

Early in her career as a botanical artist, Edwards was commissioned to paint 115 watercolours of species of primulas from life as illustrations for the book Primula by John Richards, published in 1993; the watercolours for the project were later exhibited at Kew Gardens. Edwards almost always paints her watercolours on smooth, prepared vellum and, like many botanical artists, she works slowly in order to capture the finest detail. This approach has resulted in a number of gold medals for botanical illustration from the Royal Horticultural Society. Edwards also paints watercolours of insects, some of which were exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 2003. Her work can be found in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the Shirley Sherwood Collection of contemporary botanical art.