An Interview With a Botanical Artist
I got the chance to talk with Amy Welch, a local artist, about her beautiful watercolor botanical paintings.
She is a retired Physician Assistant who splits her time between Ames, Iowa, and Austin, Texas. She has loved art from childhood and took art classes throughout high school. Art took a backseat as she continued her education, had children, jobs, and engaged in her community. After her 40-year hiatus from art, she retired from a long career in mental health and medicine in 2017. With her newfound time, she took up art again, starting with a local class in acrylics, then a workshop in oil, and then watercolor. The real fun started when she took a nature journaling class. Amy calls this her “gateway drug to botanical illustration”. She is in the final stretch of a multiyear Diplomate program in botanical illustration through the Society of Botanical Artists in London. After getting certified, she hopes to teach Nature Journaling and Botanical Illustration.
Below is my interview with her.
What inspired you to focus on native milkweed and pollinators in your latest project?
This painting was created as part of a project for the Central Texas Botanical Artists circle – we are depicting Texas natives and their pollinators. We hope to exhibit our work for educational purposes. As for the milkweeds…. I have been obsessed with them for the last few years. Here in Texas, they start to bloom in March – with the Antelope Horn (Asclepias asperula) as the most common. I am mesmerized by their architecture. There are also stunning Pearl Vine and Plateau, and Star milkweeds here that I just love (the Matalea genus). When we return to Ames for the summer, I am met with the absolutely gorgeous Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) at Ada Hayden and other places around the city. I was thrilled to see that the City of Ames has planted them at the community pool. The Common milkweeds have such a tactile component to them – they are simply great to touch! With your help, I discovered the Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) this summer here in Iowa, and in Colorado, the Showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), to add to my project list. I have a few others already as well. My goal is to spend the winter painting all of these and, in the spring, have an educational presentation as well as an art exhibit titled “The Art and Architecture of Milkweeds.”
Your paintings beautifully capture the delicate world of native plants. Do you have a personal connection to nature that influences your art?
I have been a docent and regular volunteer at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center for the past 8 years. Our mission is to inspire the conservation of native plants. I spend a part of most of my days there when possible, either in the formal parts of the gardens or out in the remaining 250 acres of “Texas Scrub”. We are the state botanical garden and also the state arboretum but only have natives. As I have progressed in my art career I now pretty much stick to doing native plants whether from Iowa, Texas or wherever I travel. I also love painting seed pods, diseased leaves, broken branches, and other not traditionally “pretty” things. I have just recently added insects as pollinators and really want my artwork to tell a story and further the mission of preserving our environment.
Many people think of milkweed as just another weed, but your work highlights its importance. What do you see when you look at a patch of native milkweed?
When I see a whole field of them I feel that something is going right for a change! I see the cycle of life as it is supposed to be. I look for bees and other insects. I look for eggs or evidence of caterpillars. I see the complicated architecture of the florets and the graceful structure of the leaves. I look at what plants are growing around them or between them. It is kind of embarrassing, but I also talk to them and say things like “hello, you weren’t blooming last week but look at you now!” My friends are used to this. Doing this type of painting allows one to have a special level of intimacy with the subject.
If someone could take only one message away from your art, what would you hope it would be?
To always take “notice” of the natural world and respect it, and realize we are only a small part of it. To look at its complexity and beauty, and how it has adapted and evolved to survive.
Your project feels like a bridge between science and creativity. How do you balance the accuracy of depicting pollinators with your own artistic interpretation?
I try to depict them as accurately as possible – I use my own photos and make sure I get as much information as possible with them, adding sketchbook drawings and measurements, and color matches. For the insects, I will look for supplemental photos to help me depict them correctly. The process is pretty lengthy and involves initial drawing, then tracing over them, and then inking, and then tracing them onto the watercolor paper. Adjustments are made constantly, and I am always referring back to the original photos or the specimen in front of me. I wear a head magnifier at all times. The paper I use is “hot press” and so the process is quite laborious, and I may have 60 total hours in a complicated piece.
How do you see art playing a role in conservation and raising awareness about native species?
Art grabs people’s attention and then opens them up for a conversation about what is on the canvas. My greatest thrill is when I am giving a tour or showing a piece of work, and someone will say, “I will look at things differently next time I go for a hike or a walk”.
Do you focus on specific pollinators in your work, and if so, why?
I have just started with insects. I am getting ready to take a series of classes on bees and butterflies/moths from a Chicago artist. I will wait a bit for birds but some of my favorite flowers here are pollinated by hummingbirds and I hope to work on them as well.
Have you learned anything new about pollinators or native plants while creating these works?
Female bees have pollen sacks on their “hips” to take back to the hives while males just eat it themselves. I am learning the types of Texas bees, butterflies, moths, and insects with the help of the staff at the LBJWFC and the SEEK app.
What’s one fact about pollinators that you wish everyone knew?
Bees cannot see red, and love blue. So…. The florets on a Bluebonnets (the state flower of Texas) turn red as they age and since they are already likely pollinated the bees will see them as grey and go for the newer blue one! Very efficient for the flower and the bee. Also with lupines and some other related plants, the fused wing petals will act as a landing pad for bees who are drawn in by banner petal of other nectar guides. The weight of the bee will cause the wing petals to open up and the reproductive parts, in a sharp fused keel, will poke the bee in the belly, achieving pollen exchange. That is the sex life of the bluebonnet!
Do you have plans to expand this project or create other pieces focusing on wildlife and habitat?
I will likely expand to other plant families.
Where can people view, purchase your work, or follow your artistic journey?
I have a website “Amy Welch’s Kitchen Table Studio” and am on Instagram (amy.welch.64.art) and Facebook. I have giclee prints on display and for sale at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center Art Gallery, and will have a large exhibition from February 1st through April 1st 2026, at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames. These will also be giclee prints and will be for sale through MGMC. I can also be contacted directly via email adwelch8@gmail.com.
I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Amy’s process and background in art.
