Kurt Jackson: Foxgloves

For the last few years acclaimed artist Kurt Jackson has focused his artistic sights on one of our most well-known and spectacular wildflowers; the foxglove. Jackson studied them intently; it seemed that everywhere he found himself, the foxgloves were there as well, waiting to be painted.

Last year saw a profusion of these flowers blooming across Cornwall, inspiring the artist to paint them repeatedly on woodland edges, roadside verges, heathland, the coast and amongst Cornish hedges.

Jackson studied them intently; it seemed that everywhere he found himself, the foxgloves were there as well, waiting to be painted.

Their colour and tone dependent on the light, pink to fuchsia and the entire range between; maroon, mauve, magenta, carmine; their distinct architectural form defined by strong directional light.

When observed within touching distance, they come alive with the endless visits of bumblebees, rattling and buzzing with the hum and drone of these pollinators.

The foxglove has also played a major role in our popular culture and herbal medicine, now providing the basis for cardiac medicine.

The foxglove is a remarkable plant, a real tonic for the heart, it’s been said that foxgloves have the power to ‘raise the dead but kill the living’.