About Harriet

Harriet Cawkwell is a contemporary British painter and illustrator whose work draws from natural history, folklore, and the quieter, stranger aspects of the natural world. Her paintings and illustrations take inspiration from the familiar imagery of the British countryside, and the stories once used to make sense of it.

A sense of narrative runs through her work, shaped by seasonal cycles and older ways of understanding nature. There is a subtle tension between the real and the imagined, where comfort and familiarity sit alongside something less certain.

Working from close observation, Cawkwell explores how shifts in scale, light, and perspective can alter what we think we recognise. Forms that might otherwise be overlooked—petals, stems, internal structures—become heightened, complex, and at times otherworldly.

Influenced by botanical study and anatomical drawing, her practice reworks these traditions into something more fluid and atmospheric. Rather than presenting nature as purely decorative, her work leans into its depth—its beauty, its darkness, and its ability to feel both intimate and unfamiliar.

Each piece forms part of a wider visual language: one that invites the viewer into a world that is not entirely make-believe, but not entirely known either.

Alongside her fine art practice, Cawkwell develops illustrated works rooted in story and research. Beginning with hand-drawn ink and watercolour, these pieces evolve into patterns and designs for textiles, wallpaper, and everyday objects.

She studied at Central Saint Martins and is based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, where the surrounding landscape continues to inform her work.