Úrsula Romero
Spain, 1984
Úrsula Romero is an internationally recognised British painter whose emotionally charged and botanically symbolic works bring us closer to the mystical, the metaphysical and the sublime. Around her creative axis spin ideas about longing and desire, being lost or trapped, dreams, destiny, fertility and loss. As a flower painter, Úrsula explores divergent approaches to botanical observation in order to challenge the efficacy of our existing visual language, ultimately inviting audiences to think beyond their own interactions with plants and their deeper meaning.
Having studied botany to Masters level and being self taught in painting, Úrsula offers stirring visual metaphors for complex scientific and spiritual ideas. Her paintings are meditations on nature and the mysteries of us passing through space and time. She uses flowers and leaves as her muse to tell her own autobiography. She describes all of her works as self portraits.
In recent years, her work has diversified as she continues to explore the invisible and hidden. In a sudden turn of events, Úrsula eventually decided to bury her alter ego Inky Leaves in 2022 alongside her true identity as Jessica Rosemary Shepherd, creating a Meta Tomb on Instagram entitled ‘Requiem for a Flower Painter’.
CV
Bio
Jessica Rosemary Shepherd FLS (born October 1984) is an English painter, artist, publisher and botanist who works under the names of Úrsula Romero and Inky Leaves. Shepherd’s paintings feature in the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the Fitzwilliam Museum and National Botanic Gardens (Ireland). Her work has been featured in a number of exhibitions. In 2014, she was featured on the BBC4 documentary “In Search of Rory McEwen” where she demonstrated how to paint on vellum in the Chelsea Physic Garden.
Shepherd was a model and muse for well known ceramic artist, printmaker and painter Eric James Mellon between 2004 and 2006, frequently appearing in his work wearing hats. She has also been a model for other well known artists including Piers Ottey, Gym Hamala and Youth and spent a year studying the history of painting under the tuition of YBA artist Nick Fudge.
Education
Bognor Regis Community College (1999-2001)
GCSEs 12 x As and A*s
Steyning Grammar School (2001-2002)
A-level Art – A, Biology – A, Chemistry – A, Environmental Science – A
The University of Plymouth (2003-2006)
BSc Plant Discovery and Exploitation
First Class Honours
The University of Edinburgh (2006 – 2007)
MSc Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants
Pass with Distinction
Society of Botanical Artists (2010-2012)
Diploma Pass with Merit
2020-2022
Two years of mentorship with YBA painter and digital artist Nick Fudge (1961)
Solo Exhibitions
Leafscape
February 2017
Abbott and Holder, London
Group Exhibitions
January 2024-2025 – A New Perspective on Nature, Gibbes Museum of Art, South Carolina, USA
March 2024 – TEFAF Maastrict Art Fair with Stephen Ongpin Fine Art, Netherlands
June 2023 – 20th and 21st Century Women Artists, Stephen Ongpin Gallery, London, UK
March 2023 – TEFAF Maastrict Art Fair, Netherlands
March 2023 – Cristina Enea Fundazioa, San Sebastián, Spain
January 2023 – Botanical Art Now: A discussion with the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
June 2022 – Appearance on Los Reporteros for Canal Sur Television, Spain
February 2022 – Exhibition ‘Ellas Ilustran botánica’, Madrid, Spain
May 2021 – Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London, UK
January 2020 – Exhibition ‘Herbarios Imaginados’, Centro de Arte Complutense, Madrid, Spain
November 2019 – Exhibition ‘Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art’, RBG Kew, London, UK
October 2019 – The Space Mountain Festival, Albuñuelas, Granada, Spain
July 2019 – Tarkine in Motion, Group Show, Hobart, Tasmania, London, UK
April 2019 – ‘Four Persons’, exhibition at Jardin Nazarí, Granada, Spain
October 2018 – Trees, group exhibition, Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, UK
April 2018 – Talk and exhibition at the Biblioteca Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid, Spain
October 2017 – Guest Artist at the International Watercolour Festival, Moscow, Russia
July 2015 – Incredible Exploding Pomegranate, group exhibition, El Casino, Granada, Spain
February 2015 – Appearance on BBC4’s documentary In Search Of Rory McEwen, UK
January 2015 – Aibítir, group exhibition, National Botanic Garden, Dublin, Ireland
May 2013 – Natural Selection, group exhibition, Espacio Gallery, London, UK
April 2009 – Darwin to Digital, duo exhibition, Cube³ Gallery, Plymouth, UK
Prizes & Awards
Artist in Residence, River Cottage, UK 2018
Funding grant with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation for research 2007-2010
Funding grant with NERC for studies at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2006-2007
Winner of the Eden Prize in 2006
Elected fellow of the Linnean Society of London, 2012
Elected fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium, 2011
Elected a member of Chelsea Arts Club in 2017
Bibliography
Shepherd, J. R., (2026), Blaue Blume, Inky Leaves Publishing, UK
Legido, T, (2023), Ellas Illustran Botanica, Parc de Ciencas, Madrid, ES
Sherwood, S., (2021), The Shirley Sherwood Collection: Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art, Kew Publishing, London
Coles, P., (2019), Mulberry Trees of London, UK (cover)
Shepherd, J.R., (2018 – 2022), INKQ, Self published and printed periodical, Inky Leaves Publishing, UK
Vice Magazine, (2018), Bloemenbureau, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Berry, W., (2018), L’unico mondo che abbiamo, Piano b edizioni, Italy (cover)
Patel Ellis, S., The Botanical Bible, (2018), Harper Collins (illustrations)
Shepherd, J. R., (2017), Leafscape, Inky Leaves Publishing, UK
Gardener, M. F., Mill, R. R. and Thomas, P., (not yet published), A Monograph on Araucaria, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Illustrations)
Thurstan, M. and Martin, R., (2012), Exotic Botanical Illustration with the Eden Project, Batsford Ltd. (Illustrations)
Morris, H., (2011), Tree Pruning, International Dendrology Society Yearbook 2010, pp. 217-225 (Illustrations)
Shepherd, J. R., (2009), Bringing a Herbarium to Life at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, NATSCA News, Issue 17,
pp. 43-52
Shepherd, J. R., (2009), The Collector, Geoscientist, Vol. 19, No. 12, pp. 6-9
Collections
Central St. Martins, UK
The Wellcome Trust, UK
The British Library, UK
El Real Jardin Botanico, Madrid, Spain
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
The National Botanic Garden, Dublin, Ireland
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Scotland
Plymouth City Museum, UK
New York Botanic Garden, USA
Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney, Australia
The Linnean Sciety of London, UK
Royal Horticultural Society, London, UK
Denver Botanic Garden, USA
NEWS FROM ARTIST
Blaue Blume
The long awaited limited edition, hardback, first edition book ‘Blaue Blume’. From 2017, following in the footsteps of the 18th Century Romanticists, Úrsula travelled across the globe searching for the most beautiful blue flowers, exploring their natural habitats and studying their essence.
This limited deluxe book will feature the entire collection of paintings made by Úrsula Romero over her 8 year odyssey into blue. Alongside all of her paintings, there is an introduction to the collection written in both Spanish and English, a personal story and an ambient sound track.
Publication date; Spring 2026. Only available on pre-order.
Book specifications:
Premium edition print; Lay flat bound and presented in an embossed, blue velvet slipcase
Packaged in a bespoke box with foam inlay
Individually numbered limited edition of 500
Contains instructions on how to download the Blue Flower soundtrack
All books are signed and numbered by the artist.
Order at www.inkyleavespublishing.com
PRESS & DOCS
Edinburgh Herald
1769462874_bbb.doc
Article on fungi written while I was studying Plant Taxonomy at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
