"The Botanical Palette" Margaret Stevens PSBA, in association with the Society of Botanical Artists. Valerie has contributed the step by step demonstration of painting a Columbine on pages 68-71. This superbly illustrated book, published in association with The Society of Botanical Artists, looks at one of the most important aspects of botanical painting: how to achieve the right colours. It provides an authoritative practical guide to this essential subject and features 17 step-by-step demonstrations by members of the Society. Each chapter in the book focuses on a specific colour, providing practical advice on how to achieve the right colour by overlaying washes rather than by simply mixing colours on the palette or paper. This results in subtle, translucent colours that accurately reflect the delicacy of the flowers' appearance. Detailed step-by-step demonstrations by members of the Society reveal exactly how each flower painting is built up, from the first stage to the finished illustration. A special feature of this book is the projects that are included in several of the demonstrations. Each project includes a simplified drawing of the finished work that students can trace and use as the basis for their own painting. Published by Collins ISBN 978 000 724785 1. Available from Amazon - click here.

"Glorious Butterflies", by Valerie Baines. 40 pages, including 8 beautiful colour plates depicting all the British butterflies and their larval food plants, each finely painted butterfly is shown either in flight or resting amongst a colourful and artistically composed array of flowers and foliage, the plates are accompanied by a text commentary by well-known butterfly experts, published to mark the 25th anniversary of Butterfly Conservation. ISBN 0951245287. Available from Aurelian Books, www.aurelianbooks.co.uk.

"Mindful of Butterflies", by Bernard Jackson and Valerie Baines. 160 pages, large format, numerous full page and text colour paintings by Valerie Baines, cloth bound with dustjacket. A truly beautiful "coffee table" book engagingly written as a guide to the fundamental theories, practices and ecology for creating habitats for butterflies. The narrative explores the butterfly populations in England and North America, and offers a wealth of insight and information based on research and daily observations. The paintings by Valerie Baines are imaginative, exquisite and display a deep understanding and love of her subject matter which will appeal to lepidopterists, gardeners and naturalists alike, published by The Book Guild Ltd. ISBN 1857763394. Available from Aurelian Books, www.aurelianbooks.co.uk.