Downes was raised in
Fredericksburg, Virginia She earned a joint degree in arts and sciences from the
University of Maryland. and a Gold Ozzie Award for Design Excellence. She became Vice President and Creative Director of
Sotheby's and, "I really wouldn't have got through it if it hadn't been for Doris. I know that's a sentimental thing to say—it's the sort of thing you're supposed to say—but it is true." In 2001, she married Hughes in the Saló de Cent, the town hall in
Barcelona. showing
watercolours of orchids, hibiscos, irises and tulips, painted from life. She is an artist in the book,
American Floral: a Survey, (published by Eaton Fine Art); she has exhibited in the Summer Show at the
Royal Academy in London; and is a member of the National Association of Women in the Arts (N.A.W.A.) and the American Society of Botanical Artists. Downes lives and works in New York and has a farmhouse in
Briarcliff Manor, New York. ==References==