Learn more about the leading contemporary (living)
Australian and New Zealand botanical artists and illustrators
Australian and New Zealand botanical artists and illustrators
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This listing of the names of contemporary botanical artists and illustrators is alphabetically ordered by country (Australia first and then New Zealand) and surnames within media categories:
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This page is being continuously updated. Please contact me and suggest an artist. Suggestions for new additions are always welcome.
In general, I'm looking for evidence that an artist has been recognised as noteworthy outside their home country. For example: they have
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Note: the banner is a section of Julie Nettleton's RHS Gold Medal winning exhibit of Xanthorroea (Grass Trees) in 2016. See below for more about the artist.
AUSTRALIA
Australian Botanical Painters (watercolour)
Beverley Allen with her painting "Bambusa Vulgaris 'Striata' (Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney)" 2005 (watercolour on paper; 29" by 66" ) - at the 'Botanicals - Environmental Expressions in Art' Exhibition, at Kew Gardens in 2013.
Collection: The Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton Collection
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Beverly Allen GM (RHS 2007, NYBG 2010)
b. 1945 in Sydney, Australia. BA in Fine Arts from Sydney University. A graphic designer who became a botanical artist in 1998. Began studying botanical art in 1997. She has shown annually at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney ‘Botanica’ Exhibition since 1999, and exhibits internationally. In 2004 she exhibited at the 11th International exhibition at the Hunt. She won an RHS Gold in 2007 for eight watercolour paintings of Epiphyllum. In 2010, she was awarded the inaugural Gold Medal for Botanical Art by the New York Botanic Gardens. Her work is in many major collections including Kew, the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt, Highgrove and Transylvania Florilegiums. and the Shirley Sherwood and Alisa and Isaac Sutton Collections. It can also be seen in a large number of publications. She is the Co-Founder and President of the Florilegium Society associated with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust in Sydney where she also teaches masterclasses. Work available from Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery. A painting begins with a drawing from life, and usually life-size. Then, working in watercolour on Arches paper, colours are layered and blended to capture the play of light and shade that gives form. |
Anita Barley
Won the Linnean Society's Jill Smythies Award in 2016 and has twice been awarded the Celia Rosser Medal (2002, 2006). Age 22, she was appointed as the botanical artist for the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne in 1977. She was the major illustrator of the Flora of Victoria project and completed completing hundreds of coloured and black-and-white plates for this major scientific reference work. She's worked as a freelance professional artist since 1992 and features in ‘Australia: 300 years of Botanical Illustration’ (1999) by Dr Helen Hewson. Elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London in 2013 Deirdre Bean GM (2006) b. 1960 in Newcasle, New South Wales. She won a Gold Medal in 2006 for her for her series of eight Syzygium species. Deirdre has paintings in public collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, USA, and in the Florilegium collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. Mangroves are the subject of Deirdre's post graduate studies in Natural History Illustration. Lauren Black Won the Inaugural Margaret Flockton Award for excellence in botanical illustration (2004). She's also been awarded two residencies: the Asialink residency to Sri Lanka (2005) and a one year residency to Rimbun Dahan in Malaysia (2008/09) |
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Susannah Blaxill
b. 1954 in Armidale, New South Wales. She has been painting full time since 1985. She's recognised as being one of the world’s leading botanical artists specialising in watercolour ( on white and black paper), pencil and recently in charcoal. A lot of people have seen her Beetroot and request to see it. I investigated why in my blog post Susannah Blaxill's beetroot and a magnifying glass. This is a blog post about how she teaches - which explains her techniques. This is an interview with Susannah Blaxill Helen Burrows A professional graphic designer and educator (she teaches at the RBG Melbourne). Exhibited at 15th Hunt International. Her botanical watercolours are represented in important and/or prestigious public collections around the world including, Kew, RHS Lindley and National Library, Australia. She is also a a member of the Florilegium Society of the Sydney Botanic Gardens |
I believe she is one of today's best botanical artists and an example of Australia's depth of quality in this field. |
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Deb Chirnside
Based in Geelong near Melbourne and trained in botanical art at Geelong Botanic Gardens. Exhibits on a regular basis at both The Art of Botanical Illustration in Melbourne and Botanica in Sydney. Exhibited at the Hunt in 2010. Work in the State Botanical Collection at the National Herbarium, Melbourne |
Pauline Dewar - Her artistic career began in 2009 after retirement from General Practice in medicine. Winner of the $5,000 Margaret Flockton Award in 2016 (see Pauline Dewar wins Margaret Flockton Award 2016) having won the second prize in 2015 and exhibited annually between 2011- and 2016. Lives in Melbourne and creates her botanical art from specimens collected from across the state of Victoria.
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Lesley Elkan
see Scientific Illustrators at the RBG Sydney below Dianne Emery
Born in the UK and now baed in Melbourne. Attended the School of Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. Began botanical painting in the 1990s. She has won the Celia Rosser Medal for Excellence in Botanical Art four times - in 2002, 2004, 2016 and 2020. Teaches botanical art for the Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne and elsewhere. She has exhibited widely and her work is held in public and private collections in Australia and overseas, including the Hunt Institute and the State Botanical Collection of the National Herbarium of Victoria |
Helen Fitzgerald GM (2002)
Born in Sydney in 1945. She has degrees in Art Education and Applied Science from the University of Canberra. She taught applied art for 50 years while also pursuing a career as a professional botanical artist. Her work has been included in numerous publications including illustrations for five books on flora and fauna of the Australian Capital Territory and Alpine flora. Her work has been exhibited in Sydney Melbourne and Canberra. She is a member of the Florilegium Societies of the Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney and at the Sheffield Botanical Gardens UK. She has also produced popular botanical art instruction videos. Anne Hayes
Became interested in botanical art in 2010. She is a Artist, Painter, Illustrator and Designer specialising in botanical subjects. Exhibited at Hunt 15th International. |
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Annie Hughes GM (RHS: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 1 from the Royal Caledonia Horticultural Society)
b. Santiago, Chile; now lives in New South Wales. First class degree in Design; she worked as a textile designer for 15 years. She has won RHS Gold Medals for her suites of paintings about Camellias, Astrophytum, Citrus Fruits and Eucalyptus of Western Australia and won Best Painting in Show in 2012. Her work is in the collections of The Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation, The Shirley Sherwood Collection, The RHS Lindley Library and The Florilegium Society, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Australia |
Annie Hughes won an RHS Gold Medal in 2013 for her watercolour paintings of various members of the Citrus Family
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Angela Lober GM (2018)
b. 1966 in Sydney. She did a graduate Diploma in Visual Art (plant and wildlife illustration) at Newcastle University in 1995 and began botanical painting in 2002. In 2014 she won the Celia Rosser medal for Excellence in Botanic Art. Has work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the Isaac M Sutton collection and the State Botanical Collection, Melbourne. Has exhibited widely including at the 15th Hunt International Exhibition. Her work was featured in the video about the development of the Florilegium for the RBG Sydney (see video below). She now paints full time and teaches at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney David Mackay Botanical illustrator at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney for 16 years and National Botanic Gardens of Papua New Guinea. He has illustrated well more than 200 books and scientific papers. More than 5,000 of his drawings and paintings have been published. His paintings have been exhibited in Australia, England, USA, Italy, Spain, Japan and Papua New Guinea and are represented in many collections. (Facebook Page) |
Fiona McKinnon
Has exhibited botanical works since 1994 and is selected regularly for many group exhibitions, including The Art of Botanical Illustration [RBG Melb.] 1994-2016; Botanica [RBG Sydney] 2005-2016; BotanicAsia [RBG Melb.] 2009. She also exhibited at the 10th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute. Her work is in the Highgrove Florilegium, the Florilegium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, the State Botanical Collection. She was awarded a Celia Rosser Medal at The Art of Botanical Illustration in 2014 for her Eucalyptus paintings. Fiona has taught at Jenny Phillips’ Botanical Art School of Melbourne since 1996. Mali Moir GM n 1993 she became the botanical artist in 1993 at the National Herbarium of Victoria, contributing pen and ink drawings for many scientific publications. Exhibited in the 10th International Exhibition at the Hunt. She exhibits widely in Australia and internationally and has produced many works for private, public and corporate collections. |
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Elaine Musgrave GM (2003) - Lives in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Started botanical painting in 1995 and works in watercolour or graphite. Has exhibited annually in the Botanica art exhibition at RBGS since 1999. She has an RHS Gold Medal (2003). Her work is in the collections of the Hunt Institute, Alisa and Isaac M Sutton and the Hawkesbury Regional Gallery. She is a founding committee members of the Member of the RBGS Florilegium Society - and has four works in the exhibition.
Margaret Muffet - has work in the Hunt and government collections in Australia plus three Silver Gilt Medals for two series of Protea and one of Eucalyptus paintings. |
Elaine Musgrave with two of her four paintings (bottom left and right) in the RBGS Florilegium Exhibition at Kew Gardens (April 2018)
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Julie Nettleton GM (2016)
Botanical artist since 2002. Gold Medal and Winner of Best Painting in Show at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2016 for her Xanthorrhoea resinosa series. . Member of the Artists of the Florilegium of the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust in Sydney. Her work was chosen as the image for the cover of the Catalogue for the Hunt's 14th International Exhibition. Her botanical artwork focuses on the native plants of North Head Sanctuary, Manly, where many rare and endangered species cling to survival. She has artwork in the collections of The Hunt Institute, The Florilegium Society at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Shirley Sherwood and the State Botanical Collection at the National Herbarium of Victoria. Philippa Nikulinsky, AM Botanical and wildlife illustrator, focused on flora and fauna of the arid lands of Western Australia. Her work has involved teaching, exhibitions, commissioned works and publications, including Curtis' Botanical Magazine. Her publications include:
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Julie Nettleton with her Gold Medal winning exhibit of Xanthorroea (Grass Trees) at the 2016 RHS London Botanical Art Show. She won Best Painting in Show for "Xanthorrhoea and marsupial mouse"
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Leonie Norton
Leonie is leading botanical artist in Australia and is a past President of the Botanical Art Society of Australia. As a botanical artist she has work in permanent collections including two works in the Hunt Collection in Pittsburgh. She's a regular exhibitor at the Botanica exhibition at the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens since its inception and also the annual exhibitions of the Botanical Art Society of Australia. She also writes and is the author of ‘Women of Flowers: Botanical Art in Australia from the 1830s – 1960s’ (see below) She's also a very well qualified international botanical art educator with BA/Visual Arts degree, B.Fine Arts ( BFA Honours) in Plant and Wildlife Illustration, post graduate degree (Grad Dip) in Adult Education (Vocational Education and Training) and Cert IV in Assessment and Workplace Training. She teaches throughout Australia an internationally. |
Leonie Norton painting (courtesy of the artist)
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Women Of Flowers - Botanical Art In Australia From The 1830s to the 1960s
by Leonie Norton
by Leonie Norton
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from Amazon.com|
Rita Parkinson GM
Studied fine art at St Martin's College of Art and art history at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Worked as a freelance illustrator in educational publishing (natural history and science) and is the author of two botanical art instruction books. Lives in Melbourne and now concentrates on botanical illustration. Awarded RHS Gold Medal for a series of paintings in the Agave family. Tutor at the Geelong Botanical Gardens.Victoria. Australia. |
John Pastoriza-Piñol GM (2005)
Based in Melbourne. RHS GM for 'Paphiopediulm and Dracula orchids in watercolour'. His has work in the collections RBG Kew Library, The Highgrove Florilegium, The Transylvania Florilegium, Hunt Institute, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, Geelong Botanic Gardens Victoria, Art Gallery of Ballarat, RMIT University Melbourne and Collection of Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton. Exhibits frequently and internationally including at the 12th International at the Hunt. Awarded the ASBA Diane Bouchier Award for Excellence as well as other prizes. Teaches botanical Art at the Geelong Botanic Gardens (14+ years). Member of BAS, ASBA and RBGS Florilegium Society. |
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Jenny Phillips GM (1993)
Founder/Director of The Botanical Art School of Melbourne, Australia. She's also a Fellow of the Linnean Society and has won the Celia Rosser Award. Exhibited at the 10th International at the Hunt. She has work in the Hunt, the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the Highgrove Florilegium and the Filoli Florilegium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne . She is also an Honorary member of both the Chelsea Physic Garden and Brooklyn Florilegium Societies. Alastair Robinson
From Victoria, Australia. Describes himself as a "Postdoc field botanist, taxonomist & author, formerly of Kuala Lumpur, London & Cambridge". Highly commended in the Margaret Flockton Award 2018 for a pen and ink illustration of Drosera albonotata (see a video of his drawing in pen an ink on the Pen and Ink page) |
Jenny Phillips of with her Corymbia ficifolia - at the PV for the Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew (November 2019)
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Celia Rosser OAM PhD (Hon.)
b. 1930. One of the world's finest living botanical artists. Began painting Australian wildflowers early in her career. Appointed Science Faculty Artist at Monash University, Melbourne in 1970. Published The Banksias,, a three-volume series of monographs (1981, 1988 and 2000) containing life-size watercolour paintings of every Banksia species - over 25 years. Her awards include:
REFERENCE: |
Celia Rosser poses with the first volume of her 'The Bankias' project. Photo by Sarah Walshe (Rosser family photo album) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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Marta Salamon
Graduate of Melbourne University. Trained with Jenny Phillips and has practiced as a botanical artist since 1996. Her work has been added to the collections of the National Herbarium collection in Melbourne, the Florilegium Society for the Sydney Herbarium, the Sutton collection in New York and private collections throughout Australia. Awarded Celia Rosser medal for excellence (2016).
Graduate of Melbourne University. Trained with Jenny Phillips and has practiced as a botanical artist since 1996. Her work has been added to the collections of the National Herbarium collection in Melbourne, the Florilegium Society for the Sydney Herbarium, the Sutton collection in New York and private collections throughout Australia. Awarded Celia Rosser medal for excellence (2016).
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Sandra Sanger GM (2008, 2010, 2013, 2016)
Worked as a graphic artist who lectured in Drawing, Art and Design at RMIT University. She took up botanical painting on retirement in 2000. She has won three RHS Gold Medals and been awarded Best in Show twice - in 2008 and 2010. She has also received the 'The Celia Rosser Award' for an outstanding painting. She has work in the State Botanical Collection, RHS Lindley Library, The Florilegium Society, RBGSyd and private collections around the world. She exhibits widely in Australia - including 'Botanica' and the Margaret Flockton Award. |
Sandra Sanger - pictured with her gold-medal winning display of Orchids: Paphiopedilum & Australian Natives
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Gillian Scott GM (1991)
A botanical painter for over 30 years - painting mainly Australian natives. She was the first Australian botanical artist to win an RHS Gold Medal - for her display of 22 species of Australian mistletoes. Commissioned to create paintings for the Hunt and the Shirley Sherwood Collections. Her work has won a number of prizes. Halina Steele GM (2015) Began botanical painting in 2001. Won a Gold Medal at the RHS Exhibition and the Best Botanical Art Exhibit for a series of six Australian Eucalyptus Mallees at Malvern in 2015 . Read about this in the ASBA article Halina Steel at the Royal Horticultural Society. She has also exhibited in the 12th International Exhibition at the Hunt. Member of the Florilegium Society at the RBGSyd, BASA and ASBA |
Margaret Ann Saul
born Brisbane 1951 and lives in near Sienna in Italy. Botanical artist since 1976 and teacher of botanical art in Australia and the USA. Her paintings have been widely exhibited by Shirley Sherwood and she is a featured artist in A Passion for Plants. Founding member of the Botanic Artists Group Queensland and the Australian Botanical Art Society. Heidi Venamore ASBA Australian by birth. Currently living in Abu Dhabi as Ambassador of Australia to the United Arab Emirates. Achieved a Distinction in her SBA Diploma. She is a painting member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, a Fellow of the Linnean Society and was Associate Member of the Society of Botanical Artists until she moved from the UK to the UAE. Dahlia 'Twynings After Eight' and the original sketches were bought by the RHS Lindley Library in 2018. Heidi was asked by The Governor-General of Australia to paint Australia's gift to Her Majesty The Queen to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. This is an article about how the gift was received. |
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Colleen Werner
Colleen is a botanical and wildlife artist who is particularly interested in rainforest species. Born 1956 and educated in Sydney. Graduated with a BA in Visual Arts. She now lives west of Wauchope, NSW, where she she has developed a farm and a nursery, growing and propagating local native plants especially rainforest species. She is an elected member of the Australian Watercolour Institute and a member of the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Florilegium Society, the Botanical Art Society of Australia, the Australian Society of Miniature Art, the Queensland Wildlife Art Society and the Wildlife Art Society of Australasia Inc. Heidi Willis Exhibited at 'Botanica' at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney and The 'Margaret Flockton Award' hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. She has work in the 'Hunt and the 'Shirley Sherwood Collection'. She also illustrates native Australian flora for Australian Geographic. You can see her very intricate works in progress on her Facebook Page |
 Colleen Werner at the Florilegium Society exhibition at Kew Gardens with one of her two paintings - Diploglottis campbellii is a rare and endangered species of riverine rainforest in northern NSW
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Australian pen and ink / scientific illustrators - at Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney
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Lesley Elkan - b. Sydney. in 1972. BSc in Environmental Biology; Postgraduate Diploma in Art (Plant and Wildlife Illustration). Since 1995, she has been a botanical illustrator for the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney and has also worked on a freelance basis for other organisations. Her monochrome scientific illustrations of new and threatened species are published in taxonomic journals worldwide. She has taught and lectured in scientific and botanical illustration since 2000 and also exhibits botanical watercolours. Her work is held in the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney Illustration Archive, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Library and international private collections. Awards for scientific illustration include The Jill Smythies Award from the Linnean Society of London (2005); First Prize in The Margaret Flockton Award (2008) and Second Prize (2004). She now co-curates this award and is a founding committee member of the Florilegium Society.
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Catherine Wardrop - Botanical illustrator at the Royal Botanical Garden in Sydney. Works at the herbarium and prepares black and white illustrations in pen and ink for the botanist and publication of Flora of New South Wales revisions, Flora of Australia, Telopea and other scientific journals. She won the Margaret Flockton Award First Prize in 2006 and also curates key Margaret Flockton works.
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Australian pen and ink artists - at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gardens
Lucy Smith talking to a group of artists associated with the RBGS Florilegium exhibition in the art archives at Kew. The box holds the sort of samples she gets as a basis for developing her plates for scientific journals
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Lucy T Smith GM (2001, 2002) - an Australian who works for Kew Gardens as a botanical illustrator for the Palms of New Guinea project and as a tutor. She works in pen and ink and watercolour. Her awards include:
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300 Years of Botanical Illustration
by Helen Hewson
by Helen Hewson
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The book represents the work of the major artists and illustrators of Australian plants.
Hardcover: 240 pages Publisher: ACC Art Books Publication date: 1 Jan. 1999 BUY THIS BOOK Australia: 300 Years of Botanical Illustration
 from Amazon UKAustralia: 300 Years of Botanical Illustration
 from Amazon.com |
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NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand seems to have a strong tradition in producing top class botanical artists.
However there isn't a strong tradition of botanical art exhibitions in New Zealand and
consequently it's easier to see art by New Zealand artists in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia!
However there isn't a strong tradition of botanical art exhibitions in New Zealand and
consequently it's easier to see art by New Zealand artists in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia!
Nancy Adams CBE QSO (1926-2007) a New Zealand botanist and museum curator. She was the first botanical artist for the Botany Division of the Department of Scientific Research in 1943. She illustrated c. 40 publications on native plants, alpine life, trees and shrubs. She was awarded the Queen’s Service Order in 1989 and a 1990 Commemorative Medal for services to New Zealand botany. (Obituary).
Denise Ramsay GM DipSBA(Dist.) with the first three of her portfolio of six paintings of 'A Brilliant Life (Papaver orientale - Brilliant)' which won her an RHS Gold Medal in London in October 2014
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Denise Ramsay GM (2014) - Denise won an RHS gold medal at her first attempt with "A Brilliant Life - Papaver Orientale". The complete set of six paintings were then purchased by Dr. Shirley Sherwood for her collection. You can see a VIDEO interview with Denise with her artwork in the RHS Lindley Hall on the RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions Page. Denise also achieved a Distinction in her Diploma from the Society of Botanical Artists.
Terrie Reddish (GM 2008) - Terrie was awarded a gold medal at the Royal Horticultural Society's December 2008 show. Exhibited at the 15th Hunt International. Work in the Lindley Library and Shirley Sherwood Collection. Lives in Hawke's Bay on North Island. |
Sue Wickison GM (2008) - Sue was born in Sierra Leone and did her degree in Scientific Illustration in London. She now lives in New Zealand. She has exhibited at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, the Hunt Institute and the Margaret Flockton Award and with the SBA in London and Frankfurt Palmengarten.
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Sue Wickison at her joint exhibition "Black and White in Colour" (with Sue J. Williams) at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens
New Zealand botanical printmakers
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Bryan Poole - a New Zealand artist who trained as a botanical artist at Kew and now lives and works in London. He produces contemporary botanical aquatint etchings (also listed on the UK Page). He has work in the Te Papa in Wellington, Otago University's Hocken Library, the Ralph Hotere Collection in Gore, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC, and the Natural History Museum, at Kew. This is an article about a recent exhibition of his work in New Zealand
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Bryan Poole - exhibiting at the RHC Chelsea Flower Show
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The Essential Audrey Eagle: Botanical Art of New Zealand
by Patrick Brownsey and Audrey Lily Eagle, with illustrations by Dr Audrey Eagle
by Patrick Brownsey and Audrey Lily Eagle, with illustrations by Dr Audrey Eagle
 
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This is the more affordable revised edition - including 163 full-colour, full-page reproductions of Audrey Eagle’s botanical paintings - from her the award-winning Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand"
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Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Te Papa Press; Date: Revised ed. edition (15 Feb. 2014) BUY THIS BOOK Amazon UK: ​The Essential Audrey Eagle: Botanical Art of New Zealand
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New Zealand pencil artists
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Terrie Reddish GM (2008) - a contemporary book and botanical artist based in the Hawke's Bay. Awarded a gold medal at the Royal Horticultural Society's December 2008 show for her paintings of New Zealand Flax. Work in the Lindley Library and Shirley Sherwood Collection. She primarily uses coloured pencils for her work.
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All artwork copyright the artists; all photographs copyright Katherine Tyrrell - all rights reserved