Contemporary Botanical Artists and Illustrators
in the USA and Canada
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This list is by no means comprehensive right now and will be added to as this site develops.
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The guideline I use for who to include is that the artists have
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Note: The Banner image comprises the months of July and August from Lara Call Gastinger's RHS Gold Medal winning exhibit of "Seeing Plants; a year in Virginia" - painted in sepia watercolour - at the RHS London Botanical Art Show in July 2018
USA
Francesca Anderson at the Johnathan Cooper Park Walk gallery exhibition for the 25th anniversary exhibition of the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
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Bobbi Angell in this hills of southern Vermont where she lives and works
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Francesca Anderson GM (1995, 99)
A botanical artist who always works in pen and ink. She has received two RHS gold medals (Amaryllis in 1995; Brassica series in 1999). She is a former President of the American Society of Botanical Artists, founder and president of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society, a Fellow of the Linnean Society and and a Trustee of Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She has had her work exhibited internationally in museums in Sweden, Scotland, London, South Africa, Australia, Berlin, and Japan. Her work is in the collections of work the the Shirley Sherwood Collection, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the Hunt Institute, the RHS Lindley Library and the National Gallery of Modern Art in Scotland as well as other public and private collections. |
Bobbi Angell
Graduated in botany in 1977. Has drawn botanical illustrations in pen and ink ever since, working closely with the scientists at The New York Botanical Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University and other academic institutions. Has prepared over 2,000 botanical illustrations of tropical and temperate plants for botanical floras, monographs, and journal articles. In 2006 she received the Jill Smythies Award from the Linnean Society of London and ASBA Award for Excellence in the Service of Science. Recent work has involved copper etching. Co-authored and illustrated Botanical Illustration: Preparation for Publication (1986) and A Botanist's Vocabulary: 1300 Terms Explained and Illustrated (2016). Read more about her in You can read more about her in
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Leslie Carroll Berge
b. Massachusetts 1959. Degree in Art History, Painting and Drawing from Bennington College, Vermont. MA in IllustrationAt Art Institute of Boston. Freelance artist since 1981. Participated in early botanical art courses organised by Dr Sherwood. Exhibited in the 7th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 1992. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Renowned for her paintings of cycads. Her painting of the female cones of the cycad, Encephalartos woodii (extinct in the wild) featured on the front cover of "A Passion for Plants" and was reproduced in the Washington Post |
Diane Bouchier
Founder of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA). She studied scientific illustration at Harvard’s Peabody Museum and botanical illustration at The New York Botanical Garden (Certificate 1994). Her preferred media initially was watercolour and gouache and then coloured pencil and egg tempera. She has exhibited widely. Exhibited Hippeastrum (two studies) at the 8th International at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Her work is in the collections of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium and the Hunt. Also the Professor of Sociology at SUNY Stony Brook for 18 years. |
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Carrie di Constanza
Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Started painting botanical art in 2008 and works in watercolour and gouache. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Huntington Library and private collections. Regularly exhibits with ASBA and at Filoli. Jean Emmons GM (2005, 2011) Works in watercolour and paints on vellum and is based on Vashon Island, WA, USA. Her work is included in numerous collections including the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, the Royal Horticultural Society’s Lindley Library, and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She has won many prestigious awards including
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Jean Emmons with the painting which won "Best Painting" at the RHS Botanical Art Show (March 2011). Part of a display of 'Common mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest, United States'.
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Akiko Enokido
See Botanical Artists in Asia - Japan Margaret Farr Her work is in the collections of the Shirley Sherwood Collection, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Denver Botanic Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Ingrid Finnan Her work has been displayed in a number of exhibitions associated with the Shirley Sherwood Collection at Kew, in London and in Singapore |
Lara Call Gastinger (GM 2007, 2018)
Chief botanical illustrator for the Flora of Virginia Project. RHS Gold Medal winner in 2007 for a very impressive series on Plants of Virginia - 10 Walks in Virginia which is one of my 'all time favourite' exhibits. She also works in pen and ink and won a second RHS Gold Medal for Seeing Plants; a year in Virginia" - her suite of 12 sepia watercolour paintings of plants she has found on her walks in different months of the year. She frequently draws and paints a compendium of plants with a particular connection eg habitat or season. |
"Ten Walks in Virginia" - a sample of drawings from Lara Call Gastinger's RHS Gold Medal winning collection in 2007
Drawings copyright Lara Call Gastinger
Photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell
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John Gist
BFA in Illustration from the Philadelphia College of Art. Exhibited at the 12th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 2007 |
Wendy Hollender
A botanical artist, illustrator, author, and instructor who works predominatly in coloured pencils. Member of the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society. Her work was included in the 13th International Exhibition at Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, and in exhibitions at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and the Smithsonian National Museum for Natural History. She is also an an instructor of Botanical Art and Illustration at the New York Botanical Garden and the author of the author of Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide To Mastering Realistic Form And Naturalistic Color and Botanical Drawing: A Beginner's Guide. |
Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color
by Wendy Hollender
by Wendy Hollender
  Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publication date: July 20, 2010 See details of the author above. |
Wendy Hollender's approach in this book is to tackle form first and colour second. It focuses on:
This book is rated an average of
BUY in USA: Botanical Drawing in Color: A Basic Guide to Mastering Realistic Form and Naturalistic Color
from Amazon.com |
from Amazon UK
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Rose Marie James (United States) - passionate about botanical art since 2009. Exhibited at 15th Hunt International. Teaches botanical art classes at NYBG
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Karen Johnson
Degree in biological illustration from Iowa State University. Member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI), and the Nature Artists Guild of the Morton Arboretum. Exhibited at the 12th International of the Hunt in 2007. |
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Martha Kemp GM (1995, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2007)
Specialises in the use of graphite pencil for her botanical artwork. She has received numerous awards - including five Gold Medals from the RHS. Has work in the collections of the Hunt Institute, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium, the Alisa and Isaac Sutton Collection in New York, and the Shirley Sherwood Collection in London. |
PA Kessler
BFA from Wayne State University. Orchid painter based on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. Exhibited with the Hunt in the 7th International Exhibition in 1992. Work in the collections of both the Hunt Institute and Shirley Sherwood. Author of Response to Nature about her work. |
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Heeyoung Kim GM (2012)
Heeyoung Kim won an RGS Gold Medal (Plants of the American Prairie - a series of 8 watercolour paintings) and a number of other awards. In 2012, she also won the Best in the Show at the 15th International Exhibition (2012) and the Diane Bouchier Artist Award for Excellence in Botanical Art. She's a member of The American Society of Botanical Artists and The Reed-Turner Botanical Artists Group in Long Grove, Illinois. She specialises in drawing American Prairie Plants. (see imagebank). She was also invited to contribute three works to The Transylvania Florilegium. |
Heeyoung Kim and two of her Gold Medal Winning collection of "American Prairie Plants" (left) Fringed Gentian (right) Ohio Spiderwort © Heeyoung Kim Photo copyright Katherine Tyrrell
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Karen Kluglein
Trained as an illustrator at the School of Visual Arts. She has won the Best in Show Award at the International Exhibition twice (2008 and 2010) and the Dianne Bouchier Award For Excellence in Botanical Art, 2010. Her work was exhibited at the Hunt Institute in 1999. Katie Lee Graduate of the New York Botanical Garden Botanical Illustration program, Katie went on to become an instructor at NYBG for 20 years. Work in private collections in England, Australia, the United States of America and South Africa. including those of Shirley Sherwood and Alisa and Isaac Sutton . Author of 'Fundamental Graphite Techniques' - see below. |
Marjorie Leggitt
Professional scientific illustrator. Lead illustrator for Flora of North America Volume 9: Rosaceae and Vol 13 Magnoliophyta. Also provided illustrations for volumes 6, 12, 19, 20, 21. Just about to start on the Flora of Oklahoma. She has also worked on other volumes and has produced over 180 plates. Illustrator of field guides. Lead instructor, Denver Botanic Garden School of Botanical Art & Illustration 1990-date. ASBA Botanical Illustrator Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art (2012). RHS Gold Medal (Group) 2017. Based in Colorado. Katherine Manisco Fellow of the Linnean Society of London, member of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden Florilegium Society and the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. Paintings in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the Hunt Institute, collection of Dr. Shirley Sherwood and the Highgrove Florilegium. Awarded the Grenfell Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1993. |
Fundamental Graphite Techniques
by Katie Lee
by Katie Lee
he first time I became acquainted with this book was at the Chelsea School of Botanical Art where the book is imported and sold to students as a basic text book.
Katie Lee is a graduate of the New York Botanical Garden Botanical Illustration program. She has been an instructor at NYBG for 28 years, at Coastal Maine Botanic Gardens for 12 years and has taught at various venues internationally. The author creates natural history art as well botanical art - hence the bird on the cover. It's particularly relevant to those who are also like doing both natural history and botanical art. |
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: The book is all about graphite and nothing but how to draw using graphite!
I'm impressed with the quality of instruction which is much better quality than many other books which reference graphite as a drawing medium. It comprises 33 worksheets designed to teach graphite techniques, and build confidence and control. It covers:
Note that the book is spiral bound - which is a joy when you want a book to lie open and flat so you can follow a worksheet! |
Hardcover (11.25 x 8.75 in.) with Spiral Binding 176 pages Publisher: Lydia Inglett Publishing Publication date: 2010 RECOMMENDED BY:
My recommendation (if your tutor cannot supply it) would be buy a new book direct from Katie unless the cost plus shipping is more expensive (e.g. international shipping for this big heavy book is over $30) This book has never been listed on Amazon by the artist. However new and used books are listed by third parties for ludicrous sums from time to time - check them out below! BUY IN THE UK Fundamental Graphite Techniques
 from Amazon UK
BUY IN THE USA Fundamental Graphite Techniques
 from Amazon.com |
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Kate Nessler GM
Lives in Kansas and had a career as a commercial artist before turning to botanical art. Awarded three RHS Gold Medals in 1990 (Orchidaceae), 1991 and 1993. Work in the collections of Highgrove Florilegium, The Shirley Sherwood Collection, The Royal Horticultural Society, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, PA and The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC. Now paints on vellum. Displays work via Susan Frei Nathan (USA) and Jonathan Cooper (London). Lives and works in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. REFERENCE:
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Derek Norman GM
Born in Shrewsbury in England in 1937 and settled in the USA on an exchange program for his work. Had a career in graphic design, advertising and marketing. He now lives on Chicago's North Shore. Director of Creative Services at the Chicago Botanic Garden from 1996 and started teaching botanical art in 1998. He exhibited at the Hunt's 10th International Exhibition and has been awarded an RHS Gold Medal in 2006 and the ASBA James White Service Award for Dedication to Botanical Art in 2017. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Has work in the British Museum, and the Library of Congress. He is devoted to graphically documenting the native flora of Illinois and the Midwest. REFERENCE: |
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Hillary Parker
Born in Lakewood, New Jersey in 1964. She has been an artist and a teacher for over 30 years having graduated from Florida International University with a B.S. Degree in Art Education. She has delivered botanical workshops in botanical gardens across the USA and in Australia. She has exhibited at the Hunt International and at various venues in the USA, UK, Australia. She has artwork in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Her coconut palm was displayed as part of the Trees: Delight in the Detail (Oct. 2018-March 2019) exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. |
Hillary Parker at Kew Gardens on 15 October 2018 - with her painting of Coconut Palm: emerging seddling(crocus nucifera)
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Lesley Randall
Master of Natural Sciences at LSU, with an emphasis in botany. In addition to her work in botany and horticulture she has produced scientific botanical illustrations for:
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Richard (Dick) Rauh GM (2006)
He had a career in motion picture special effects and graphics before starting to take classes in botanical illustration. Certificate in Botanical Illustration at NYBG (1986). Doctorate in Plant Sciences (2001). Best in Show at RHS Botanical Art 2006. Paintings in the Hunt Collection, New York State Museum and RHS Lindley Library and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. Teaches at NYBG (since 1984) and on board of ASBA. Past president of both ASBA and the GNSI. Fellow of Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Articles about Dick Rauh: Janet Rieck Exhibited at the Hunt in 2004/5 exhibition. Won a "Best in Show" at the New York Botanical Society Exhibit in 2004. Three of her paintings have been included in the Highgrove Florilegium |
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Alice Tangerini
Staff illustrator in the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, since 1972. (Examples of her work). She specialises in monochrome illustration and lectures and teaches about scientific botanical illustration. Articles about her work
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Denise Walser-Kolar
Chief Executive of the American Society of Botanical Artists. In 2011, she received a Silver-Gilt Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in London for her paintings of Hybrid Hazelnuts. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Teaches vellum workshops in the USA and occasionally at the Minnesota School of Botanical Art |
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Carol Woodin GM
A professional botanical artist (represented by Susan Frei Nathan) who has been the Director of Exhibitions for the American Society of Botanical Artists since 2005. Specialises in painting rare plants in watercolour on vellum. She has been awarded an RHS Gold Medal (1995) and the Diane Bouchier Award. She is also the first botanical artist to receive the Orchid Digest Medal in 2016 for “meritorious service to the orchid world.” Her work has been published in Curtis Botanical Magazine and various scientific publications and is in the collections of Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Dr. Shirley Sherwood Collection, and Alisa and Isaac Sutton. This photograph was taken at the exhibition to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Shirley Sherwood Collection at the Jonathan Cooper, Park Walk Gallery in Chelsea.
You can read the e-catalogue of the exhibition. |
Carol Woodin with Phormium sp (watercolour on vellum over panel) at the exhibition to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
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Today's Botanical Artists by Cora B Marcus (Author), Libby Kyer (Author)
 
Hardcover: 176 pages Publisher: Schiffer Publishing; Publication date: November 1, 2007 Rated 5 out of 5 stars by 7 customer reviews BUY THIS BOOK Today's Botanical Artists
from Amazon.com
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This is a compendium of a selection of contemporary botanical artists currently living and working in the USA around the second millennium.
A more accurate title is "Botanical Artists of Today living in the USA" as it doesn't include leading artists living elsewhere. It includes 65 artists and 220 drawings and paintings. Each artist has a double page spread for a short statement about their work plus three or four images. However in an appendix there is also a useful and comprehensive datum for each artist relating to selected exhibitions, collections, memberships, awards etc as at the date of publication.. It also includes the price of paintings in the book and contact details. The landscape format suits some of the images particularly well whereas other portrait format images are rendered smaller than I'd have like to see. The quality of the images seems to be influenced by the quality of the scan or photograph provided by the artist as there is some variation in quality - however most are excellent. |
Canada
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Margaret Best
Born, raised and educated in South Africa where she trained as an art teacher. Worked in various countries and settled in the Rockies in Canada in the 80s. Has work in the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and numerous private collections. She is also a member of the botanical art societies in Canada, USA, Bermuda, Southern California, Southern Alberta, South Africa, France and the Florilegium Society of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Sydney, Australia. She has been teaching workshops in several different countries for the last 10 years. Sherry Mitchell SFCA Sherry is a watercolour botanical artist, specializing in the native flora of British Columbia, Canada. Her work is included in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Sheila Siegerman GM (1992) Born in British Columbia in 1931. Had a career in design prior to botanical art. Began botanical art in the 1980s and has had solo exhibitions at different venues. Awarded Gold and Silver medals by the RHS. Exhibited in 7th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Hunt Institute. Her work is also included in the Highgrove Florilegium and the Shirley Sherwood Collection - and included in the "A New Flowering - 1,000 years of botanical art" exhibition. Pamela Stagg GM (1991)
Won an RHS Gold Medal only 4 years after discovering an interest in botanical art. Also won the Grenfell Medal. The Royal Canadian Mint commissioned her to design the Trillium Coin for the prestigious Pure Gold Coin series. Her book Roses: A Celebration was published by Northpoint Press in the Fall of 2003, Kerri Weller Her work is in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Her paintings have been juried into 5 International Exhibitions of the American Society of Botanical Artists. She is a a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and the University of Toronto's medical illustration program. Works in oil as well as watercolour. |
Margaret Best with Schotia brachypetala - the plant is native to South Africa (where Margaret was born) and is a feature tree in the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (at the RBGS Florilegium Exhibition at Kew Gardens April 2018)
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