NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Esmee Winkel wins Margaret Flockton Award 2021

7/6/2021

Notoleptopus decaisnei, Esmee Winkel, The Netherlands

Esmee Somers Winkel has won the First Prize in the 17th Margaret Flockton Award 2021. The award comes with $5,000 but is most prized for its highly prestigious nature within the scientific botanical illustration community.

Esmee is a a professional scientific illustrator working in the Netherlands. This First prize follows on from

the Second Prize she won in 2017,
the Jill Smythies Award (2014) awarded by the Linnean Society and
her three RHS Gold Medals (2013, 2016 and 2018).

This post covers: (in order)

About the Award - why it is prestigiousâ€‹ and what's important in a winning illustration.
â€‹About the two prizewinners and three artists whose illustrations were highly commended PLUS Judges comments
About the Exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney
How you can see the images online - and view the video presentation.â€‹

The Margaret Flockton Award

Margaret Flockton Award is unique amongst international art awards, focusing exclusively on contemporary scientific botanical illustration, as distinct from botanical art RBG Sydney Flickr Album Margaret Flockton Award 2021

The Margaret Flockton Award is specifically about scientific botanical illustration. It's prestigious because it is the ONLY award dedicated to the excellence and expertise demonstrated by those who produce botanical illustrations to an exactly scientific standard for botany and botanists

As a result, entries are typically:

submitted by professional botanical illustrators - or those aspiring to be one.
related to plates produced for the record and for scientific botanical publications.

This competition and exhibition is International. Scientific botanical illustrators from around the world are invited by the curators of the exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney to:

digitally submit scientifically accurate taxonomic illustrations
i.e. highly detailed black and white drawings primarily undertaken in pen and ink, pencil or digitally rendered.
that accompany a published taxonomic description of the plant,
with the drawing clearly highlighting all of the distinctive features of the species.

REVIEW my dedicated page for The Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Illustration

The Criteria used to judge the Award are listed below:

Accurate interpretation and portrayal of the plant characters and diagnostic features highlighted in the botanical description
Technical merit
Artistic merit
Composition
Reproducibility

See A Guide to Scientific Illustration (on the Margaret Flockton Award page on the RBG website - at the bottom) for more information on judging criteria.

Reproducability is extremely important, because the nature of our work is that it is reproduced so anything too delicate can be lost on reduction.
â€‹Composition will usually be the thing that wins a work. If you can make a composition sing in terms of the way it tells the story of the plant you're doing well.
Comments by Lesley Elkan from the Facebook Live Event

While other awards will look for accurate interpretation and portrayal plus technical and artistic merit, this is the only award which specifically considers illustration from the perspective of the scope for reproduction in scientific publications (i.e. the whole purpose of the illustration is to communicate to a wide community of interest via printed or digital matter).

The Judges for the 2020 Award were all from the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney.

Catherine Wardrop - RBG&CP Botanical Illustrator and Margaret Flockton Award Curator
Lesley Elkan - Botanical Illustrator
Dr Kerry Gibbons, RBG&DT Flora Botanistâ€‹

Apparently they had 25 illustrations two days before the deadline and on the Monday morning they had 103! Next year the Judges would appreciate receiving illustrations earlier if that's at all possible! :)

About the Prizewinners

I photographed Esmee Winkel with her RHS Gold Medal scientific botanical illustrations in 2016 - just after she'd given me her best tips for cleaning Rotring technical pens!

FIRST PRIZE ($5,000) Esmee Winkel, The Netherlands - for Notoleptopus decaisnei (ink)
(see illustration at the top of this post)

Esmee's illustrated has been awarded the First Prize for its exacting skilful technique and perfectly balanced composition. The clarity of the strong line is complemented by the perfectly rendered elements, with a concise stipple techniques used only where required to convincglu describe form. Line weight is also used to describe shadows and depth. The illustration reveals the life cycle and key features of
â€‹Judge's Comments

My commentary: I'm reading that as a lot of appreciation and applause for

a "less is more" approach to botanical illustration and
demonstrable and refined expertise in the full range of available techniques!

â€‹Plus note the smart move of illustrating an Australian plant!

Esmee Winkel is a professional scientific illustrator who specialises in botanical illustration and works as a Scientific illustrator and Botanical artist for the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden and at the Hortus Botanicus, Leiden in the Netherlands.

She has previously won second prize in the Margaret Flockton Award 2017.

Other prizes she has won include

2016: the Botanical Illustrator Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art from the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA)
2016: a second RHS Gold Medal for her display of drawings of rare and endangered orchids in 2016 (see Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallists - from the UK and Europe - and video below)
2014: the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society
2013: an RHS Gold Medal in 2013 for a set of meticulous and well-designed pen and ink drawings of Leguminosae (see Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners)
2012 - a BISCOT Gold Medal in 2012

You can read more about her in About Esmee Winkel, botanical illustrator at Naturalis

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Alice Tangerini awarded the 2020 Jill Smythies Award by The Linnean Society

6/6/2021

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The 2020 Jill Smythies Award (a medal and £1,000) to a botanical artist for outstanding, diagnostically relevant, published illustrations was this week given to the American botanical illustrator Alice Tangerini.

I think I'm correct in saying this is only the second time the award has been made to an American botanical illustrator. Bobbi Angell received the Award in 2006.

Some might argue this award is a tad overdue given the fact Alice Tangerini has worked as the Staff illustrator in the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, since 1972! i.e. next year she will have been there for 50 years!

The official citation reads as follows.

For the excellence of her depictions of plants for scientific use, including the detailed portrayal of their diagnostic characteristics, Alice Tangerini is our 2020 winner of the Jill Smythies Award. In addition to illustrating new species, Alice has illustrated multiple taxa from the same group for the same publication, such that the details of the drawings can be used to distinguish the species.

Since 1972, Alice has made diagnostic illustrations for over 1,000 plant species in pen and ink, graphite, and more recently in digital media, for a variety of publications. Using mainly herbarium specimens as her resource material, she has prepared these illustrations to portray the species in a realistic manner with necessary reconstruction to remove the artefacts of drying and physical damage. Significant taxonomic characters have been enlarged with the aid of a microscope to facilitate their use in species descriptions.

Over the years, the detail and accuracy of her drawings and examinations of the specimens have resulted in authors changing descriptions, based on details observed by Alice that had escaped the botanists’ notice. For instance, her detailed examination of a proposed new species of bromeliad resulted in the production of a newly written, enhanced description. As a result, the authors, Lyman B. Smith and Harold Robinson, decided to name the new species Navia aliciae in her honour. Such collaboration with scientists in describing a taxon is the hallmark of exemplary botanical illustration.
The Jill Smythies Award 2020

Below you can READ MORE about:

The Jill Smythies Award
Alice Tangerini

About The Jill Smythies Award

The Jill Smythies Award of £1000 and a medal is made to a botanical artist for outstanding illustrations.

The Linnean Society of London is the world’s oldest active biological society. Founded in 1788 by Sir James Edward Smith (1759–1828), who was its first President. The Society takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) whose botanical, zoological and library collections have been in its keeping since 1829.

The Society aims to promote the study of all aspects of the biological sciences.

Through awarding medals and grants, the Society acknowledges and encourages excellence in all of these fields.

A medal and £1000 to a botanical artist for outstanding, diagnostically relevant, published illustrations.

Established in 1986 by the late Mr B E Smythies FLS, in honour of his wife, the late Florence Mary Smythies ("Jill"), whose career as a botanical artist was cut short by an accident to her right hand.

Awarded to a botanical artist in recognition of excellence in published illustrations in aid of plant identification, with the emphasis on botanical accuracy and the accurate portrayal of diagnostic characteristics.

Read more about the Award and review the listing on past winners on my dedicated page The Jill Smythies Award.

About Alice Tangerini

Alice Tangerini was born in 1949.

In 1972, she was hired as a Staff Illustrator for the Department of Botany at the National Museum of Natural History by American botanist Lyman Bradford Smith. Prior to working at the Smithsonian Institution, she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University.

In her role as the only Scientific Illustrator the Smithsonian has ever hired, she has

worked with pen and ink, graphite, and—recently—digital color to produce botanical illustrations. She specialises in monochrome illustration.
illustrated over 1000 species of plants appearing in various scientific periodicals, floras, and botanical and nature books.
managed and curated an extensive collection of botanical illustrations.

Plus she also

teaches classes in scientific illustration techniques, presents lectures on botanical illustration and
juries shows in botanical gardens and academic institutions.

You can view her scientific botanical illustrations on the Smithsonian Database by

doing a search of the Botany Collections Database (or access via https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/search/botany/?ti=7)
click search Botanical Art
select the "Artist" cell and search for Tangerini, Alice
click Seach button
(optional) select 100 for the number of illustrations to a page

Besides the Smithsonian Institution, her artwork is also held in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, and the botanical art collection of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.

AWARDS AND PRIZES

Alice Tangerini has received the following awards

1999 - "Distinguished Service Award" - from Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
2008 - "Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art" award - from the American Society of Botanical Artists
2021 - The Jill Smythies Award 2020 - by the Linnean Society of London

PUBLICATION AND ARTICLES

2020 - Botanical illustration is becoming endangered, but the job is essential | Washington Post (Jan 2020)

2018 - The Smithsonian Magazine gave her a tribute by way of a 'Woman In Science" Special Report titled The Botanical Artist Who Translates Plant Science Into Beautiful Art The Smithsonian’s first and only botanical illustrator brings her subjects to life in all their scientific glory
2017 - Botanical Illustrator Alice Tangerini - Hillrag.com
2016 - Tangerini, Alice, Everly, Robin, and Cardello, Sara. 2016. "Botanical illustrator, Alice Tangerini, featured at Smithsonian Libraries event." The Plant Press (4): 7.
2013 - Funk, Vicki Ann, Robinson, Harold E., and Tangerini, Alice. 2013. "Whatever happened to Bishopanthus (Compositae, Liabeae)?." PhytoKeys 30:65– 73. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.30.6652
1999 - Tangerini, A. R. 1999. "I go to Washington and meet Dr. Smith." Havard Papers in Botany 4 (1):97– 102.
1996 - Dorr, Laurence J. and Tangerini, A. 1996. "Catalog of botanical illustrations [Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institution]." http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botart

Plus this is herGoogle Arts and Culture page!

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Mrs Priscilla Susan Bury and a selection of hexandrian plants

2/6/2021

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The feature image for the Botanical Art and Artists website and Facebook Page for Summer 2021 is this image of Crinium Augustum [Queen Emma] by Mrs Priscilla Bury (1799 - 1872)

This post is about Mrs Bury and her very impressive book about hexandrian plants i.e. plants with six stamens called "A selection of hexandrian plants, belonging to the natural orders Amaryllidæ and Liliacæ, from drawings by Mrs. Edward Bury, Liverpool"

Crinium Augustum [Queen Emma] by Mrs Priscilla Bury FROM "A selection of hexandrian plants, belonging to the natural orders Amaryllidæ and Liliacæ, from drawings by Mrs. Edward Bury, Liverpool"

About Mrs Priscilla Bury (1799-1872)

Priscilla Susan Falkner was born in Liverpool. She was the daughter of a rich Liverpool merchant whose estate outside the city at Fairfields 'boasted a garden with many rare and exotic plants' (Tomasi).

As a young woman she was an enthusiastic botanist and flower painter and was particularly interested in lilies and allied flowers. She had no pretensions as to scientific knowledge and, in effect, was a very talented amateur.

By 1829, (age 30) she had produced a number of paintings of hexandrian plants, which she wished to publish.

In 1830, Falkner married Edward Bury F.R.S. (1794-1858), a wealthy and ingenious railway engineer and she had three sons - and her paintings were transcribed by Robert Havell into engravings. (Havel was also responsible for his engravings for John James Audubon).

Following the publication of Hexandrian Plants, Priscilla Bury continued to contribute illustrations to botanical works including

producing eight plates for Maund's The Botanic Garden (London: 1825-1851) and
Maund and Henslow's The Botanist (London: 1836-1842).

Between 1852 and 1860 the family lived at Hillsborough Hall near Sheffield and later moved to Croft Lodge, Ambleside in the Lake District. By 1866 she was living at Fairfield, Thornton Heath, Croydon. She died at Fairfield on 8 March 1872 of bronchitis and cerebral congestion.

About "A Selection of Hexandrian Plants"

Crinum pedunculatum. [River lily] (1834) by Priscilla Susan Bury

Mrs Bury's place in botanical art history is due to her flower paintings which were published - as engravings - in A Selection of Hexandrian Plants, belonging to the Natural Orders Amaryllidae and Liliacae in London by Robert Havell the younger, [plates watermarked 1831-1834].

There were 79 subscribers to this book and hence this is now a rare book of some significance. A copy of her book was auctioned at Christies in 2001 and fetched £75,250. Wilfrid Blunt described it (in The Art of Botanical Illustration) as

"one of the most effective colour-plate folios of the period"

For me, I think her book is an excellent teaching aid in relation to those wanting to learn about composition. Note her technique - subsequently replicated by Pandora Sellars - of putting her light coloured blooms against the dark leaves of her hexaodrian plants so that they can be seen much more clearly.

All the good techniques are there in past paintings. You just need to study the past to learn a lot about what does and does not work in relation to telling the story of a plant within the context of botanical art and illustration.

How to see her book

You can see examples of the images from the book in various online collections of botanical images, namely:

Amaryllis fulgida by Priscilla Susan Bury

There are copies of the book in the libraries of:

National Art Library, Victoria and Albert Museum London, SW7 2RL
Natural History Museum London, SW7 5BD
Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW Richmond, TW9 3AB
Boston Athenaeum Boston, MA 02108 United States
Morgan Library & Museum Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY 10016 United States
New York Botanical Garden The LuEsther T. Mertz Library, Bronx, NY 10458 United States

REFERENCE:

Priscilla Susan Bury | Wikipedia
Mrs Edward Bury (nee Priscilla Susan Falkner), Botanical Artist | Archives of Natural History (Vol. 5 (1) | 71 - Sept 1, 1968
Bury, Priscilla Susan 1799 - 1872 | Science Museum Group
Mrs Edward Bury | The Art of Botanical Illustration (1955 - page 213) by Wilfrid Blunt
Mrs Edward Bury | Christies
Bury [née Falkner], Priscilla Susan (1799–1872) by D. J. Mabberley | Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

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A Florilegium: Sheffield’s Hidden Garden

22/5/2021

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In July, a new botanical art book about a Florilegium will be published.
A Florilegium: Sheffield’s Hidden Garden has been written by Valerie Oxley in liaison with The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

front cover of the book

The book provides

an introduction to florilegia dating from the early herbals
a history of the Society’s Herbarium and the Gardens themselves
a selection of the botanical illustrations of plants in the garden held in the archive of The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

The illustrations have all been drawn and painted by botanical artists who are past or present members of The Florilegium Society. In addition, each illustration included in the book is accompanied by a plant profile, stating where the plant was found in the wild and explaining something of its history, uses and botany.

About the Author

This book has been written by the Florilegium Society’s founding chair Valerie Oxley - in association with The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens.
Valerie is a freelance tutor in botanical illustration and the current President of IAPI (Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration), who inspired students from all over the world with her enthusiasm for natural history, and plant illustration in particular. She also:

developed the first Diploma in Botanical Illustration with colleagues at the University of Sheffield
used to moderate the Botanical Illustration Diploma Course at the RBG Edinburgh
wrote "Botanical Illustration" (2008) - an instruction book for aspiring botanical illustrators botanical which I highly recommend. You can read my review on this website and my summary (below) bodes well for the new book.

An excellent manual for anybody who wants to learn more about botanical illustration with a strong botanical perspective.
Book Review: Botanical Illustration by Valerie Oxley

Details of the book

Author: Valerie Oxley - in association with The Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens
Publisher: The Crowood Press Ltd
Publication date: 6th July 2021
Format:

Hardback (Price £25)
e-book
ISBN-10 : 1785008943 | ISBN-13 : 978-1785008948

Number of pages: 160 pages
Number of Illustrations: 100 colour illustrations
Weight: 843 g
Dimensions: 280 x 220 x 17 mm

The Florilegium Society's website does yet not provide a profile page for the book.
If you're interested in ordering a copy from the publisher, I suggest you click the link embedded in the title at the top of this post. and order direct from the publishers.

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NEWS for botanical artists wanting to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2021 and 2022

13/5/2021

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This post is for TWO groups of botanical artists and illustrators and covers THREE topics:

Approved Botanical Artists & Illustrators - What's happening about:
- the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2021
- those botanical artists and illustrators whose approval to exhibit runs out in 2021 - but they have not yet exhibited.
New Botanical Artists & Illustrators - applying for selection to exhibit at the RHS Show in 2022 and beyond.

This is a top down view of the RHS Botanical Art Shown the Lindley Hall three years ago.

RHS London Botanical Art & Photography Show 2021

In 2020, the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show in London was cancelled.

There is still no definite news or dates about this show and whether it will run in 2021. The very big and very airy Lindley Hall is currently being used for vaccinations.

However, every effort is being made to try and hold a Show and there are some updates from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).

Following my last post on this topic - The next RHS Botanical Art Show (19 April 2021) -here's what's been confirmed by the RHS to date:

The RHS hopes to relocate the Botanical Art Show in 2021 to a well-known gallery in central London.
Any exhibitors that were due to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show in 2020 will be contacted in due course regarding exhibiting in 2021.
Artists who were eligible to exhibit up until 2021 and have not had the opportunity to do so (due to cancellation of 2020 and uncertainty re 2021), will have a year added to the period they are "approved to Exhibit".
the Show now has a dedicated page on the RHS website - which says "Show Dates - to be confirmed" (see below). Personally I see this page as good news....

Nice to see it in writing!

Show dates to be confirmed

How to get selected for an RHS Botanical Art Show

The RHS Botanical Art Show is unique in that selection for the Show:

relates to the botanical artist - and whether they meet the required standard
does NOT require the submission of proposed artwork for the show.

In effect, it's an "In Principle" application - which provides the impetus for many botanical artists and illustrators to develop a unique project and a stunning exhibit in the hope of winning one of the coveted and extremely prestigious RHS Gold Medals.

This part of my post is therefore directed at all those Botanical Artists who want to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show - but have NOT YET been approved to exhibit.

The Selection Panel, which meets to decide which artists are invited to exhibit (between 2022 - 2027), has its next meeting on Thursday 8 July 2021.

That means now is the time to submit an application!

Artists, either individuals or groups, that have not previously exhibited at an RHS Show, must first submit a sample of four pieces of work the RHS Botanical Art Judging Panel for assessment and approval at the Selection Meeting, to be able eligible to apply for space to display work at an RHS Show.

SUMMARY: what you need to do to be selected to exhibit between 2022 and 2027.

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Nigel Pickering GM (1957 - 2021)

30/1/2021

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I met Dr. Nigel Pickering at the Private View of the last RHS Botanical Art Show in July 2019 and was very impressed with his exhibit. I came back the next morning and much as I had expected his exhibit - it had been awarded a Gold Medal

Dr Nigel John Pickering with his RHS Exhibit Treasures of the Richtersveld. This drawing is of a Pachypodium namaquanum, the iconic plant of the Richtersveld

Nigel John Pickering came to botanical illustration late in life. He was a qualified doctor who had worked as a General Practitioner, latterly at the of Malmesbury Primary Care Centre. On retirement he studied botanical illustration with Julia Trickey and subsequently joined the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and Cirencester Botanical Artists.

I met Nigel when he showed for the first time at the RHS Botanical Flower Show in July 2019. I found out that he was very interested interested in botany, plants and conservation particularly in rare and unusual plants 'living on the edge'. (plants of mountains and desert regions). He'd travelled to South Africa for his exhibit of Treasures of the Richtersveld (in graphite and watercolour - in the tradition of Auriol Batten). The exhibit was both very unusual and very striking. He was awarded a well deserved RHS Gold Medal. I had every expectation he's be back with another exhibit as he had very obviously enjoyed the show and I was certainly looking forward to seeing his next exhibit.

He died on 14th January 2021 at home.

REFERENCE:

Gold Medal Succulent Art | British Cactus and Succulent Society - a thread by a member who was very impressed by the exhibit - it includes images of Nigel's work.

Treasures of the Richtersveld - RHS Gold Medal winning exhibit by Dr Nigel Pickering

The end of the show and time to pack up...

This is my third obituary for a botanical artist in the last two months - all relating to people who had been ill for some time - and two relate to artists who exhibited at that 2019 RHS Show.....

At this time of a pandemic, we must always remember that any death for any reason is always so very sad for those who are family and friends of the deceased. I send my condolences to Nigel's family and friends. By all accounts, he was somebody who was very much liked and appreciated by all those who knew him.

The funeral service is private and will be followed by a Memorial Service. Donations welcome for The Brain Tumour Charity or Dorothy House Hospice (see Death Notice)

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About Nirupa Rao - a contemporary botanical illustrator in India

9/12/2020

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Nirupa Rao is a very impressive botanical illustrator based in Bangalore, India. She has generated more press for her activities as a botanical illustrator - and for the importance of plants and tackling 'plant blindness' - than most of her peers around the world.

Her aim is to work toward promoting the cause of science communication, as well as deepening the intersections between art and science. Her work is inspired by regular field visits into the wild, and informed by close collaboration with natural scientists to achieve accuracy.

I highly recommend you watch her TED Talk (see video below) about her work - and how she tackled the illustration of

30 native species of extremely tall rainforest trees of the Western Ghats, in southern India - including the whole tree, its leaves, fruit, flowers and seeds. (Published in Pillars of Life—Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats (2018). This debut project was undertaken in collaboration with naturalists Divya Mudappa and TR Shankar Raman of the Nature Conservation Foundation.
the fantastical plants of the Western Ghats - through the support of a National Geographic Grant and the Hidden Kingdom Project

A National Geographic Young Explorer, Nirupa received a grant to create her book Hidden Kingdom—Fantastical Plants of the Western Ghats (published in 2019).

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Other activities

In 2019, she participated in a Plant Humanities program at Harvard University's Dumbarton Oaks Research Centre, and was due to participate in a show at their museum in 2020, which has been postponed due to COVID-19.

She recently collaborated with the Centre for Wildlife Studies in India on Wild Shaale ('Wild School' in Kannada), an environmental and conservation-education program designed for rural school-going children, aimed at nurturing interest and empathy toward India’s wildlife and wild places.

one to watch out for in Forbes India - annual 30 under 30 issue

She has also been

During the COVID-19 lockdown, she

recorded art classes to be televised on the national channel Doordarshan, as part of a program coordinated by the Going to School Foundation, and
conducted a workshop for Science Gallery Bangalore's PHYTOPIA exhibition.

In addition, she has illustrated

the cover of Amitav Ghosh's latest novel, Gun Island, and
re-jacketed four of his older novels for Penguin-Random House.

You can find Nirupa Rao as follows:

website: https://www.nirupa-rao.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/niruparao/

I'm also adding her into the section about Contemporary Botanical Artists and Illustrators in India (on the page about "Botanical Artists in Asia" Page)

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