Edmundo Saveedra wins Margaret Flockton Award for the third time

Edmundo Saveedra has won the $5,000 First Prize in the Margaret Flockton Award 2019 for scientific botanical illusration. He previously also won in 2011 and 2014.

Those works selected for the Margaret Flockton Award 2019 which have won prizes or been highly commended are listed below. Both the illustrations which won First and Second Prize were completed in pen and ink.  Details of how to see the exhibition in Australia are also provided below.

My congratulations to all those selected as well as all those winning prizes and commendations.

Margaret Flockton Award 2019
for Scientific Botanical Illustration ​​
Prizewinners
​

The Margaret Flockton Award is specifically about scientific botanical illustration. Entries are typically:

• submitted by professional botanical illustrators
• related to plates produced for the record and for scientific botanical publications.

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.

The Criteria used to judge the Award are listed below:

1. Accurate interpretation and portrayal of the plant characters and diagnostic features highlighted in the botanical description
2. Technical merit
3. Artistic merit
4. Composition
5. Reproducibility

See A Guide to Scientific Illustration for more information on judging criteria.

The judges for the 2019 Award were

• Gwen Harden - Editor, Flora of NSW Vol 1-4 and RBG&CP Honorary Associate; 
• Russell Barrett - RBG&CP Botanis; and
• Catherine Wardrop - RBG&CP Botanical Illustrator and Margaret Flockton Award Curator.

1st Prize ($5,000 AUS)
​

Edmundo Saavedra, Mexico has been awarded the $5000 1st Prize his pen and ink illustration of Monstera deliciosa.  He has previously won:

• 2018 - Second Prize
• 2015 - First Prize
• ​2014 - Second Prize
  
• 2011 - First Prize

​You can see the complete illustration on the website of the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney (and those of others mentioned below)

Edmundo Saavedra is a professional botanical illustrator who is  member of the technical staff at the Instituto de Ecología AC de México. 

Crop of Monstera deliciosa which won 1st Prize ($5000) for Edmundo Saavedra of Mexico.

2nd Prize ($2,000 AUS)

Alastair Robinson, Melbourne, Australia won the 2nd Prize ($2000) for his illustration of Cephalotus ​follicularis - which can also be viewed on the website

Alastair S. Robinson (born 1980) is a Postdoctoral Australia-based British taxonomist and field botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes, for which he is regarded as a World Authority. He's previously lived in formerly of Kuala Lumpur, London & Cambridge. 

His Twitter account is @Botanydoc.

Crop of a pen and ink drawing of Cephalotus ​follicularis - which won 2nd Prize for Alastair Robinson, Melbourne, Australia

‘Both of the winning works were so highly valued for their absolute scientific accuracy and the logical arrangement of components on the plates. Although quite different stylistically, each artist used pen and ink to render a great deal of information with techniques reflecting the experience of the artist. The winning work also captures a beautiful sensitivity to light and form; surfaces and textures are modelled in such a way that really inspires wonder at the act of observing, and joy at the act of drawing. The artist must be very pleased with this work.’
Comment from the Judging Panel

Highly Commended
​

Three artists were highly commended for their artwork as follows:

• Loh Xiang Yun, Singapore - Wrightia laevis
• Alice Tangerini, USA - Piper sotobosquense​
• Luisa Crisostomo, Portugal - Arbutus unedo

Wrightia laevis by Loh Xiang Yun, Singapore

Xiang Yun Loh (b. 1988) is an artist and scientific botanical illustrator who lives and works in Singapore. Her work interrogates how people relate to nature. Using her observations made through drawing, painting and photography, she examines the everyday to study how nature is managed and engineered in our cities.

​This is her Instagram account

Piper sotobosquense by Alice Tangerini, USA

Alice Tangerini was the the first botanical illustrator hired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1972. She remains the only botanical illustrator ever hired by the Smithsonian!

​She has received

• the "Distinguished Service Award" from Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and
• the "Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art" award from the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Arbutus unedo by Luisa Crisostomo, Portugal

Luísa Crisóstomo is a Conservation Biologist and Scientific illustrator - and works with both botanical and natural history subject matter.
This is her Facebook Page: Luísa Crisóstomo Illustration
This is her Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/ljsciart/
​

Subscribe to this news blog to find out more about botanical art and illustration and associated exhibitions
Blog posts are emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email

Exhibition
​

​The Margaret Flockton Award commemorates the contribution that Margaret Flockton ​made to Australian scientific botanical illustration.​

26 scientific botanical illustrators from 17 countries provided a total of 44 works to judge. The list includes artwork and artists from four new countries - Argentina, Canada, Colombia and Singapore ​

The Margaret Flockton Award 2019 Exhibition was opened on Saturday 30th March by Jo White, Director Science and Conservation, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Prizes were also awarded to those able to attend - Alastair Robinson was able to fly in from Melbourne for the day

EXHIBITION DETAILS

The works are all on display

• Venue: Joseph Maiden Theatre, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney - enter via Woolloomooloo Gate on Mrs Macquaries Road. This is the original National Herbarium on the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney site where Margaret Flockton worked closely with J.H. Maiden to illustrate thousands of species of plants.
• Dates:  Sat 30 March – Sun 14 April 2019 daily 10 am - 4 pm.

Entry to the exhibition is free. Selected works will be available for sale direct from the artist

In the future the exhibition will, in all probability, move to

• The Australian PlantBank at The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan
• Visitor Centre at The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah

During this next week the website and flickr gallery will go live with images of all of the works in the exhibition. 

The Margaret Flockton Award
​

You can find out more about the Margaret Flockton Award from the following sites and blog posts:

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

• Margaret Flockton - a page devoted to the woman who prompted this award
• The Margaret Flockton Award 2019 - about this year's competition. It also includes a list of previous winners (2015-2017) and entry requirements for anybody who aspires to enter in future - plus a guide to scientific illustration.

Botanical Art and Artists

• ​The Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Illustration- a webpage dedicated to the award. (You can find it in the section about exhibitions in Australia and New Zealand)