A team of artists, authors, and experts at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) are working on Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile, a book about the threatened plants of Chile and the issues surrounding their threatened status and conservation. When completed, this historic reference will include 80 watercolor paintings.
Turkish artists Guinur Eksi, Hulya Korkmaz, and Isik Guner come to this project with impressive resumés. Each artist studied with Christabel King and each is now a full-time award-winning botanical artist. Gulnur Eksi received a Gold Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in 2010, as did Isik Funer who also earned Best Botanical Painting. Hulya Korkmaz received a RHS Silver Gilt medal in 2010. All three artists have also earned medals at BISCOT.
More impressive than their awards, however, is how these young artists work to enhance our knowledge of plants. When they are not traveling to Edinburgh to work on the book about Chilean plants, Eksi and Korkmaz work on projects bringing attention to Turkish bulbs and the plants of Turkey. While Funer works as an artist providing field experiences in art.
Collaborating on this project are authors Martin Gardner (Coordinator, International Conifer Conservation Program), Pauline Hechenleitner (Author, Threatened Plants of Central and South Chile), and Josefina Hepp (Author/Researcher). Serving as project advisors are: Jacqui Pestell (Curriculum Development, RBGE), Clare Morter (Senior Horticulturist, RBGE), Sabina Knees (Botanist, Centre for Middle Eastern Plants), and Henry Noltie (RBGE Botanist & Author).
Visit the official website of Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile to learn more about this project, the artists, and to view nine paintings from this book.
Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile will be published Fall 2013.