ArtPlantae Today

ArtPlantae Today had the good fortune to interview botanical artist, Hillary Parker, about her upcoming exhibit featuring rare orchids from South America. We would like to thank Hillary for taking the time to stop and talk with us.

ARTPLANTAE TODAY: How did you become interested in South American orchids?
HILLARY PARKER: I was asked to do another solo show at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and they requested orchids.  Not particularly drawn to them on my own, I then spent time working [with] and interviewing the orchid curator there as different orchids bloomed in their conservatory throughout 2008. I became fascinated by the stories of each plant’s pollinator and was even more drawn to the idea that their flower’s fashion and form were directly connected to the lure and act of pollination.

APT: Did you travel to South America? If so, did you spend time in the field?
HP: I wish I could have gone on location to the Andes of South America, as with all of my research, however, I go where I can to find the living plants and see them in their environment. In this case, it was the Orchid Conservatory at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

APT: How did you create this collection of paintings? What was your overall process? Did you use mixed media or just watercolor?
HP: As a botanical watercolor artist and art educator, I love to share with the viewer what I have learned about each subject I paint.  In this case, it was the fashion and form of each flower enabling the function of pollination. I chose 4 orchids to paint.  I did 3 original pieces for each orchid.  I did a watercolor/graphite of the entire plant, I did a watercolor portrait of the bloom, and for the third piece, I did a mixed media collage of all the “process” work, sketches, color samples, photos, and written info about the fashion, form and function of the flower, as an educational tool for Garden visitors.

APT: What role does fashion play in this exhibit?
HP: Fashion clearly plays an imperative role in the plant world…and human one as well.  Looking to pollinate relies on attracting a pollinator. Fashion, as well as form are vital to these plants’s future as well as the form of each flower who controls the movement and placement of the pollinator in order to deposit the pollen on it before it leaves the bloom.

APT: How many paintings will be on view?
HP: There are a total of 12 original works of art.  The solo exhibit is titled, Orchids: Fashion, Form and Function. There are 8 original watercolors and 4 mixed media collages on view from February 5 – April 5, 2009 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in the Fuqua Conservatory.

APT: Will your exhibit travel to other venues this year? Next year?
HP: The exhibit will then be highlighted in Orchids Magazine and travel to the American Orchid Society’s headquarters in Delray Beach this summer and be on exhibit there June 20 – August 30, 2009. 

Additional Resources:

• Hillary Parker Watercolors
• Pollinator Partnership
• Atlanta Botanical Garden
• American Orchid Society

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The University of Washington Libraries and the UW Botanic Gardens’ Elizabeth C. Miller Library will have artwork from their respective collections on view at the University of Washington Suzzallo Library (Rm. 102), January 9 – February 27, 2009. This exhibit is free and open to the public.

Instructor and artist Louise Smith will discuss the history of botanical illustration on Friday, January 9th. See the exhibit website for details.

Learn from Louise Smith and other artists here.

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