Botanical Art's New Leaf

Linda Fairfield Stechesen drew Manitoba's native plants for decades. A show of her work at the Winnipeg Art Gallery is part of a wider resurgence of interest in botanical illustration.

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In the late 1970s, Linda Fairfield Stechesen began to illustrate native plants in Manitoba, from Delta Marsh, north of Portage la Prairie, to Churchill, on the west shore of Hudson Bay. Her spare and elegant work, mostly in graphite and watercolour, includes familiar flowers like the water lily, pitcher plant and lady's slipper.

Her goal was to create a scientifically accurate rendering of each plant species within the province's borders. When she died of leukemia last year, aged 78, her family donated 233 works – representing just a fraction of Manitoba’s botanical wealth – to the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Some 50 of those works are included in The Garden, on view until June 24.

You might think botanical illustration would have gone the way of hooped skirts and genteel afternoon teas. But, according to Nicole Fletcher, the show’s curator, you’d be wrong.

Botany clung to illustration, even as other scientific disciplines made wholesale migrations to newer technologies, says Fletcher, who researched the history of Manitoba's botanical art for her Master's degree. And for whatever reason, whether concern over the environment or the popularity of maker culture, she says there’s been a recent resurgence of interest in botanical art.

For instance, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa is hosting an Art of the Plant conference in May, along with a related show that runs May 10 to Oct. 14. It's part of a simultaneous worldwide exhibition that celebrates global plant diversity. The project, initiated by the American Society of Botanical Artists, includes some 25 countries, from China and South Africa to Australia and Brazil.

Meanwhile, Abrams, the American arts publisher, is bringing out a new book about German-born naturalist and artist, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). A biography for children by Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby, it includes Merian's breathtaking illustrations and tells of her important scientific discoveries as well as her adventures in the rain forests of South America. 

The Botanical Artists of Canada, a non-profit group that organizes juried shows and other activities, lists more than 70 members on its website. It notes that botanical illustration, which dates back to ancient Egypt and Greece, is enjoying new popularity with artists and collectors. 

Like Fairfield Stechesen, most artists work for their own pleasure, the group says. “They may use a wider range of materials than their predecessors – colour pencil and sumi ink have been added to the traditions of watercolour and pen and ink – but the hallmarks of their work continue to be accuracy in form and colour and attention to detail.”

Fairfield Stechesen, who studied interior design at the University of Manitoba, had no scientific training. But Fletcher notes her methodical process and accuracy. Her images were included in Wildflowers of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Region, a 1987 field guide by Karen Johnson.

Her work also has aesthetic value. “Everyone who has seen Linda’s illustrations has just been taken aback by how beautiful they are,” says Fletcher. “They’re so delicate … but they’re also very strong compositionally.”

Fairfield Stechesen's husband, Leslie Stechesen, recently told the Winnipeg Free Press that her muse was nature.

“I guess growing up in a small town like Portage la Prairie, she always had this love of nature and she spent her summers at Delta Beach with her family,” he said. “She was always in contact with nature and she grew up with that kind of love.

“Every day she would go for walks along the beach road there and she would observe the wild flowers and she became quite infatuated with it.” ■

The Garden continues until June 24, 2018 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

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