Anita Barley (formerly Anita Podwyszynski) has worked as a professional botanical illustrator for 37 years. After completion of a Diploma in Graphic Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology she commenced work as a botanical illustrator with the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne in 1977, the first person to be appointed to such a role with the historic and prestigious Gardens for more than 90 years. Anita performed this role for sixteen years, working mainly on the illustrated Flora of Victoria project, completing hundreds of coloured and black-and-white plates for this major scientific reference work. She also provided scientific illustrations for taxonomic papers, the Flora of Australia, Government publications and other projects. Since departing from the botanic gardens in 1992, she has continued to work freelance, providing further illustrations for scientific papers and publications, together with other chosen botanical paintings and commissions. Anita’s special place in the history of botanical art in Australia was recognised in the publication ‘Australia: 300 years of Botanical Illustration’ by Dr Helen Hewson in 1999. Anita began teaching botanical illustration at Burnley Horticultural College in 1986. She has twice been awarded the Celia Rosser Medal (2002, 2006) in recognition of the quality of her detailed botanical artworks and her sustained contributions to ‘The Art of Botanical Illustration’ exhibitions hosted at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. Having lived at Woodend in country Victoria for 23 years, Anita has recently relocated to Kew Gardens in London where she continues to produce extraordinarily detailed botanical and other nature-themed artwork. Anita Barley has exhibited widely, including: 1989 Ballarat Art Gallery 1992 – 2008 ‘Art of Botanical Illustration’, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne 1994 Westpac Gallery, Melbourne 1994 Maclelland Gallery, Langwarrin 1996 Gregory River Expedition, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne 2000 Benalla Art Gallery 2001 Benalla Art Gallery 2002 ‘Buda’ Castlemaine 2003 State Botanical Collection ‘Nature’s Art Revealed’, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 2003 The Mill, Malmsbury, Vic. 2004 Anita Barley at Woodbine Art, Malmsbury, Vic. 2005 Red Box Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney 2005 Campaspe House, Woodend 2006 The Masters Exhibition, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney 2007 ‘Nature in Art’, Woodbine Art, Malmsbury 2008 ‘Nature in Art 2’, Woodbine Art, Malmsbury 2008 Nellie Castan Gallery 2009 ‘Reframing Darwin: Evolution and Art in Australia’, Ian Potter Museum of Art, University of Melbourne 2009 ‘Botanicasia’, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 2010 ‘Botanicals: Environmental Expression in Art’. The Alisa & Isaac Sutton Collection, Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. 2011 ‘The Eternal Order in Nature’, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. 2012 ‘The Marvellous and the Singular’. Woodbine Gallery, Malmsbury 2012 ‘Capturing Flora – 300 years of Australian Botanical Art’, Art Gallery of Ballarat (Nov 2012) 2013 Isaac Sutton Collection at Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, UK. 2014 ‘Sea, Earth, Sky. Points of Connection’ Woodbine Gallery, Malmsbury
Catalogue Number 5
Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan', Convolvulus arvensis, Pyracantha 'Golden Glow', Verbena bonariensis, Heuchera 'Palace Purple', Rosa 'Altissimo'(hips) and Bombus terrestris (Bumble Bee) 'The Duke's Garden, Autumn, Kew Gardens'
watercolour
600mm by 560mm
$4,200
