Gillian Condy

Botanical Artist and Collections Curator, SANBI (South African National Biodiversity Institute), Pretoria

This article by Margaret Best first appeared in the June 2016 issue of The Botanical Artist, the journal of the American Society of Botanical Artists.

When I offered to write an article about South African botanical artist Gillian Condy, I had no idea how big a task I had set myself. Soon after I sat down to pull it all together I realized that I could only scratch the surface of this story of a life long dedication to botanical art. Her life story is worthy of a book.

I first met Gillian when she attended my workshop in Tuscany, Italy a number of years ago. The specimen I found for her was a challenging native orchid. I expected her to go through a getting-to-know-the-specimen phase in preliminary sketches of a plant she had never seen before but was surprised by the way she launched into her work with confidence and energy. In a little more than an hour her paints came out! The other participants were in awe of this remarkable combination of drawing accuracy and speed! I had the privilege of seeing this in action again when I visited her recently.

Erythrina latissima by Gillian Condy

This past February I was fortunate to have a glimpse inside Gillian Condy’s personal world during my workshop for the members of the BAASA (Botanical Artists Association of South Africa). It was held at SANBI where Gillian has an office and studio. I discovered how her position of botanical artist for the past thirty-three years at the National Herbarium, her contribution to the botanical art community, and her passion for plants has moulded her into a unique artist in our genre.

Gillian is accustomed to having to take on subjects of intense complexity day in and day out for the herbarium botanists, so absolutely nothing in the plant kingdom could daunt her now. After seeing her watercolor rendering of a baobab flower painted in-situ in Madagascar, I understood why an inflorescence of tiny native Italian orchids packed tightly together on a single vertical stem was just a walk in the park!

Gillian’s extensive list of achievements in botanical art ranks with the best, past and present. The thesis for her Master’s degree from The Royal College of Art in London was on the toxic plants of Britain. Her other achievements include: RHS gold medals, the Jill Smythies Award from the Linnean Society; five paintings in the Shirley Sherwood collection; works in the HRH Highgrove Florilegium; works in the Transylvania project; and paintings in the Hunt Institute collection. She was also commissioned to paint Mandela’s Gold, a Strelitzia hybrid developed at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden—which she personally presented to Nelson Mandela.

Ochna sp by Gillian Condy

Gillian has a painting in the recently-published book by the Florilegium Society of Sydney Australia. She has also illustrated many books and designed numerous sets of stamps for Botswana and South Africa. In addition to all this, Gillian has participated in over 190 juried national and international exhibitions.

The paintings illustrating this article tell of an exceptional artist but what I hoped to offer is some insight into not just Gillian the botanical artist, but also Gillian the person. Her thirst for knowledge and her rare generosity of spirit in imparting it to others, is as amazing as some of the plants she paints.

Warata by Gillian Condy

Gillian is another Margaret Mee in terms of her travels in pursuit of plants that expose her to dangers most of us would prefer to avoid. I listened with fascination to tales of her visits to the restricted rural areas of South Africa to record as much as she can of rare and endangered species. She has paddled between the islands of Madagascar to draw the amazing baobab trees with a local guide and a botanist writing a book about them. And if Gillian had not painted underground trees, how long would it have been before I even heard of them? You read that correctly—underground trees! Almost entirely buried below the surface, underground trees live for more than 10,000 years in the savannahs of southern Africa and South America. Research indicates underground trees evolved quite recently (less than 8 million years ago) but not all at once. At least 30 different types of tree species adopted the strategy independently but seemingly with the same purpose of surviving fires that sweep rapidly across grasslands.

I have just enough space left to add that Gillian was a founding member of BAASA, spends endless volunteer hours helping organize exhibitions and workshops, and curates the botanical art collection at SANBI. She also takes a personal interest in the progression of those who have studied with her over the years. It comes from the heart—she does it for the South African botanical art community and (as I discovered) anybody who shares her love of this art form.

A wicked sense of humor and a passion for the game of cricket second only to her passion for plants, rounds out this remarkable botanical artist.