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Fiona McGlynn was born in Sydney, the third of
four children, and grew up in the small village-like suburb of Kurnell. Her father was a keen collector of various
species of orchids, and growing up with their beauty shaped and informed her
love of orchids.
She showed artistic promise
at high school, but instead pursued another of her strengths for some years,
graduating in 1987 from the University of Technology, Sydney with first class
Honours in Civil Engineering and the University Medal. After several years of work as a consultant
structural and civil engineer and post graduate studies, she felt unsatisfied
and could no longer continue in a career that didn’t allow time for other
creative pursuits.
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Photo credit: Wesley Lonergan
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Late in 2000 Fiona attended a
watercolour painting class at the Hazelhurst Gallery in the southern suburbs of
Sydney. Having always loved the old etchings and lithographs of
early botanical artists and illustrators such as Ferdinand Bauer, she later
decided to specialise in this niche and attended a short course and two
workshops at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney.
Fiona’s
botanical paintings were first exhibited in 2003, in Botanica—the prestigious annual exhibition of the Sydney Friends
of the Royal Botanic Gardens—curated, until 2005, by the amazing Robyn
Macintosh, and since then by the energetic Lindy Stuart. Fiona’s artwork is now sought by
international collectors and two works were exhibited in the 12th International Exhibition of Botanical Art
& Illustration at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
. Fiona was further honoured by the Hunt's recent purchase of her watercolour Paphiopedilum callosum x venustum.
Early
in her career Fiona painted her own orchids, but she is now very fortunate and
grateful to Peter & Rose Gray for providing her with a wide range of stunning and rare subject matter. Fiona’s main objectives are to create highly
naturalistic plant portraits which are true representations of colour, texture,
and character, and to share the beauty and diversity of rarer plants with a
wider audience. These objectives can
only be achieved by painting from life, and a typical painting takes many long
hours to complete. Fortunately, orchid
flowers are often long lived, although a specimen Fiona painted recently, Stanhopea nigroviolacea, whose flowers
live for about two days, is one of few exceptions. This species produces multiple flowers, and
several were used to complete the single bloom in that painting.
Fiona
lives in Sydney
with her wonderfully supportive husband and their two beautiful sons, without
whom she would not have spent time at home and so may have never picked up a
brush.
Born: Fiona Delmas, Sydney, Australia
1963
Residence: Sydney, Australia
Education:
Bachelor
of Engineering (Civil) Hons 1, University Medal 1987
Career: civil and structural engineer;
artist
Media: watercolour, graphite,
ink
Group
Exhibitions:
12th International Exhibition of Botanical Art
& Illustration,
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Botanica and The Masters Exhibition 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, Royal Botanic Gardens,
Sydney, Australia
Art of Nature 2006, 2007, Fernbrook Gallery, Kurrajong Heights, Australia
Prints of Nature 2006, Fernbrook Gallery, Kurrajong Heights, Australia
Canberra Botanical 2003, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
other community gallery exhibitions
Collections:
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Private collections in Australia and USA
Commissions: private commissions from Australia
Memberships:
The Florilegium Society at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney Inc.
Botanical Art Society of Australia
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