Books

THE BOTANICAL ART OF WILLIAM T. COOPER Wendy Cooper NLA Publishing RRP: AU $65.00 William Thomas “Bill” Cooper – who passed away at his home in Far North Queensland in 2015 – was one of the world’s most admired and prolific bird painters, but he was also a passionate botanical artist. This generously illustrated hardback book, written by his wife Wendy Cooper, offers a vast collection of sketches, studies and paintings that celebrate Australian flora – from rainforest trees to dry country, swamps, mangroves and beach forest. Hundreds of works are reproduced from the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales, as well as Wendy Cooper’s private collection (including plenty of examples of Cooper’s spectacular bird illustrations). Wendy Cooper is herself a respected botanist and her notes – particularly those detailing where a specimen was collected or what attracted Bill to a particular branch or fruit or flower – add another layer to the artworks. She also includes detailed botanical descriptions of each plant and personal notes about where a particular specimen was found. ILLUSTRATED PLANT GLOSSARY Enid Mayfield CSIRO Publishing RRP $69.99 Queensland-based Enid Mayfield is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria, a contributor to a range of botanical publications, and the author of a two-volume Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges. The Illustrated Plant Glossary demonstrates her obvious talent and passion for researching incredibly complex topics and then making them accessible to a wider audience. Compiled over a seven-year period, the 321-page publication is designed for everyone from botanists, ecologists and horticulturalists to teachers and home gardeners. It covers more than 4,000 scientific and botanical terms across an exceptionally broad range of topics and fields, with Mayfield going beyond many traditional plant glossaries by including DNA-based terminology, palynology and modern systematics. Material is organised under themes and sub-topics, then alphabetically with useful cross referencing. Features are clearly labelled, and copious, attractive colour illustrations of plants and structures – all by Mayfield herself – are included to aid understanding. EYE OF THE CALM Clare Reilly Exisle Publishing RRP $55.00 New Zealand artist Clare Reilly’s career began in 1976 with an exhibition in Wellington with a group of six other emerging artists. Her work – sometimes described as “primitive neo-romantic” – has gone on to garner international recognition. This beautiful book uses autobiographical writing and prints of more than 100 of Reilly’s gentle and dreamy paintings to provide insight into her life and career as an artist. They reflect on her first encounters with tui, bellbirds and kereru at her grandmother’s house in Dunedin, her love of dance, her marriage to painter Max Podstolski, and her involvement in various conservation and wildlife support projects. The works illustrate many of Reilly’s favourite themes, including habitat destruction and renewal, and the healing qualities of nature. More than anything, however, the book is a tribute to New Zealand’s unique birds, trees and coastal landscapes, with which, Reilly, who now lives in Blueskin Bay, an estuary in coastal Otago on the South Island, clearly shares a powerful connection.

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A BOOK Foundation & Friends has a few copies to give away of the books featured above. To be in the running to win, just email foundation.friends@botanicgardens.nsw.gov.au or write to Letters, Foundation & Friends, Cottage 6, Mrs Macquaries Rd, Sydney NSW 2000 by 1 April. Be sure to include your contact details. In our Summer 2021/22 edition we gave members the chance to win The Science of Hope (Dr Wiebke Finkler and Scott Davis), Flight of the Budgerigar (Dr Penny Olsen) and The Good Life (Hannah Moloney). Congratulations to our winners: Jane Hanks, Lowana Chapman, Sally Jane Williams, Wendy Estall, Raewyn McGregor, David Prieto and Charity Dizon. Other winners: Marilyn Wise (Solander musical tickets) and Isobel Fleming (Photo Guide to the Common Cicadas).