Artist Statement      
“I find plants, their life cycle and their by products- flowers, seedpods, fruits interesting subjects for my artwork. There is beauty and complexity in the most common plants.

I love the outdoors and diversity found in different environments and the plants that grow in these diverse settings. I am equally excited by the Rain Forest and the Prairies of Iowa. For a city girl from Manhattan they are both fascinating. When I started drawing plants, I thought a flower’s life cycle began and ended in a bucket at the local flower shop. The more I examined and observed plants the more I learned. I often work on location and am interested in showing a suggestion of the habitat the plant comes from along with it’s life cycle.

It doesn’t matter to me that past botanical illustrators and scientist have studied, documented and photographed these plants. For me it is as if I am an explorer and I have discovered nature’s beauty for the first time.”

Bio
Artist Wendy Hollender had designed textiles for more than 20 years. Through her work developing floral designs for clients such as Wedgwood China and Westpoint Stevens, she became intrigued with the complex beauty of plants.
This fascination inspired Wendy to become a full time Botanical Artist and Illustrator. Since 2002 her work has focused in this area. Currently some of her clients include:the French beauty company Coty Inc., the Riverside Park Fund, the Morven Garden and Museum, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the New York Botanical Garden.

Wendy is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. She also possesses a certificate of botanical illustration from the New York Botanical Garden, where she teaches botanical art and illustration. She will be taking a group of students to Trinidad and Tobago in January of 2007 for a week long workshop at the world famous ASA Right Nature Preserve.

She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators,and  the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society.

For more information please visit:
http://www.whartdesign.com