Lynne Uptin

.Fresh from reaching her goal of Society of Botanical Artists in the UK – Dip SBA (Dist), Lynne was overwhelmed by winning the Award of Excellence for Course 16, which is for the highest overall marks on the Course. She will go on this year to apply for Fellowship of the SBA.

Lynne was pleased to have her work selected to publicise the 2021 Annual Meeting & Conference on the website American Society of Botanical Artists.

As a Tasmanian resident, her future interests will be particularly in distinctive Gondwanan plants that link Australia, South America, Madagascar, Africa and New Zealand – plants isolated as the landmasses broke away from the Antarctic from 180 million years ago and moved North.

Trained at the National Art School Sydney, Lynne practiced as an illustrator in Sydney for 13 years before opening two art galleries and ceramic and glass art studios there with her then husband, Derek Smith.

In Tasmania Lynne was Director of Arts Tasmania, the State’s arts funding body for 20 years, and was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2010 for services to arts administration, particularly in assisting Aboriginal culture.

Finally, Lynne has returned to the place she loves – botanical illustration.

Banksia coccinea
Scarlet banksia

$4500

Watercolour

740 x 600 mm

UV Non-Reflective glass

The first known specimens of Banksia coccinea were collected in December 1801, during the visit to King George Sound of HMS Investigator under the command of Matthew Flinders. On board were botanist Robert Brown, botanical artist Ferdinand Bauer, and gardener Peter Good. The surviving specimen of Banksia coccinea is held by the Natural History Museum in London along with a watercolour painting by Bauer, based on his field sketches.
Found around Albany and the Stirling Ranges on the south coast of Western Australia, it is widely considered to be one of the most attractive of the Banksia species.

Flowerpot Tasmania 2021

Scale 1:2

Banksia robur
Swamp banksia

$6500

Watercolour

1270 x 920 mm

Banksia robur was one of the first four Banksia species collected by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr Daniel Solander, naturalists on the Endeavour, Cook 's first voyage to the Pacific Ocean in 1770. Banks and Solander collected thousands of plant specimens, including the first specimens of a new genus that would later be named Banksia in Banks' honour.
It is said that every specimen collected during the Endeavour voyage was sketched by Banks' botanical illustrator Sydney Parkinson, but no such painting of Banksia robur is extant.
Banksia robur plays host to a wide variety of pollinators, including butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, ants and jewel beetles, and many bird species such as New Holland honeyeater and little wattlebird.

Flowerpot Tasmania 2021

Hakea laurina
Pin-cushion hakea

$3000

Watercolour

460 x 340 mm

UV Non-Reflective glass

The Noongar name is kodjet or kojet. Much admired for the stunning flowers, Hakea laurina is native to the sandplains of the coastal southwest of Australia, extending east to Esperance.
In the language of flowers, Hakea laurina symbolises nobility and longevity.
Formally described in 1830 by naturalist Robert Brown from plants he collected in WA in 1801, the name is derived from the Latin laurus with reference to the resemblance of the leaves to laurel.

Middleton Tasmania 2021

Richea dracophylla
Dragon heath

$3000

Watercolour

460 x 340 mm

UV Non-Reflective glass

These plants are at their most spectacular in spring while the flowers are intact. Dense clusters of white petals form a conical cap enfolding pink/brown bracts. Petals split at the base and fall in their entirety to enable propagation. The fruit are at first crimson, later hard and brown. The leaves are arranged spirally around the stems and have circular scars from the leaf bases. Nine of the eleven Richea species are endemic to Tasmania. The species was first formally described by botanist Robert Brown in 1810 based on collections he made during ten explorations of Mount Wellington in 1803.

Snug Tiers 2020

Scale: Longitudinal section of ovary, corolla, operculum separating, androecium & gynoecium 1:1, inflorescence 1:2, ovule section, seed capsule 1:10

Cymbidium x hybrida
Cymbidium orchid

$3500 (unframed)

Watercolour

510 x 660 mm

Cymbidium orchids feature sprays of large blooms in the dead of winter on flower spikes that can last for around one to three months. Plus, their long, thin leaves also add an attractive touch to the plant.
Originally bred from wild orchids from the mountains of India and South East Asia they are well suited to Tasmanian conditions as the climate is similar to that in their native environment.
Hybridised by man, for over 100 years, the range of colour, size, growth and shape is now very different from the original species.

Middleton Tasmania 2021
Scale 1:3