Biography

MARGARET BEST, SBA Fellow member

Education:

Parktown High School for Girls, Johannesburg, South Africa (graduated 1968)

B Ed. Art and Math, Cape Town Women’s Training College

  (now University of Cape Town) - graduated 1972

Art background:

 Private tutorage Under Betty Clur (renowned South African artist / instructor 1960 – 1969

University of Calgary - Fine Arts. Art History I, ll, lll, Drawing, Printmaking 1981- 1983

Studied under mentorship of Pandora Sellars renowned botanical artist 2006 – 2013.

Master watercolour and graphite classes; Anne-Marie Evans, Kate Lee, Pandora Sellars.

Career:

Teacher of Math and Head of Art Department

Rustenburg School for Girls, Rondebosch 1973 – 1975

Teacher Math & Art. British Embassy School, Tehran, Iran 1978 – 1979

Screenflex Inks Canada Ltd: Vice-president sales and education 1987 - 2011

 Family-owned business.

Botanical Art Instructor:

Faculty Instructor: Dundas Valley School of Art (DVSA), Ontario 2016 – 2024 (Current)

Taught masterclass workshops at the following locations:

Huntington Gardens, San Moreno, CA. Los Angeles Arboretum.

Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens.  Filoli Botanical Gardens, San Francisco.

University of Washington, Seattle.

Museum of Nature, San Diego.

University of Oxford Botanical Gardens.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town.

SANBI – National Biodiversity Gardens and Institute, Pretoria.

Developed Botanical Art programs in Calgary, Bermuda, DVSA, Chester NS

American Society of Botanical Artists ASBA Conferences: Instructor and presenter in

  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh (twice), St Louis. 2008 – 2019

SfiB – French Botanical Art Society, Paris 2017

Destinations workshops: Newfoundland, Italy, Spain, UK, Morocco 2008 - 2016

Solo Exhibitions:

  Artisan Gallery - Mixed Media, Calgary 1992

  Bermuda Botanica – Bermuda Society of Artists – Edinburgh Gallery 2010

Group Exhibitions:

International Juried: Colorado Flora-Culture Foundation – Denver Botanical Gardens 2002

Spring Blooms in the Rockies: Joan Duncan Gallery, Littleton, Colorado 2002

North American Western Region (ASBA) Loveland Gallery, Loveland, Colorado 2003

American Society of Botanical Artists – Annual Internationals, New York, NY

in each of 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2020, 2022

Fresh Cuts, ASBA, Weissman Museum, Minneapolis. 2005

10 Botanical Artists -J.B. Aird Gallery Toronto 2007

World Orchid Conference exhibition – Sandton, Johannesburg 2008

Art of the Plant – Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada 2018

Florentia – Gallery of Villa Bardini, Florence, Italy 2018

Wild in the West –Lougheed House Gallery, Calgary 2018

Art Plantae 2023 – Captain’s House Gallery, Chester, Nova Scotia 2023

New York Botanical Gardens / ASBA Triennial exhibitions:

Weird, Wild & Wonderful 2016.       

Out of the Woods 2019

Abundant Future 2022                      

Curious Allies 2024

Awards:

Calgary Olympics Arts Festival Award 1988

Calgary YMCA Woman of the Year Award for contribution to the Arts 1989

Alberta Craft Council Board member and Vice President – 10-year service award 1992

RHS Silver Medal 2008

Royal Canadian Mint: Maple Coin Design of the Year 2014

Collections:

Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney, Australia – The Florilegium

Florilegium Society (Exhibition at Shirley Sherwood Gallery (Kew) 2017

Hunt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

Numerous public, private and corporate collections:

  Canada, USA, South Africa, UK, England, Australia.

Special Commissions:

Royal Canadian Mint: 21coin designs commissioned for commemorative and collector coins. Platinum, gold, and silver coins. 2009 - 2017

Publications:

Numerous exhibition catalogues for international juried exhibitions

Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine – August 2017

Canadian Wildlife Magazine - contributing artist 2010 – 2016

Memberships:

BAGSA – Botanical Artist Guild of Southern Alberta – Honorary member

ASBA – American Society of Botanical Artists

SBA – Fellow member of the Society of Botanical Artists (UK)