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OUR INSTRUCTORS

Wendy Hollender (she/her) is a botanical artist, illustrator, instructor, and author whose internationally-recognized career has spanned decades. She is a leading expert in using colored pencils and watercolor pencils to create detailed botanical drawings and paintings. Her illustrations have been published in the New York Times; O, The Oprah Magazine; Real Simple; Good Housekeeping; and Martha Stewart Living magazine. She is currently an instructor at the New York Botanical Garden and leads workshops at her farm in Accord, New York, at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii, and Greece. View Wendy’s Draw Botanical Portfolio.  

 –  BFA in Textile Design from the Rhode Island School of Design  
 –  Certified by the New York Botanical Garden in Botanical Art and Illustration
 
 –  Featured in the 13th International Exhibition at Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
   
–  Exhibited by Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, the Smithsonian National Museum for Natural History and the US Botanic Garden
 
 –  Author of The Joy of Botanical Drawing, Botanical Drawing in Color and the self-published Botanical Drawing, A Beginner’s Guide, and she is the illustrator of Foraging and Feasting: A Field Guide and Wild Food Cookbook by Dina Falconi.
   
–  Member of the National Tropical Botanical Garden Florilegium of Artists
 

 

Sam (Samantha) McWilliams (she/her) is an artist from San Francisco, CA, with a BFA in painting and drawing from California College of the Arts. Since 2002 she has worked as a tattoo artist with a focus on precise lines and botanicals. She has a background in organic farming and gardening through Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center in Marin, CA, and worked with youth to integrate art and gardening into San Francisco’s public schools. Sam joined the Draw Botanical community in 2018, in her first course with Wendy and Vern on Kauai. She is dedicated to the ocean as a surfer and outrigger canoe paddler, and has resided with her wife in Vancouver, BC, Canada since 2015. View Sam’s Draw Botanical Portfolio.

sammcwilliams.com

 

 

Pam Thompson (she/her) is a botanical artist and scientist in Pennsylvania where she strives to capture the unique, intrinsic artistry of the plants that inspire her. Raised in the middle of nowhere, she developed a deep curiosity about the woodland plants that surrounded her, but didn’t discover her love of botanical art until 2017 when she attended a workshop with Wendy. She’s been head over heels since, and is enrolled in the Botanical Illustration Program at the New York Botanical Garden. She is inspired by the flora of local farms and gardens of Bucks County where she resides, and on the native plants surrounding the glaciated lakes and bogs of the Pocono Plateau. View Pam’s Draw Botanical Portfolio

 

Doug Milne (he/him) trained as a residential interior designer and architectural draftsperson in New York City. He began to study with Wendy in 2008 at the New York Botanical Garden. Doug, a resident of the Hudson Valley, continued his studies with Wendy at Hollengold Farm when she established her program there in 2009. For the past 4 years, Doug has led a Botanical Drawing Class at Cornell Cooperative Extension as part of the Master Gardener Workshop Series. View Doug’s Draw Botanical Portfolio.    

–  New York Botanical Garden Horticulture Certificate    
–  Several botanical solo exhibitions
–  Member of the National Tropical Botanical Garden Florilegium of Artists
 

 

 

Veronica (Vern) Fannin (she/her) was a Draw Botanical Team Member and Instructor from 2016-2022. You may see her in some of our early videos and recordings. Vern is an artist and graphic designer who honed her botanical drawing skills under the guidance of Wendy’s teachings. 

vernfannin.com