Marta Salamon

Marta Salamon has been working full time as an artist specialising in botanical art for the past ten years.  Prior to that painting was combined with teaching Art, English and Literature and this background has motivated paintings of botanical subjects which tell a story of the plant/ flower.

She has exhibited regularly in group botanical art exhibitions in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne and was awarded the Celia Rosser medal for excellence in 2016 and was highly commended in 2018 at "The Art of Botanical Illustration" exhibitions at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. She has also been a finalist three times in the Adelaide Waterhouse Natural History Prize.

Her work is held in the collections of the Melbourne and Sydney Herbariums and in the Sutton collection in New York as well as in private collections.

Cynara cardunculus var.scolymus

Globe artichoke

$2100

Watercolour

720 x 570 mm

The globe artichoke grows in my garden because of its beautiful flowers and foliage rather than the delicious artichoke hearts. Botanically it is a cultivated variety of the cardoon, a member of the thistle family. Originating in the Mediterranean, the artichoke as food dates back to antiquity but was first recorded in cultivation in Naples in the 15th century.

Symbolically the artichoke represents hope, peace and prosperity.

Syringa vulgaris

Lilac

$850 (unframed)

Watercolour

600 x 400 mm

This delicate looking lilac grows in my garden amongst an ash tree and camillias. It is an older variety and robust enough to tolerate occasional snow and shade. Both the colour and the fragrance make it one of my favourite plants. This colour of lilac symbolises spirituality and when used in aromatherapy the scent is said to provide a calming effect and eases anxiety. I was drawn to paint this flower during Melbournes's Covid lockdown having admired it many times during previous flowerings.