Kate Vlcek
Born in Melbourne in 1978, Kate began drawing and studying plants at a very young age. She studied Visual Arts at the University of Ballarat. Her passion for orchids and their conservation culminated in five years working as a botanist with the Endangered orchids of Victoria, mostly in the south-west region.
Kate enjoys exploring the rich symbology of the natural world, using plants and animals as metaphors. She also enjoys the technical challenges of attempting to capture light and textures. Kate works exclusively in aquarelle (watercolour) pencils without water, building up many layers of pigment to produce intricate, richly coloured works.
Unlike most botanical artists, she prefers to show her subjects in their natural environment and draws on a deep knowledge of botany to obtain accuracy. Her work is held in private and corporate collections both in Australia and overseas and she has recently achieved recognition as one of Australia’s leading botanical artists, being invited to show in ‘The Eternal Order in Nature’ a botanical art exhibition showcasing Australia’s finest illustrators.
Kate is also highly respected as a plant scientist, where her research culminated in the discovery of two species new to science; an endangered orchid and a rare wasp. Unlike traditional botanical art, her recent work rarely isolates the subject, but instead shows it as a part of a greater whole.
Kate lives in Daylesford, in the Central Victorian Highlands and is currently illustrating a children’s book. Her work has been described as “pushing the boundaries of botanical illustration” and has a distinctive, photorealist style. Kate is mentored by the renowned bird artist Richard Weatherly.