Margaret Mee, queen of the rain forest
Neoregelia concentrica
No artist portrayed the beauty of the Brazilian rain forest flowers better than Margaret Mee. This British Botanical painter, one of the finest of the last century, helped publicizing abroad the importance of the country’s biodiversity.
She moved to Brazil in the mid-50s (when she was already 47), where she remained till the end of her life, in 1988. In her 15 expeditions to the Amazon region, plus several to the cerrado (the country’s savanna) and the Atlantic rain forest, Mee produced a detailed images of the country’s flora, namely orchids, bromeliads and cacti.
Lack of comfort, tropical diseases or safety never deterred her – she would walk into rivers, climb trees full of ants and stand under huge tropical storms if that was needed to get the best angle. And to guarantee her safety – she was menaced by gold prospectors once -, she always carried a gun. Frequently, she would navigate the Amazon tributaries in a canoe and enter the jungle by herself. Many of her watercolors reproduce plants that were not yet described by Science and were later named after her.
Aechmea aquilega
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Crackers the Parrot, PhoneBookRecycle. PhoneBookRecycle said: Margaret Mee, queen of the rain forest « Deep Brazil http://bit.ly/avjBMZ [...]
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[...] “Grandes Expedições à Amazônia Brasileira”, written by environmentalist and educator João Meirelles Filho and recently published by Editora Metalivros, is a little gem for those interested in the history of the Amazon region and the very diverse agenda of men and women that explored the region during the last century. The author, that works for Instituto Peabiru, a non profit based in Belém, follows the steps of religious missionaries, Army officers in charge of surveilling the country’s borders, scientists looking for new species and artists in search of inspiration. Among his characters, Silvino Santos, the Amazon first filmmaker, Percy Fawcett, the British explorer that disappeared in the mid-twenties looking for a mythical city in the region, the Cousteau family, sculptor Frans Krajcberg and Botanical painter Margaret Mee. [...]
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Olá,
Você já viu a nova edição da revista página22?
http://pagina22.com.br/index.php/category/revista/43/
Está muito interessante!!
abs!