Jill Adams (29 October 1932 - 28 July 2016) was a South African artist who has specialised in

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

illustrations. She was born in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

in 1932, but lived for part of her life in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, where, on the staff of the

McGregor Museum The McGregor Museum in Kimberley, South Africa, originally known as the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, is a multidisciplinary museum which serves Kimberley and the Northern Cape, established in 1907. Overview Housed at first in a purp ...

, she worked in close association with leading

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, Dr Richard Liversidge. Adams died on 28 July 2016 in

Somerset West Somerset West () is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality Eastern Suburbs zone (formerly called ...

Notable work

Flowering Plants

Adams worked from 1974 to 1983 in the art department at the

. During this period she published her illustrated ''Flowering Plants of the Northern Cape'' (1976) She subsequently achieved public renown for her paintings of

Aloes Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, commonly referred to as oud or oudh (from , ), is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small hand carvings. It forms in the heartwood of ''Aquilaria' ...

The birds around us

Adams subsequently collaborated with

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Richard Liversidge making their book, ''The birds around us: birds of the Southern African region'' (1990). Liversidge points out in a note "To the reader" that "this is certainly the first book on

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

n birds which has attempted to illustrate all the more common species in flight. Often a bird in flight is all that you will see." This work resulted in new observations being made with respect the

Hoopoe Hoopoes () are colourful birds found across Africa, Asia, and Europe, notable for their distinctive "Crest (feathers), crown" of feathers which can be raised or lowered at will. Two living and one extinct species are recognized, though for many y ...

where male and female have different flight patterns, with indications that a reclassification might need to be made for Hoopoes into "more than their present number of species."Liversidge, R. 1990. ''The birds around us''. Illustrated by Jill Adams and Norman Lighton. Fontein. p 21 The

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

s produced for ''The birds around us'' have been described as "the product of her outstanding

draughtsmanship A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawi ...

, coupled with a keen sense of observation and knowledge of the "natural pose" of birds." In order to keep the collection in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

, the original paintings were purchased by the Gant family and donated to the McGregor Museum in 1991.

Other works

Earlier, in 1983, Adams was commissioned by Heritage Porcelain to contribute to a series of six plates in a Collectors' edition, ''Best loved birds of Southern Africa'' to mark the centenary of the birth of Austin Roberts, South African ornithologist (1883–1948). The series includes the Cape Robin, '' Cossyphya caffra''.

References

External links

Website with some of her birds of the Western Cape
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Jill 1932 births 2016 deaths Artists from Durban People from Kimberley, Northern Cape South African illustrators 20th-century South African women artists Natural history illustrators