Jill Adams (29 October 1932 - 28 July 2016) was a South African artist who has specialised in natural history illustrations. She was born in Durban in 1932, but lived for part of her life in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

, 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 purpos ...

, 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, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

, Dr Richard Liversidge. Adams died on 28 July 2016 in Somerset West.Portfolio of Northern Cape Raptors
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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 or gharuwood is a fragrant dark resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small carvings. This resinous wood is most commonly referred to as "Oud" or "Oudh". It is formed in the heartwood of aquilaria trees when ...

The birds around us

Adams subsequently collaborated with

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Richard Liversidge Richard Liversidge, naturalist, ornithologist and museum director, was born on 17 September 1926 in Blantyre, Nyasaland (now Malawi), and died on 15 September 2003 in Kimberley, South Africa.Carlstein, B. & Hart, R. 2007. Richard Liversidge. I ...

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 African 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 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 digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

s produced for ''The birds around us'' have been described as "the product of her outstanding draughtsmanship, 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 province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

, 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 Austin Roberts may refer to: * Austin Roberts (American football) (born 1995), American football tight end *Austin Roberts (singer) (born 1945), American singer and songwriter *Austin Roberts (zoologist) Austin Roberts (3 January 1883 – 5 May ...

, 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