Jemima Blackburn

Wikipedia Biographical Summary

"Jemima Wedderburn Blackburn (1 May 1823–9 August 1909) was a Scottish painter whose work gives us an evocative picture of rural life in 19th-century Scotland. One of the most popular illustrators in Victorian Britain, she illustrated 27 books. Her greatest ornithological achievement was the second edition of her Birds from Nature (1868). Most of the illustrations are watercolors, with early paintings often including some ink work. A few are collages, in which she cut out a bird’s outline and transferred it to a different background, in a similar manner to John James Audubon. Her many watercolours show daily family life in the late nineteen century Scottish Highlands as well as fantasy scenes from children's fables. She achieved widespread recognition under the initials JB or her married name Mrs Hugh Blackburn...

...The youngest daughter of James Wedderburn, Solicitor General for Scotland, and a first cousin of James Clerk Maxwell, Jemima was a friend and pupil of John Ruskin and Sir Edwin Landseer, both of whom praised her work highly. She married the mathematician Professor Hugh Blackburn and they bought the Roshven estate in 1854. Her Roshven home became the focus of visits from some of the most celebrated figures of the century, including the Duke of Argyll, Lord Kelvin, Lord Lister, Hermann von Helmholtz, John Ruskin, Sir John Everett Millais, Anthony Trollope and Benjamin Disraeli. Much of her work portrayed Roshven, its animals and birds. She became one of the leading bird painters of the day..."

SOURCE: Wikipedia contributors, 'Jemima Blackburn', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 June 2012, 19:42 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jemima_Blackburn&oldid=49...> [accessed 29 November 2012]

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Jemima was a prolific water-colourist of outstanding technical ability and one of the Victorian age's foremost illustrators, particularly of ornithological subjects. The latter were particularly exemplified in her book Birds from Nature. In 1843 when she was aged twenty Landseer had said that "in portraying animals he had nothing to teach her." Jemima's skills were recognised by artists such as Landseer, Millais and Ruskin, with whom she was on friendly terms....

http://www.victorianweb.org/science/maxwell/forfar2.html