The woman behind the wildflowers.
If you’ve spotted some rather beautiful old botanical paintings around The Wilder, chances are they’re by Mary Vaux Walcott.
Born in 1860, Walcott was a botanical artist, naturalist, photographer and explorer who spent her summers travelling through the Canadian Rockies, painting wildflowers from life. Her work sits somewhere wonderful between art and science — exquisitely beautiful, but botanically precise.
In 1925, the Smithsonian began publishing 400 of her paintings in the five-volume North American Wild Flowers. Today, hundreds of her original botanical works are held by the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
We like her because she was interested in plants in much the same way we are: look closely, stay curious, and there’s always something more to discover.
That feels like Wisdom to us.