Biography
Maria do Rosário de Fátima Seleme Zagonel, born in Canoinhas/SC in 1954, had her elementary and high school education in Curitiba/PR.
She graduated in Letters, Portuguese/English, at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUC-PR) in 1976. In 1993 she finished graduate school in Marketing, Publicity and Advertisement at the College for Administration and Economics, in Paraná (FAE-PR). From 1977 to 1982 she took courses in watercolor techniques, cartoon drawing, aerography, visual communication and refresher courses in arts.
She worked as a graphic designer for about 20 years before becoming interested in scientific illustration.
Her first contact with botanical illustration was in November 1996 through a workshop offered by Simone Ribeiro (the winner of the 1995’s Margaret Mee Botanic Foundation National Prize (FBMM/RJ).
In 1998 she took the Free Course in Botanical Illustration offered by Diana Carneiro (the 1997 FBMM Fellow at the Royal Botanic Gardens - Kew – London), at the Botanical Museum of Curitiba, sponsored by the FBMM.
In May 1999 she won a FBMM Fellowship for advancement in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanical Gardens - Kew, where she worked six months under the guidance of Christabel King.
Presently mainly dedicated to scientific illustration, yet not neglecting her commercial artwork, she is a founding-member of the Centre of Botanical Illustration of Paraná – CIBP, and was Coordinator in 2002/2003.
Her work is represented in the most important Botanical Art collections: the Royal Botanic Gardens-Kew, the Shirley Sherwood, the Hunt Institute and the Focus on Nature (NYSM).
Fátima Zagonel and Christabel King, at the opening of the 1999 Art Exhibition at RBGKew Herbarium, after her specialization course. London, UK, December 1999.
Fátima e Dr. Sherwood at the opening of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, in Kew. London, UK, April 2008.
Fátima e Luggene Bruno, the curator of the 13th International Exposition of Botanical Art and Illustration, at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Pittsburgh, USA, September 2010.
Fátima and her artwork Gouvenia utriculata – 13th International Exposition of Botanical Art and Illustration, Hunt Institute. Pittsburgh, USA, September 2010.