An Herbal Artist Among Us

Illustration: MG Pat Kenny

By MG Alison Edwards

Many of you know longtime MG Pat Kenny, but you may not know about Pat’s background in illustration and how she is applying that gift to botanical illustrations. 

Pat says she woke up in her 9th grade biology class to a way to change her life situation: She loved nature – plants and animals – and art class. Her stepmother remarked, "Somebody does those drawings in that book; there must be a school for it!" That was in the mid-1950s. Pat went on to receive her Master's Degree in Medical and Biological Illustration from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, in 1965.

Following a 30-year career as a medical illustrator, mostly with the National Institutes of Health, Pat joined the Herb Society of America and the International Herb Association (IHA) so she could get back to working with the plants she loves. She has provided examples of her botanical illustrations for her fellow MGs to enjoy.

Illustration: MG Pat Kenny

A recent image is featured in IHA’s Turmeric: Herb of the Year 2026 (shown at the head of this article). To make this illustration, Pat painstakingly dissected and photographed her largest pot of turmeric in stages to understand what was going on as the plant grew. The process took a long time. Another of Pat’s illustrations was published in the IHA’s Rubus: Herb of the Year 2020.

If you’d like to talk with Pat about her art, you can find her contact information in VMS. (Pat is not soliciting commissions, which she only takes on a voluntary basis.)