About
Born and raised in the Hudson Valley, Abigail Flaitz is a gardener and illustrator who finds inspiration in the native diversity of the Northeast. She feels most at home with a micron pen at her fingertips, though she also enjoys working with gouache, colored pencil, and graphite.
Abigail’s passion for horticulture blossomed when she worked for a summer on the grounds at Buttermilk Falls Inn & Spa. Witnessing the gradual shift from seedling to flower to fruit was enticing and inspired her to afterword focus her schoolwork on botany. After years of neglecting her love of drawing, she found new inspiration in her studies and began illustrating again. Combining her love of nature and drawing breathed new life into both interests and she has pursued this synergy ever since.
Having now worked at two native plant nurseries, Abigail now sees the horticulture industry as a potential force for good, encouraging people to use their own backyards to support our declining biodiversity. She continues to pursue botanical illustration through freelance commissions and selling original art.
- Graduated summa cum laude at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Biology
- Five years of experience in various horticulture positions
- Wrote and illustrated a 48-page guide to the trees of Oakwood, a nearby cemetery adjacent to SUNY ESF
- Illustrated and helped write a research article for new species of fungi in the order Laboulbeniales
