When 'Focus on Nature X (ten): Natural History Illustration' opens this week at the New York State Museum, a botanical painting by Bermudian Jennifer Johnson will be among the world-class, juried artwork of top illustrators from 13 countries selected for exhibition.

Mrs. Johnson, the daughter of Roger and Lee Davidson of Paget, now resides in South Africa, where her work is also gaining attention.

The New York exhibition, which runs from April 17 to September 7 in the Museum's Photograph Gallery, will feature 94 natural history illustrations, representing the work of 83 illustrators from North America, Britain, Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand, China, South Korea, and South Africa. The organisms represented are diverse, ranging from mammals endemic to the artists' home country to the ancient Roman lemons from Italy, rediscovered by the illustrator.

Mrs. Johnson's painting is of a sea bean and pod.

"Jennifer is a good example of a Bermudian who has excelled in the big world," Mr. Davidson said.

A five-member jury of artists and scientists selected the works for exhibition based on the illustration's educational value and artistic quality.

The exhibition's goal is to demonstrate the important role illustration has in natural science research and education, to stimulate curiosity about the world, and bring clearly into focus images of nature that people might not otherwise be able to visualise. Purchase Award(s) amounting to $20,000 are to be presented by the museum, and the winning work(s) will be added to the museum's collections.

"Natural history illustration has a story that parallels that of science," Patricia Kernan, exhibition curator and scientific illustrator at the museum, said. "From the beginning, it has been an integral part of the research process, and the most efficient and effective means by which investigators communicate their research results. Today, illustrators have available the tools of developing technology, as well as the traditional media. The works in this exhibition are examples of how artists use these tools with ever wider and deeper levels of understanding and sophistication."

Many of the illustrations are created for field guides, textbooks, science articles and presentations. Some of these are included in the exhibition.

The biennial Focus on Nature exhibition complements the biennial Northeast Natural History Conference, jointly organised by the New York State Museum and the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute to update scientists, educators and students on research in the northeastern US and Canada.

The State Museum, a cultural programme of the New York State Department of Education, was founded on a tradition of scientific inquiry. Begun in 1836, it has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the United States.