Achievements, Awards etc

A collection of achievements, awards and external uses of my paintings.

Presented in reverse chronological order

Daisy Rust in My Lawn!

(10 Oct 2024)

I found daisy rust (Puccinia distincta) in my lawn! This was very exciting, as I had previously only come across this disease in the literature, and in reference photos from Prof. David Collinge.

I painted daisy rust in 2022 for the British Society for Plant Pathology’s 2024 calendar of plant pathology art! The original daisy rust painting was given to Prof. David Collinge by BSPP as part of his present as as retiring president of @BS_PP.

A montage of six photographs of infected leaves. The infected leaves stand more erect, have pale patches surrounding some infection clusters, and have rust blisters with cluster-cups (aecium/aecia) on the surface.

Blossom End Rot - a Blog Post Illustration!

(02 Sep 2024)

Instagram’s plantxprt requested a painting of Blossom End Rot (BER) for their plants and biology blog!

This is the first time, that I am aware of, that one of my paintings has been used in a publication in a language other than English.

Wheat Stem Rust - Art in Phytopathology 2024 Contest Posters!

(05 Mar 2024)

My wheat stem rust painting was used (with permission) as the example picture for the ‘Magnified’ section of the American Phytopathological Society’s Art in Plant Pathology contest posters!

A year in review: in 2023 there were over 3600 visits to my website!

(21 Jan 2024)

I launched my website on Dec 23rd 2022, and it has now been up for slightly over one year. In 2023, there were 3606 visits, made by 2804 unique visitors from 101 countries.

The top 10 greatest numbers of visits per country were:

  1. India 1051

  2. United States 700

  3. United Kingdom 327

  4. Mauritius 164

  5. Brazil 107

  6. Germany 103

  7. Canada 87

  8. Bangladesh 80

  9. France 69

  10. Spain 53

A world map showing the number of visits from each country. The greatest number of visitors were from India and the United States, as shown by the deeper colour density.

The 10 most visited paintings were:

  1. ToBRFV vs TSW

  2. Black Sigatoka

  3. Citrus Canker

  4. Rice Blast

  5. Wheat Stem Rust

  6. Strawberry Neopestalotiopsis

  7. TSWV

  8. Alternaria Leaf Spot and Potato Scab

  9. Tomato Early Blight

  10. Wheat Germinating

Fifty Two Paintings in One Year!

(31 Dec 2023)

I’ve released one plant disease painting a week, every week, for an entire year! That’s definitely worth celebrating!

My favourite paintings from this year are:

A montage of my four favourite paintings from 2023 (microbotryum, coffee rust, fusarium head blight and wheat stem rust

Box Blight Painting Featured on the RHS’ The Plant Review Artist in Residence Competition Page!

(01 Nov 2023)

My box blight painting has been listed in the “Explore all the amazing entries” section of the RHS’ “The Plant Review artist in residence” competition!

Congratulations to Caroline Buckley (the winner) and the other entrants for their amazing paintings!

CBSD - Plant Pandemic Study Illustration - now published in Plant Pathology!

(21 Oct 2023)

My cassava brown streak disease painting was included in the BSPP Plant Pandemic Study Report Cassava Brown Streak a deadly virus on the move!

Fran Robson, Diane Hird and Eric Boa’s excellent BSPP Plant Pandemic Study Report (from February, in the achievements list below) has been published as a review article in Plant Pathology - Wiley Online Library!

Wheat Stem Rust - An Amazing Cake!

(23 Sep 2023)

My wheat stem rust painting was printed on a cake by Yogesh Dewangan (@YOGESHD23825337) to celebrate Teachers’ Day in his Plant Pathology department!

The cake looked amazing!

A white cake, with a painting of a microscopy wheat stem rust teleutosorus (pustule), caused by the fungus Puccinia graminis. The cake has a light blue cell wall border, and four icing roses in yellow, red, blue and pink.

Yam Mosaic Virus (YMV) - Presentation Cover Slide at the 4th International Phytosanitary Conference

(20 Sep 2023)

My Yam Mosaic Virus (YMV) painting was used as the illustration for Gonçalo Silva (@goncalodrs)’s presentation on “Molecular diagnostic tests in support of yam seed systems” at the 4th International Phytosanitary Conference at Kephis, Kenya.

Tweet text: "Presenting our work on diagnostics to support seed systems at the 4th International Phytosanitary Conference at Kephis, Kenya. @nrinstitute @Csir_Crops @OptiGeneLtd @royalsociety @gatesfoundation Thank you @hgpennington..."

Wheat Stem Rust - Art in Phytopathology 2023 Award Winner!

(11 Jul 2023)

My wheat stem rust painting won the ‘Magnified’ section of the American Phytopathological Society’s Art in Plant Pathology competition!

A screenshot of a tweet with the words 'Everyone please welcome, the Art in Plant Pathology Winners. We would like to thank everyone for their submissions & beautiful artwork! As well as thank all of the amazing sponsors: Corteva, Dr Tim Brenneman...

Plant Pathology - T-shirt Design!

(15 Jul 2023)

This is a design created by William Kay using my artwork (with permission).

The judges of the BSPP T-shirt competition 2023 felt that this design showcased the diversity of plants and diseases studied in plant pathology. This t-shirt is available for sale through BSPP (with all profit going to BSPP): BSPP "Pennington" T-Shirt (teemill.com).

Coffee Rust - Book Cover Illustration!

(15 Jul 2023)

My Coffee Rust painting has been used (with permission) for the cover of a book!

Professor Emerson Del Ponte, from the Federal University of Viçosa, Brazil, has just published new cover art for his book Plant Disease Epidemiology (R4PDE).

The painting shows a coffee branch, with 10 leaves emerging in pairs, one on each side of the stem. There are yellow chlorotic patches on the adaxial (upper) leaves, and dark brown necrotic areas in the largest lesions.

Camellia Mottle Virus on Holiday!

(22 Mar 2023)

I saw a fantastic example of Camellia virus induced mottling at Kiyomizu-dera temple in Kyoto!

I was very excited to see this plant diease in real life. It’s beautiful. I painted camellia mottle virus symptoms in 2022 for the British Society for Plant Pathology’s 2024 calendar of plant pathology art!

A montage of four photos: 1) a red camellia flower with white mottled, 2) a closed red camellia bud with white mottles, 3) green and yellow mottled leaves and 4) another mottled red camellia flower.

Wheat Stem Rust - Art in Phytopathology 2023 Award Winner!

(11 Jul 2023)

My wheat stem rust painting won the ‘Magnified’ section of the American Phytopathological Society’s Art in Plant Pathology competition!

A screenshot of a tweet with the words 'Everyone please welcome, the Art in Plant Pathology Winners. We would like to thank everyone for their submissions & beautiful artwork! As well as thank all of the amazing sponsors: Corteva, Dr Tim Brenneman...

CBSD - Plant Pandemic Study Illustration!

(26 Feb 2023)

My cassava brown streak disease painting was included in the BSPP Plant Pandemic Study Report Cassava Brown Streak a deadly virus on the move!

Congratulations to Fran Robson, Diane Hird and Eric Boa on their excellent publication.

Grapevine Red Blotch Virus - Newsletter Featured Image !

(01 Jan 2023)

The National Grape Research Alliance asked for permission to use my GRBV painting as the featured image for their January 2023 newsletter!

Ink painting/drawing of grapevine red blotch virus (GRBV) symptoms. A picture of a simplified flat green leaf, with a black outline and details picked out in red, painted on a white background. Symptoms shown: red primary and secondary veins

Barley Powdery Mildew - Art in Phytopathology 2022 Award Winner!

(15 Aug 2022)

My Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei painting won the ‘Magnified’ section of the American Phytopathological Society’s Art in Phytopathology competition!

A screenshot of a tweet by @plantpathgrads, with the words: Join us this week as we congratulate the 2022 Art in Phytopathology Contest winners! Today featuring the Magnified winner - Blumeria graminis - beauty in infection by Helen Pennington

Daisy Rust - BSPP Calendar of Plant Pathology Art!

(25 Feb 2022)

I applied for, and was awarded, the BSPP Plant Pathology Promotion Fund, to produce a calendar of plant pathology art!

Artifact: an Exhibition

(Jul 2013)

In 2013, I took part in Artifact: An Exhibition, which showcased work produced through a collaboration between students and staff from Imperial, the Royal College of Art, Central St Martin’s and the Courtauld Institute of Art. Artifact aimed to ‘explore the interface between art and science’.

These Blumeria graminis f. sp. hordei tapestry panels were created by Beatrix Callow, from the Courtauld institute. They were inspired by photographs taken by myself, and by Prof. Pietro Spanu, during my PhD.