Edna Lankart Award

The following articles were taken from the 2000 Region 6 Summer Newsletter.  These articles were written about the creation of and retirement of the Region 6 Edna Lankart Award.  This award was a traveling award and was presented to the winners of the best unregistered seedlings displayed in the Edna Lankart Awards beds in one of the tour gardens for the annual Region 6 Meetings.

Ever since childhood, Becca Biemolt has been fascinated with all forms of the arts - music, painting, ballet, handcrafts, and design. She always found her self expression by creating in yarns, paint, and textiles and in composing music. Her love of all beauty drew her into gardening, working with flowers, and finally, a study of botany. The desire to reproduce flowers and plants in a most realistic and lasting form led her into metal sculpture, to do for flowers and plants what Audubon and Boehm did for birds. After much experimentation with various metals and paints she developed her own methods. The results are floral sculptures that seem to be alive.

The sculptures are life size and as perfectly botanical as possible. Each petal, stamen, pistil, sepal, leaf, vein, and stem is cut from a sheet of metal or piece of wire. The pieces are bent and formed into shape. Hours of metal shaping finally bring the effect to life. The minute pieces are delicately soldered to compose the flowers and leaves. These are then soldered to the stems and finally welded in acid, sanded and filed smooth. They go through several steps of rust proofing, base painting, and color shading to give depth and texture. Each process is done by hand and the final painting is done with waterproof paints. As a result, the sculptures can be gently cleaned with a soft cloth saturated in water.

Woodland flowers, violets, dandelions, clovers, bellflowers, etc. are placed into driftwood found especially for Becca in the Cayman Islands by a dear friend. All sculptures take many weeks to create. All sculptures are custom made. No two pieces are alike because each sculpture is done from a study of a live plant or flower.

Rebecca Biemolt’s work has been exhibited in museums, galleries, and libraries. She has been a guest of Tox Fox and Sarah Vaughn on Channel 11 in Houston. Collectors across the country, including breeders who have commissioned replicas of their award winning flowers, prize her work.

To quote the artist, "Floral metal sculpting starts with a sheet of metal, tin shears, pliers, awls, solder, flux, acid, files, and patience. Hopefully it ends with a lifelike replica of a flowering plant."

Over the past year, I have become very familiar with the Edna Lankart Trophy. You see, after the 1999 Regional Meeting, I volunteered to have my husband refurbish the trophy for display in the Tyler Rose Garden. I brought the trophy home to my sweet and unsuspecting husband, Henry, and he did what he always does, smiled sweetly and got to work. Once again, he saved face for me and produced wonderful results. After 25 years nothing much surprises him where daylilies and I are concerned.

The trophy case was scratched inside and out and the sculpture was loose from the base. Henry made a new base from Poplar, which complements the green of the leaves and replaced the plexiglas with glass. Of course, the trophy case is now very heavy at 40 lbs., but as it is no longer a traveling trophy that is not a concern. Keith Mills, the Tyler Rose Garden Horticultural Director, was very impressed with this piece of art. It is now on display in the main hallway in the Tyler Rose Center Building.

I thought I was finished with this job, but Jean Consford called and asked if I would be interested in taking over the project for the new award to be ready for the 2000 Regional Meeting. Of course, I said yes. Who could refuse Jean, with her soft spoken, gracious manner. Most of the work had already been done by Kay Day, Jean Barnhart, and Sue Jackson, so it really was more of a matter of tying up the loose ends and making sure the awards reached Rich Rosen in time for this year’s presentation. I was very pleased with the rendition of the new Edna Lankart Award that Durham Trophies had designed. Appreciation Awards for the past winners of the Edna Lankart Trophy were also to be presented at the Regional Meeting. These awards were made by East Texas Trophies for Region 6.

I heard the presentations all went off without a hitch and the recipients were pleased. I know I enjoyed my time with the original trophy and helping to make a new one possible. I especially enjoyed being able to do something for the past winners, Gene Orgeron, Nell Crandall, Mable Nelson, Mary Gage, Jim Caldwell, and Billie Foster. In some small way it was a thank you for all they have given to Region 6 and the help they have given me.

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