Society of animalists, florists and scientific illustrators
Foundation of SAFSI
SAFSI was founded by several artists with experience in the field of animal, floral and scientific illustration, an art historian and a biologist. Georgi Pchelarov is its President. He can most probably be defined as one of the first Bulgarian artists – animal illustrators. His professional experience stands out for his full indulgence in the drawing of animals and illustrating zoological scientific publications. Among a number of publications, one of the most important achievements of this author is the illustration of a determiner of birds' species, which is the first such modern edition with author illustrations in Bulgaria. Georgi Pchelarov himself says that over the years he has repeatedly considered and raised the question for the creation of an organization, which is to unite his colleagues, represent, promote and develop their specialized area of work. He now manages to realize these ideas, finding support on the part of his younger colleagues and followers. Asen Ignatov is another artist with experience in the said areas. He is a zoologist, a researcher, who manages to combine scientific work with the love for art. This author has also illustrated a number of scientific publications in recent decades, taking part at the same time in various artistic projects and international competitions for scientific illustration. The youngest one among the artists – founders of SAFSI is Denitsa Peneva, who comes from a family of biologists and specializes in the field of scientific illustration like her two colleagues. The most large-scale project in her creative experience to date is the illustration of a determiner of amphibians and reptiles from the fauna of Honduras. Hristina and Atanas Grozdanov take also part in the creation and administrative foundation of SAFSI. They have been involved in the past few years in the organization of exhibitions and other events outlining the relationship between science and art, between animal and scientific illustration and wildlife conservation. In actual fact the creation of this society is the result of the communication and collaboration of a large part of Bulgarian artists active in these areas over the past few decades. Most of them have been among the members of SAFSI since its foundation, contributing with their work to the activities of the society even before it was officially established.