This page highlights artists and illustrators
creating contemporary botanical art and illustration of distinction
who are based or born in the UK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
creating contemporary botanical art and illustration of distinction
who are based or born in the UK - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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This comprehensive listing of the names of contemporary botanical artists and illustrators is alphabetically ordered by surnames - within media categories:
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This list is not yet complete - and is a work in progress.
I'm developing and adding to this page all the time. The Artists page sets out the guidelines and criteria I use to determine which artists to include on this website (i.e. so that it is consistent across both continents and countries). If you believe that you should have a mention on this page please contact me. |
Banner image: the view from the balcony of the 2016 RHS Botanical Art Show. It's an international exhibition which includes a lot of top quality UK botanical artists,
UK Watercolour Painters
Watercolour painters who are best known for their work in another medium are highlighted below with a crossreference to the other media sections below.
Sarah Adams GM (2004)
Awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society for a series of 8 paintings of Rhododendrons. Studied studied Graphic Design at Medway College of Design and Wildlife Illustration Course at the Dyfed College of Art in Carmarthen. Worked as a commercial illustrator of plants for publishers, packaging and the advertising industry. Her work is in many private collections and has been sold in auctions by Christies and Sothebys.
Awarded a Gold Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society for a series of 8 paintings of Rhododendrons. Studied studied Graphic Design at Medway College of Design and Wildlife Illustration Course at the Dyfed College of Art in Carmarthen. Worked as a commercial illustrator of plants for publishers, packaging and the advertising industry. Her work is in many private collections and has been sold in auctions by Christies and Sothebys.
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Helen Allen FLS
b.1948 Founder and Director of Chelsea School of Botanical Art 2015-2020; Former Director of the Diploma in Botanical Illustration from the English Gardening School (which she graduated from). She both exhibits and teaches internationally and has works in collections at Kew, the Hunt, Highgrove Florilegium and Hampton Court Palace Florilegium. Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium. Member of the RHS Picture Panel. In recent years Helen has led the Prince of Wales’s Transylvania Florilegium. Her work appears in numerous publications. |
Martin J Allen GM (1995, 97, 99)
Degree with Honours in Environmental Horticulture. Two individual RHS Gold Medals plus commissions from the RHS. Work in the collection of the Hunt and Shirley Sherwood. He is an Emeritus Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and won a Gold Medal when they exhibited as a group at the RHS. Regular international exhibitor. Represented in America by Susan Frei Nathan. Gallery artist at Forum Botanische Kunst in Germany. He also surveys wild flower habitats and works on plant conservation. This is an article about him - Martin J. Allen Discusses the Power of Seeing |
Helen Allen painting in the studio at Ham
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Martin Allen with his painting of horse chestnut buds at the 'British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection' exhibition at Kew in 2016
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Sandra Wall Armitage PSBA
Past President of the Society of Botanical Artists. Works in watercolour. Work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She has extensive experience in developing complex patterns as both a Surface Pattern Designer and illustrating for the greeting card industry. |
Yvonne Marie Arnsdorf GM (2007)
one of the first RHS Gold Medal winners I ever met at RHS London Botanical Art Show in 2007 - when the exhibition was very small! She has no website. She has a BSc (Hons) in Botany/Biochemistry from St. Andrews University, UK; an MSc (St. Andrews) and a PhD from Reading and works as a researcher for Pest Organisms Threatening Europe. |
Sandra Wall Armitage PPSBA with her paintings at the 2016 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists
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Yvonne Marie Arnsdorf won a GM in 2007 with an exhibit titled "Botanical Elegance"
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Claire Banks
Botanical Illustrator working at the RBGE on various flora. Tutor for the RBGE Diploma Course. Awarded the Jill Smythies award for Botanical Illustration by The Linnean Society in 2015. Anita Barley - see Australia Gillian Barlow GM (1994, 1997, joint 1999); Veitch GM Current Chair of the RHS Picture Committee (joined 2005) and a judge for the RHS Botanical Art Shows. Won three RHS Gold Medals and a Gold Veitch Memorial Medal (2015) for an outstanding contribution to advancement of the art of horticulture. Official Orchid Artist for the RHS (1999-2005). Deputy Chairman of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. Work in various collections: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; RHS Lindley Library, Shirley Sherwood Collection, and Hunt Institute. (Prints) She has also worked as a Herald painter at London's College of Arms for 30 years |
Isobel Bartholomew
b.1943. Founder of Iceni Botanical Artists. Her paintings are included in the RHS Lindley Library Collection. Highgrove Florlegium and several publications including Dr. Shirley Sherwood’s book 'A Passion for Plants' and the RHS New Dictionary of Gardening . |
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Christine Battle GM (2010)
Awarded an RHS Gold Medal in 2010 for eight paintings of New Trees. Contributes to the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium and the Transylvania Florilegium. Exhibited with the Hunt Institute and ASBA. Regularly illustrates plates for Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. "Christine is an amazing plants person with a passion for trees. ....She is also a talented botanical artist, using her plantsmanship to express her passion in art." |
Christine Battle with Rhododendron dalhousie Hook.f. - found by Hooker in Sikkim, drawn by Fitch and currently growing in the Blue Mountains Botanic Garden in Australia (RBGS Florilegium Exhibition at Kew April 2018)
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Stephanie Berni
b. 1949 in Bristol. Began botanical painting in 1996 for The English Gardening School Diploma Course. with Anne Marie Evans. Has work in The Shirley Sherwood Collection and the Highgrove Florilegium. Her Australian Tree Fern painting adorns the front cover of Shirley Sherwood’s Book A New Flowering; 1000 Years of Botanical Art. Evelyn Binns GM Won seven Gold Medals from the RHS for studies of camellias, orchids, heritage vegetables, narcissi, carnivorous plants and two collections of hellebores. and does commissions for Curtis's Botanical Magazine. Work included in collections of the RHS Lindley Library, Kew Gardens, Dr Shirley Sherwood, The Royal Hospital Chelsea and a private Royal collection. She also contributed to the Highgrove Florilegium. More recently she has been commissioned to produce designs for fabrics and Fleurs de verre. Based in Falmouth she also provides tuition. |
Pearl Bostock
Founder member and Chairman of the Florilegium Society at Bedgebury National Pinetum. Previously a teacher of fine art at the Kent Institute of Art and Design in Canterbury. Also a painter of the Brogdale Art Group, based at The Brogdale National Fruit Collection, Faversham, Kent. Dr Valerie Bradburn b. 1937 in Sidcup, Kent. Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and contributed to the Highgrove Florilegium. Exhibited at the Hunt International Sharon Bradley Graduated from the RBGE Diploma Course with Distinction. Has produced botanical artwork for commissions by Curtis Botanical Magazine. |
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Victoria Braithwaite
b. 1973 in Glasgow. Founding member of the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists. Has exhibited with the SBA and the SSBA. Has work in the Shirley Sherwood Collections (exhibited at SSGBA Kew 2016, 2017 and 2019/20). She aims to capture a plant at the point in time when it is visually most interesting and is more interested in weathering, decay and transformation than the perfect botanical specimen. She also likes to work larger than life. Her botanical art is also entered into and selected for juried open art exhibitions at a national level, outside botanical art, with some significant success. |
Victoria Braithwaite with her painting of 'Peony, Greenbank Gardens' at the Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art Exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew (November 2019)
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Dr Andrew P. Brown GM (1992, 1994, 1997, 1999)
Awarded four Gold Medals by the RHS. He is a freelance botanical illustrator for Kew Gardens; Secretary of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and author of the books associated with exhibitions by the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. Previously Head of Biology at Westminster School, London |
Andrew Brown with his Voodoo Lily in the 'British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection' exhibition at Kew in 2016
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Samantha Cook GM (2005)
The RHS purchased her Dragon Fruit from her Gold Medal winning portfolio exhibited in 2005 for the Lindley Library Collection. (Any more info would be appreciated) Jill Coombes GM Worked as a freelance illustrator for Kew publications on the flora of Iraq, Qatar and Egypt. Work in the collections of Kew Gardens, the Lindley Library, Shirley Sherwood Collection and the Hunt |
Susan Christopher Coulson GM - see Pencil Artists below
Julia Craig-McFeely GM - see Pencil Artists below Celia Crampton GM (2004, 2010) Works in watercolour and graphite on paper and vellum. Work in numerous public and private collections, including the Hunt Institute, RBG Kew and The Hampton Court Florilegium |
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Claire Dalby GM (RHS: 1995 ) RE RWS
born in St Andrews, Scotland in 1944. Studied art, specialising in engraving and calligraphy, at the City and Guilds of London Art School (1964 to 1967). Works as a Watercolour Painter, Wood Engraver, Botanical Illustrator. Has painted fungi and lichens (and other plants) for more than four decades. 1994 Jill Smythies Prize, Linnean Society of London, 1995 RHS Gold Medal, 2006 RCGS GM. 2010 Solo exhibition at the RBG Edinburgh. Collections which have examples of her work include The Royal Collection, Natural History Museum; the Science Museum; the Victoria and Albert Museum; the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and National Library of Wales in the UK. Overseas collections include: the Hunt Institute and the Australian Biological Resources Study Centre in Canberra. She was elected a full member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1977. Also elected to full membership of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 1982. |
Toni Dade - see Botanical Artists in Europe
Brigitte Daniel GM (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, ) Awarded six Gold Medals and one Silver-Gilt Grenfell Medal. Her work is held in the RHS Lindley Library, the National Gallery and Museum of Wales and the Dr. Shirley Sherwood collection. In 2007 she won her GM for eight paintings of auriculas. Gaynor Dickeson Member of SBA and ASBA who has exhibited at the RHS and the Hunt. Member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium and Association of British Botanical Artists. Elisabeth Dowle GM (1986, Feb. & Oct. 1989, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998) Specialises in painting crops and fruit. Seven RHS Gold Medals. Paintings included in the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine and Highgrove Florilegium. Her botanical artwork is included in numerous publications. |
Herecleaum mantegazzianum (Giant Hogweed) and supporting studies - by Janet Dyer. Won an RHS Medal 2013 / displayed in RHS Lindley Library in 2018
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Janet Dyer GM (2013)
Worked for many years as a plant illustrator in line drawing, for botanists in Oxford and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. Graduate of RBGE’s Diploma in Botanical Illustration (with distinction/ Best in Year). Has earned a BISCOT Gold Medal in 2012 and an RHS Gold Medal in 2014 (Malvern). Her watercolour painting of Giant Hogweed was purchased by the RHS Lindley Library. |
Catalogue for Brigid Edwards's 'Flora on Vellum' Exhibition (1995) - the first of her five solo exhibitions at Thomas Gibson Fine Art.
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Brigid Edwards GM - Characterised by Shirley Sherwood as a trailblazer. Brigid was inspired by Franz Bauer and started painting plants in the mid 80s. She has been painting on vellum and exhibiting her work widely since 1990. She has work in the Hunt, Lindley Library, RBG Kew and Shirley Serwood Collections.
See blog post in 2016 about Brigid Edwards's exhibition of new botanical paintings on vellum |
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Anne Marie Evans MA FLS
Former Director of the Diploma Course in Botanical Painting at the Chelsea Physic Garden, England (1993) . She has also taught botanical art and master classes at the New York Botanical Garden and internationally for many years. Author of An Approach to Botanical Painting (1993). A champion of 'the Florilegium' and Honorary President of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. She was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal in 2005 by the Royal Horticultural Society for the role she has played in the “resurgence of interest in and greater understanding of the depiction of plants" and an MBE for services for botanic art education in 2015. She is a Fellow of the Linnean Society, Honorary Director of the American Society of Botanical Artists, and Founder President of the Leicestershire Society of Botanical Illustrators. |
Anne-Marie Evans at the RHS Spring Show 2016
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REFERENCE:
An Approach to Botanical Painting by Anne-Marie and Donn Evans
Anne-Marie Evans wrote this book about her famous five step method for botanical painting for the 'Diploma Course in Botanical Painting' that she introduced at the English Gardening School, based at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London in 1993.
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This book has been much in demand ever since it was published in 1993. So much so that this book is now out of print.
Although Anne-Marie still teaches around the world you'll very lucky if you ever get to do a class with her. However this book is the next best thing. While we wait for a revised edition, the best you can hope for are deep pockets for what it's going to cost you to find a second hand edition in the marketplace. You can look all you like but I very rarely see this book at anything less than three digits. A copy is available in the Reference Library of RHS Hilltop. |
Publisher: Rutland: Hannaford and Evans
Pages: 183pp with colour plates Dimensions: 300 x 220 mm (12 x 9 inches) First Edition: 1993 Average Customer Rating out of 5 stars:
BUY THIS BOOK An Approach to Botanical Painting
 from Amazon UKAn Approach to Botanical Painting
 from Amazon.com |
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Annie Farrer GM (1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990)
b. 1950 in Melbourne. Australia but brought up in Ingleborough, Yorkshire. Awarded a Churchill Travelling Scholarship in 1977, used for drawing illustrations of the Flowers of the Himalaya. She worked as a botanical illustrator at RBG Kew for over 30 years and has drawn and painted very many plants for Curtis's Botanical Magazine, The Plantsman and The New Plantsman. She also taught botanical illustration at Kew. Exhibited at Kew Gardens Gallery, Hortus and the Hunt. Awarded six Gold Medals by the RHS. She was the first recipient of the Jill Smythies Award by the Linnean Society. Member of the RHS Picture Committee. One of her ancestors is Reginald Farrer the famous botanical explorer and plant hunter and 'father of rock gardens'. |
Margaret Fitzpatrick
graduated from Reigate School of Art and Design then worked as a calligrapher and heraldic artist for 10 years for the College of Arms in London, Inns of Court and London Livery Companies before developing an interest in botanical art. Exhibited at the 15th International Exhibition at the Hunt. Member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Group. Angelique de Folin Studied painting at the Académie Roederer school of Art. Paris and botanical painting with Anne-Marie Evans. Exhibited at the Hunt (2001) and in a number of group exhibitions of botanical art in the UK and USA. She has a painting in the Highgrove Florilegium and Flower paintings from the Apothecaries' garden. She is also a participant in the Prince of Wales's Transylvania Project. |
A Coming of Age: Celebrating 18 Years of Botanical Painting for the Eden Project
by The Eden Florilegium Society (Author: Ros Franklin)
by The Eden Florilegium Society (Author: Ros Franklin)
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This book records 18 years of dedicated work by members of the Florilegium Society.
There are now over 140 paintings in the archives donated by 31 different botanical artists - past and present - many of whom have exhibited nationally and internationally and some of whom hold RHS Gold medals for their work. |
Hardcover: 120 pages
Publisher: Two Rivers Press Publication date: 1 May 2018 BUY THIS BOOK |
from Amazon.comRos Franklin GM (2015), FLS, FEPFS ASBA
Based in Hampshire. Diploma in Botanical Painting & Illustration with Merit from the English Gardening School. Joined the Eden Project Florilegium Society in 2004 and became Chairman in 2012; elected a Fellow of The Linnean Society of London (FLS) in 2013. Member of RNGS Florilegium Society. GM in 2015 for "Arisaemas for the Sheltered Garden or Greenhouse". Author of A Coming of Age: Celebrating 18 Years of Botanical Painting for the Eden Project. Work in the RHS Lindley Library, Eden Florilegium, RBGS Florilegium collection and Private Collections. Has taught botanical art since 2008. Exhibited nationally and internationally ('Botanica' at RBGS 2016-2018; SBA at the Palmengarten 2016; and Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid in 2018).
Based in Hampshire. Diploma in Botanical Painting & Illustration with Merit from the English Gardening School. Joined the Eden Project Florilegium Society in 2004 and became Chairman in 2012; elected a Fellow of The Linnean Society of London (FLS) in 2013. Member of RNGS Florilegium Society. GM in 2015 for "Arisaemas for the Sheltered Garden or Greenhouse". Author of A Coming of Age: Celebrating 18 Years of Botanical Painting for the Eden Project. Work in the RHS Lindley Library, Eden Florilegium, RBGS Florilegium collection and Private Collections. Has taught botanical art since 2008. Exhibited nationally and internationally ('Botanica' at RBGS 2016-2018; SBA at the Palmengarten 2016; and Real Jardin Botanico in Madrid in 2018).
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Mark Frith
Studied Fine Art at Bristol. Created a series of 20 large drawings of ancient oak trees in the UK - believed to be over a 1,000 years old. The project took over three and half years and was sponsored by Felix Dennis who bequested 10 of the drawings to the Royal Botanical Society's Collection at Kew Gardens and 10 to the new Heart of England Forest. His work was exhibited in the large gallery at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in 2018/19. |
Mark Frith with his first ever drawing of an ancient oak tree - displayed at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew.
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Leigh Ann Gale
Diploma in botanical illustration at the English Gardening School. Fellow of the Hampton Garden Florilegium Society and member of the Sydney Florilegium Society and the Nymans Florilegium Society. Work in the Hunt Collection. Bridget Gillespie GM (2002, 2008, 2017, 2018) Based in North Yorkshire. Graduated BA Hons, Graphic Design, (1981-4). She has been a botanical artist since 1992 when she started taking classes with the late Jenny Jowett (1992-2008). She has been a self-employed Botanical Illustrator and teacher since 1995. Bridget has won four RHS Gold Medals and in 2017 her painting of beetroot also won Best Painting in Show. She works to commission. For example, she provided fifty-one stunning watercolours of different apple varieties for The Northern Pomona: Apples for Cool Climates. She works from her studio outside Helmsley, North Yorkshire and also teaches botanical art across North Yorkshire (including at Helmsley Walled Garden). She also demonstrates watercolour and composition techniques at the RHS in London' on the Diploma Course at Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. She lectures in the History of Botanical Illustration. Sarah Gould b.1955. Qualified Landscape Architect. Member of the Leicestershire Society of Botanical Illustrators; Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society (from 2002). Her work is held in the permanent collections of the RHS Lindley Library, The Highgrove Florilegium, The Hunt Institute and the Chelsea Physic Garden. Teaches for the Chelsea Botanical Art School. On the selection Panels for LSBI and Eden Project Florilegium Society. Exhibited at the 12th International at the Hunt in 2007, the Natural History Museum and Shirley Sherwood Gallery. |
Bridget Gillespie GM with her painting of Beetroot beta vulgaris - RHS Best Painting in Show 2017
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Dr. Amelia Grass GM (2024)
Lives and works in Wales. Works at the University of South Wales as the Course Leader for the MSc Wildlife Conservation Management and Senior Lecturer in Natural History specialising in the taxonomy of species and wildlife conservation.
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Dr. Amelia Grass with her exhibit of "Overlooked: Wildflowers in the Restored Meadows of Glyntaff, South Wales" (RHS 2024)
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Norma Gregory GM SBA (2006, 2009, 2011).
Norma is self-taught and was originally a natural history artist. She won her first Gold Medal (for Tree Seedlings) the same year she took up botanical art. Her 2009 medal was about Aspects of Garlic. Her 2011 medal was for Rooted Fascination which was about roots and root vegetables. The Rheum in the photo of Norma was purchased by the RHS for the Lindley Collection and she also has work in the modern botanical collection of the Natural History Museum. She hs a a post-graduate Diploma in Adult Education, is a Fellow of Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and has work in the Hunt and Natural History Museum. |
Part of a GM series, "Rooted Fascination" by Norma Gregory GM (2006, 2008 and 2011) exhibited: RHS London Orchid and Botanical Art Show 2011. Gold medal. Purchased by the Lindley Library in 2011.
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Yvonne Glenister Hammond GM
has won RHS Gold Medals and has work in the Hunt and the Shirley Sherwood Collection |
Georita Harriott GM
Cambridge based botanical illustrator Georita Harriott works as a freelance botanical illustrator for Kew Gardens, exhibited at the Hunt Institute's Ninth International Exhibition in 1998/9 and has won three RHS Gold Medals as follows:
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Christina Hart-Davies GM (1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2018)
A professional botanical artist for 30+ years. She was a Founder Member, and Honorary Secretary for its first ten years, of the Society of Botanical Artists. She has five RHS Gold Medals (4 for mosses and lichens and one for orchids). Her work is in The Hunt and The Shirley Sherwood Collections - and mine! She has illustrated extensively for a wide variety of prestigious clients and is the sole illustrator of Collins Wild Flower Guide and three other publications. Author and Illustrator of
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Christina Hart-Davies GM and (top left) "Skeleton Crew" which is now part of my personal botanical art collection!
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A Wild Plant Year The History, Folklore and Uses of Britain's Flora by Christina Hart-Davies GM
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Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: Two Rivers Press Publication date: 5 Sept. 2016 Rated an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars by 3 customers (UK) BUY THIS BOOK A Wild Plant Year
 from Amazon UK
A Wild Plant Year
 from Amazon.com |
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Mayumi Hashi GM (2005 and 2007)
b. Nara, Japan 1954 but now lives in the UK. Studied botanical illustration with Judi Stone at Kew. She has two RHS gold medals plus two Silver-Gilt Medals, two Silver Medals. In May 2006, she became the first recipient of the Royal Horticultural Society Dawn Jolliffe Botanical Art Bursary and went to Peru to photograph, draw and paint orchids. She exhibited at the 12th International at the Hunt in 2007. Her work is included in the Highgrove Florilegium, the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute and the Royal College of Physicians where she was artist in residence. She teaches botanical illustration. Her work has also been selected for inclusion in the Transylvania Florilegium. |
Mayumi Hashi with her painting of "Clerodendrum trichotomum" - in the "Flora Japonica" exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew
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Helen Haywood
MA in Illustration (Birmingham). Had work in A New Flowering: 1000 Years of Botanical Art exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum and two works are owned by Shirley Sherwood. Celia Hegedüs GM (1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001) born 1949 in London. Trained at the Hammersmith School of Art and the City of Guilds in London. She exhibited at the RHS Botanical Art Show on a regular basis in the 90s and early 20th century and won five Gold Medals. Exhibited in the 12th International at the Hunt in 2007. Her work is in the collection of the RHS Lindley Library and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She paints on vellum and provided advice for The conservation of botanical illustrations on vellum: past, present and future Denise Heywood - Initially trained in textile design. Member of the SBA and Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers. Exhibited at Hunt 15th International and ASBA 19th International. |
Caroline Holley GM (2005, 2012)
Awarded three medals by the RHS including two Gold Medals for ? (2005) and "Winter Wayside Weeds" (2012) Exhibited at the 12th International at the Hunt in 2007. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt and the Sheffield Florilegium Society Archive. |
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Sarah Howard GM (2016)
Sarah was the illustrator for the Flora of Ethiopia & Eritrea 1997-2000. She completed a Diploma in botanical illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2014. In 2015 she won a a Silver Gilt at BISCOT and in 2016, she won an RHS GM for her Horn of Africa Aloes. (see Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallists - from the UK and Europe) |
Sarah Howard won an RHS Gold Medal for her Horn of Africa Aloes in 2016
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Sarah Jane Humphrey GM (2018)
b. 1977 in Cambridgeshire; now lives in Cornwall. Sarah is a botanical artist, a natural science illustrator, author and tutor. Graduated from Falmouth University with an Honours Degree in Illustration. She is represented by the Wildlife Art Company for illustration work. She was their very first female Scientific and Natural History Illustrator. In 2018 she was awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS for Medicinal Fruits and their symbiosis with Pollinators (after a previous Silver and then Silver Gilt). She delivers workshops on Botanical Illustration in Cornwall and in June 2017, her first book Botanical Art with Scientific Illustration was published. |
Sarah Jane Humphrey with two of her paintings in her Gold Medal winning exhibit "Medicinal Fruits and their symbiosis with Pollinators"
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Jackie Isard GM (2022)
Jackie is from Bristol UK and is a self-taught botanical artist and teacher. Her 2022 RHS Gold Medal was She paints in watercolour on mostly paper and occasionally vellum. Her great great passion is painting flowering plants, meadow wildflowers and pollinators. She also enjoys painting the beauty of decaying plants. Her work is very detailed and botanically accurate. She is a Fellow member of the Society of Botanical Artists |
Jackie Isard with her GM winning exhibit "Wet meadow wildflowers - their pollinators and as food plants"
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Carolyn Jenkins GM (2011)
Carolyn habitually produces small paintings with lots of exquisite content and masses of detail. Her 2011 Gold Medal was for The Anatomy of Flowers - and her display also won Best Exhibit. She also has two paintings in the RHS Lindley Library Collection and a painting in the Hunt Collection. |
Botanical paintings don't need to be large to be effective. Carolyn Jenkins with her suite of paintings called "The Anatomy of Flowers" which won a GM and of 'The Best Exhibit Award' at the RHS Botanical Art Show in the Lindley Hall in 2011.
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Rebecca John
Born into a family of painters (her grandfather was Augustus John and her great aunt was Gwen John) it was always expected that Rebecca John might become an artist. However, she chose to study jewellery design at the Central School of Art instead. She then worked first as a picture researcher and came to art and drawing and pointing plants in later life. She enrolled for the new Botanical Painting course with Anne-Marie Evans at the Chelsea Physic Garden in 1994. She subsequently achieved recognition as an artist in her 50s - with a critically acclaimed exhibition at the Lefevre Gallery in London. Her work has since been bought by collectors and institutions worldwide including the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff and The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. In 2020, her book about Thinking the Plant: The Watercolour Drawings of Rebecca John was published by Pimpernel Press REFERENCE:
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Ruth Kirkby GM (2014)
Ruth lives in Powys, Wales and won her Gold Medal (for Iris sibirica - Siberian Iris) after only painting, on a self-taught basis - for four years. She has previously exhibited with the RHS, winning silver medals on both occasions. |
Ruth Kirkby with her RHS Gold Medal winning exhibition of Iris Sibirica in 2014
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Christabel King GM FSBA, FLS
Christabel has taught many of today's contemporary botanical artists. She graduated in botany and then studied scientific illustration. She's worked as an illustrator and produced plates for Curtis's Botanical Magazine for Kew Gardens for c.40 years. Awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society in 1989 and the RHS's Grenfell Gold Medal. She is the author of The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration (published Summer 2015). [Artist & Illustrator Interview: In the Studio: Christabel King] |
Christobel King with her artwork included in the "Brazil - A powerhouse of plants" exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in Kew Gardens in 2016
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The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration by Christabel King
This is the first art instruction book by the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Paperback: 128 pages Publisher: Search Press(UK) (26 July 2015) Christabel King has produced scientific botanical illustrations for Kew for over 40 years |
It covers: Materials; choosing a subject; review of different techniques for illustrating plant material; organisation of your workspace; drawing from life; composition, handling light and shade; techniques for sketching and drawing; technical illustration tools and techniques - use of magnification (binocular magnifier and a lens on a stand) and dividers; transferring the drawing and shading; techniques for using watercolour, gouache and pen and ink - and correcting mistakes; comprehensive techniques for painting leaves and flowers - including dissection and how to display details; preserving specimens and working from pressed specimens; approaches for illustrating cacti and succulents and trees; keeping a wild flower sketchbook and drawing while travelling (including kit). It finishes with examples of colour plates for Curtis's Botanical Magazine and tips on how to design a plate.
The publisher has provided a facility so you can look inside This book is rated: 4.6 out of 5 stars by 27 customer reviews (UK) 4.8 out of 5 stars by 24 customer reviews (USA) BUY THIS BOOK
The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration
 from Amazon UK
The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration
 from Amazon.com
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Deborah Lambkin GM (1999)
Born in Ireland and lives in London. Trained at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin.
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Deborah Lambkin after being presented with the Jill Smythies Award 2019 | Permission of The Linnean Society of London
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Louise Lane GM (2012 + Best Exhibit, 2014, 2019)
Brought up in Hathersage in the Peak District. Graduated with BA Hons Graphic Design & Illustration (Leeds Polytechnic). Now lives and works as a professional botanical artist in Sheffield. Has lectured on the Botanical Art Certificate course at Sheffield Hallam University. Louise is one of a few artists to have won a Gold Medal working in different media - her first was for pencil artwork of Native Ferns of the Peak District when she also won Best Exhibit in the RHS Botanical Art Show 2012 (in her first ever RHS Show) Her second was for watercolour paintings of orchids in Menorca. For her third (The Life of a Leaf | Aesculus hippocastanum) she used both watercolour and graphite. She has work in the RHS Lindley Library (exhibited 2019) and the Hunt Institute 16th International Exhibition in Autumn 2019. Her work has featured in Worth a Thousand Words (2019) | RHS Lindley Library Exhibition and RHS Botanical Illustration - The Gold Medal Winners (2019) Joanne Langhorne is a botanical illustrator who has painted frequently for Curtis's Botanical Magazine. |
Louise Lane (GM 2012 and 2014) pictured in 2012 with two of her Gold Medal winning collection of nine pencil drawings of Native Ferns of the Peak District
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Lizabeth Leech
A botanist, a botanical artist and illustrator and a botanical author. She is also an experienced tutor and teacher of botany, ecology and biology. She is a Fellow of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society (HCPFS) and is their Honorary Botanist (botanical advisor). She is also a member of the Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration (IAPI) and the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).
A botanist, a botanical artist and illustrator and a botanical author. She is also an experienced tutor and teacher of botany, ecology and biology. She is a Fellow of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society (HCPFS) and is their Honorary Botanist (botanical advisor). She is also a member of the Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration (IAPI) and the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA).
Botany for Artists by Lizabeth Leech
Paperback: 224 pages Images: 350+ line drawings, paintings and photographs Publisher: The Crowood Press Ltd; Publication date: 1st edition - 21 Nov. 2011 Lizabeth Leech is a trained botanist and a founder member of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society and is its Honorary Botanical Advisor (see above)
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This book is an accessible introduction to the world of plant science. Its target audience is all those who want to be able to draw and paint plants and flowers with botanical accuracy. It's an excellent guide to what to look for when attempting to portray the key botanical characteristics of a plant. This book provides:
Rated an average of:
Botany for Artists
 from Amazon UK
Botany for Artists
 from Amazon.com |
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Katherine Manisco - Born in UK and trained at the Slade; now lives in the USA - See USA
Nina Marks GM (2014) Nina (Nikki) took up botanical painting on retirement and became a student of Pandora Sellars in 2009. Her project for her 2014 Gold Medal about - The Genus Arisaema took three years as a project in terms of collecting the plant material for different species within the Genus Arisaema. She was also awarded a Silver Gilt for a series of paintings of Paphiopedilums (Slipper Orchids in 2011) and Gin Botanicals (2019) Rosie Martin GM
One of the Principal illustrators authors of botanical art instruction books associated with the Eden Project. She has taught courses for the Eden Project, Field Studies Council and internationally. |
Nikki Marks with her 2014 RHS Gold Medal winning display of The Genus Arisaema
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Anna Mason GM (2007 + Best in Show Award).
Produces vibrant large watercolour paintings. Paintings in the RHS Lindley Library Collection and Shirley Sherwood Collection. Commissions by David Austin Roses. Juror for the Denver Botanic Gardens/ Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) exhibition ‘Plants, Birds & Pollinators’ 2013. She's a very active and extremely popular online tutor and also teaches at RHS Wisley & West Dean College (2010 – present) and in the USA. Author of 'The Modern Flower Painter' (2014) |
Clare McGhee GM (2010)
A Scottish contemporary Botanical Artist and Illustrator. Graduated with distinction from RBGE Diploma 2009. Won RHS GM with paintings of vegetables in 2010. Selected for 16th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 2019. Three paintings in the RHS Lindley Library Collection. Her work has featured in: Rendering a Living Masterpiece (The Garden | March 2012); Worth a Thousand Words (2019) | RHS Lindley Library Exhibition and RHS Botanical Illustration - The Gold Medal Winners (2019) |
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Robert McNeill
Exhibited at the 15th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 2016. He has also been awarded the Suzanne Lucas Memorial Award, the People's Choice Award and a Certificate of Botanical Merit at SBA Annual Exhibitions. (see photo with his wife Fiona Strickland below) |
Robert McNeill at the SBA Annual Exhibition in 2013
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Angeline de Meester GM (2007)
Angeline was awarded an RHS Gold medal at her first exhibition, at the RHS Exhibition Halls in London in November 2007 for her exhibit "Plants with Animal Names in their Common Names". She's also a Fellow of the Linnean Society and her work is included in the collections of the Lindley Library and Dr Shirley Sherwood. She has also contributed work to the Hampton Court Florilegium Society (her artwork). |
Angeline de Meester with her painting at the 'British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection' at Kew in 2016
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Susan Ogilvy GM - Born in 1948 in Kent and lives in Somerset. She qualified as an occupational therapist and used painting professionally as part of art therapy. Her botanical paintings have been exhibited at the Ashmolean, Smithsonian, Hunt and Kew. Her work is included in numerous collections including the Shirley Sherwood; Hunt Institute; Isaac and Alisa Sutton collection and the Highgrove, Transylvania and RBG Sydney Florilegiums. She has been awarded a Gold and Silver-Gilt Medals by the RHS. She designed and illustrated Overleaf, a book on British trees published in 2013 by Kew Publishing. The paintings for the book were also exhibited at Kew. Her work is available from Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery.
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Overleaf by Richard Ogilvy and Susan Ogilvy
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Barbara Oozeerally GM (2002, 2004)
Undertook a major project to paint magnolias. Her book "Magnolias in Art & Cultivation" published by Kew Publishing contains around 150 paintings and was followed by an exhibition was held at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens. She has also won The Diane Bouchier Founder's Award for Excellence in Botanical Art ( 2007) |
Magnolias in Art and Cultivation by Barbara Oozerally
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Life size painting of the Titan Arum at RBGE painted by Jacqui Pestell MBE (on left), Sharon Tingey GM (on right) and Işık Güner GM.
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RBGE attracted around 10,000 visitors over the three day period and the idea to paint the inflorescence at its prime, and full-scale, thus brought many challenges, not least its size. It required three artists – I was joined by Isik Guner and Sharon Tingey – to paint this 2.67m high specimen in the conditions of the Glasshouses. We were surrounded by the scent of putrefaction and the visitor stream from morning to night over the three days before collapse of the central spadix occurred. Jacqui Pestell-Canavan MBE
Director of Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh since 2007, having been first appointed as Artist in Residence in 1997 and subsequently developed the highly successful RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration. She received an MBE in 2016 for services to botanical art education in Scotland. See Jacqui Pestell-Canavan MBE. |
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Rachel Pedder-Smith GM (1998, 2001, 2004, 2005 )
Winner of four RHS Gold Medals. She has exhibited widely both in London and the United States. Her work is in collections such as the Hunt Institute, USA, the RHS Lindley Library, London, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, the Shirley Sherwood Collection and Alisa and Isaac Sutton Collection. She's perhaps best known for her Herbarium specimen painting which is which is over five metres long and took 766 days to complete. The painting combines art and science as every flowering plant family is depicted by one or more specimens painted in the order of the contemporary DNA-based classification system, APG II Beth Phillip GM A botanical artist who has lived and exhibited in the UK and USA; her paintings of Sarracenia have been awarded a Gold Medal, CBMs and are now in the Collections of the Hunt and Dr Sherwood. |
A small detail of the Herbarium specimen painting by Rachel Pedder-Smith
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Kathy Pickles GM
Winner of seven Gold Medals (1991-94, 1996, 2015, 2017),. Born in London and has lived in Orkney since 1981. Her GM in 2015 was for 16 paintings of Fritillaria and Helleborus and the one in 2017 for 12 paintings of Clematis. She has also exhibited at the Kew Gardens Gallery, designed the 1997 Chelsea Flower Show Plate which celebrated the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip and has designed over 150 designs for floral mugs for Dunoon Ceramics. Her works is in the collections of The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew and Edinburgh, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. |
Kathy Pickles GM - with her 7th Gold Medal exhibit at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017
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Linda Pitkin GM (2019) CBiol, MRSB
Began botanical illustration in 2007. Studied botanical painting with Leigh-Ann Gale. Fellow of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society (since 2011). Won an RHS Gold Medal in 2019 for British Native Aquatic and Waterside Plants. Linda is also a Chartered Biologist and a Member of the Royal Society of Biology. She worked in Entomological research (insect taxonomy) at the Natural History Museum, London, (1967-2006) and as a freelance underwater photographer (1983 - date). Also a member of Surrey Botanical Society, British Society of Underwater Photographers and Women Divers Hall of Fame. She has had a number of books, articles and research papers published. |
Linda Pitkin with part of her Gold medal winning exhibit of British Native Aquatic and Waterside Plants (RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019)
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Janie Pirie GM - see Pencil Artists below
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Penny Price
b. 1947. Based in Cambridge, Penny is a calligrapher, botanical artist and educator. Distinction in her Diploma from the Chelsea School of Botanical Art in 2013. Fellow of the Linnean Society (2014). Artist member of the Florilegium Societies of Hampton Court, Chelsea Physic Garden, Royal College of Physicians and RBG Sydney. Exhibited at the 16th International Exhibition at the Hunt in Pittsburgh and in London and Sydney. Valerie Price Degree in Scientific Illustration. Formerly worked as a Botanical Illustrator at Kew. Her watercolour illustrations have appeared in Curtis's Botanical Magazine for Kew, The Plantsman for the RHS and William Stearn's Flower Artists of Kew and other publications by various publishers. She has exhibited with various organisations and now teaches and writes instruction books. |
Penny Price (centre) with her Diploma painting selected for the 16th International Exhibition at the Hunt (with Helen Allen of CSBA)
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Reinhild Raistrick GM
Reinhild has won four RHS gold medals and provides tuition on botanical painting at Cambrige University Botanical Garden. Her work has featured in in the Curtis's Botanical Magazine; the August 2000 edition devoted a whole issue on the Genus Fritillaria, using her paintings. She is a member of the SBA and Iceni Botanical Artists Kay Rees-Davies GM (1996, 1998, 2003 and 2010). She was taught botanical painting in North Wales by Margaret Stevens. Her paintings are in the collections of the Lindley Library RHS; the Highgrove Florilegium; the Chelsea Physic Garden Archive, and other collections in Britain and USA. |
Vivienne Rew
Began botanical painting in 2008. Trained as a graphic artist. Selected for 16th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 2019. Awarded Silver-Gilt Medal for Metamorphosis - Life cycle of Papaver Orientale. Her work is included in Eden Project Botanical Illustration books. She likes to paint larger than life size and prefers vibrant subjects. |
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Roger Reynolds GM
Roger has had a life long interest in plants, has a degree in botany and taught biology. He took up botanical illustration on his retirement in 2000. He's the education co-ordinator of the Institute of Analytical Botanical Illustrators. He won an RHS Gold Medal in 2016. Read my interview with him in Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallists - from the UK and Europe |
Roger Reynolds won a Gold Medal at the 2016 RHS Botanical Art Show in London - for "The Tip of the Branch" - featuring native species of the UK
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Francesca Ross GM (2021)
Born in Devon and currently living in the Lake District. Won an RHS Gold Medal in 2021 for her exhibit Tomatoes: Flower and Fruit Development. She had previously won a Silver Medal (2015) and has contributed to the Mitchell Beazley Pocket Guide of Trees. Her paintings for this exhibit show how mutations in the genes of tomatoes have enabled the tomato to progress from the tiny pea-sized fruit found in Central America to the commercial tomatoes grown today. |
Four paintings of tomatoes by Francesca Ross from her exhibit 'Tomatoes: Flower and Fruit Development' at the RHS Botanical Art Show
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Sandy Ross-Sykes FLS
Graduate and prizewinner of The Royal College of Art (2004). A trained Botanical artist who has spent ten years illustrating the vanishing species of flora in the rainforests of SE Asia. Her work on documenting the Zingiberaceae family resulted in a Fellowship awarded by the Linnean Society in 2007 and an exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in 2009. Her work is held in the RBG Kew, Singapore Botanic Garden and the Hunt Institute. |
Graham Rust
Studied drawing and painting at the Regent Street Polytechnic School of Art, The Central School of Arts, followed by The National Academy of Art in New York. Major reputation as a mural painter. Work in the collection of Shirley Sherwood. |
Rosie Sanders with the display of her paintings at the 'British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection at Kew
I’ve never liked being in a tradition. So I have tried hard to see a different view of a plant
Rosie Sanders
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Rosanne (Rosie) Sanders GM
Started as a freelance botanical artist in 1974. Winner of five RHS gold medals. She exhibited with the Hunt in 1992. She has been commissioned to produce paintings for both the Queen and the Queen Mother. Rosie is an authority on old apple varieties and produced a book of her paintings of them The English Apple. Rosie is now well known for producing very large watercolour paintings of flowers which have intense colour. paintings are in Dr Sherwood's collection. Her work is available from Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery. In 2016 her book 'Rosie Sanders Flowers' was published (see below). Read more about her in this article The amazing botanic woman. View the e-catalogue for Rosie's latest exhibition (2017) here. |
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Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art by Rosie Sanders
 
Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: Batsford Ltd Publication date: 10 Nov. 2016 (UK); March 2017 (USA) This book is rated: 4.8 out of 5 stars by 10 customer reviews (UK) 4.7 out of 5 stars by 12 customer reviews (USA) |
This is a large-format book with over 80 of Rosie Sanders's finest flower paintings. Definitely one for those who'd like to know what her big paintings really look like.
Chapters include: 1. Diversity in the Garden 2. Dark Flowers: the Magic of Night 3. A Fascination of Orchids 4. Lilies in Spring 5. Varieties of Belladonna 6. In Search of the Black Iris. See also the Telegraph article about her painting The Amazing Botanic Woman BUY THIS BOOK Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art
from Amazon UK
Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art
 from Amazon.com |
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Elaine Searle FLS ASBA
Elaine is a botanical artist and tutor. Until recently she was the Course Director of the Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration and Painting at the Chelsea School of Botanical Art. She has been invited to provide tuition by various organisations around the world. Her work has been exhibited at the Hunt Institute and included in the Highgrove Florilegium, the Transylvania Florilegium and the collection of the Hunt Institute. She received the Talas Award at 16th Annual International ASBA Exhibition at The Horticultural Society of New York.. |
Elaine Searle with her watercolour painting on vellum of the heritage variety Prunus domestica ‘Kirke’s Blue’ at the Tradescant's Orchard Exhibition at the Garden Museum.
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Gael Sellwood VPSBA GM (2014)
Gael is Vice President of the SBA. She's a qualified teacher and botanical illustrator who paints in watercolour and sometimes on vellum. She exhibited at the Hunt in 2013 and in 2014 she won an RHS Gold Medal for ‘hydrangea macrophylla in autumn and winter’. In 2018, her first book was published about the plants she grows in her garden - it's a contemporary take on a florilegium.
Gael is Vice President of the SBA. She's a qualified teacher and botanical illustrator who paints in watercolour and sometimes on vellum. She exhibited at the Hunt in 2013 and in 2014 she won an RHS Gold Medal for ‘hydrangea macrophylla in autumn and winter’. In 2018, her first book was published about the plants she grows in her garden - it's a contemporary take on a florilegium.
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The Measure of the Year - Seasons in an Artist's Garden by Gael Sellwood
The book is organised by season - and laid out month by month hence the title ‘The Measure of the Year. It takes us through Gael's year in her garden and as a botanical artist. The text connects the artwork with the garden and landscape and the time of year.
BUY The Measure Of The Year: Seasons In An Artist's Garden
 from Amazon UK |
Gael Selwood after winning the prestigious Joyce Cuming Award at the SBA Annual Exhibition 2015 with three of her watercolour paintings of hydrangeas which won an RHS Gold Medal at Malvern in 2014
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Siriol Sherlock GM (1993, 94, 95, 99)
Winner of four Gold Medals. She showed at the Hunt in 1995. Ex member of the Royal Horticultural Society Picture Committee (1997-2005). Her work is in many collections, including that of Shirley Sherwood, and many books, including Contemporary Botanical Artists. She has now, more or less, retired from botanical art. |
Siriol Sherlock with her painting of 'Magnolia campbellii subsp. mollicomata' - at the British Artists in the "British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection" exhibition at Kew
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Billy Showell
President of the Society of Botanical Artists. Billy graduated from St Martins School of Art with a degree in fashion design and illustration and subsequently changed direction - to the benefit of botanical art. She has won five Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA exhibitions and has work in the collections of the Hunt Institute, Shirley Sherwood and Kew archives. In 2017, at BISCOT, she won a Gold Medal and 'Best in Show Painting'. She's also a very popular teacher of botanical painting and is probably best known as a best selling author of four very popular and highly recommended instruction books about botanical painting. She also has an online botanical art instruction site. |
Billy Showell with her painting of peonies which was on the cover of the catalogue for the 2016 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists
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Billy Showell's Botanical Painting in Watercolour by Billy Showell
  Hardcover: 192 pages Publisher: Search Press Ltd (UK) (21 March 2016) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED This book is rated: 4.9 out of 5 stars by 78 customer reviews (UK) 4.9 out of 5 stars by 72 customer reviews (USA) |
Billy Showell's latest book in her ever popular series of books about painting flowers and vegetables. This one focuses on what's required for Botanical Painting and is very comprehensive and immensely practical. It includes:
BUY THIS BOOK Billy Showell's Botanical Painting in Watercolour
 from Amazon UKBilly Showell's Botanical Painting in Watercolour
 from Amazon.com |
Laura Silburn GM (2013, 2014, 2018)
Botanical artist working in Cornwall. She is a Fellow of the Eden Project Florilegium Society. Tutor in botanical painting and drawing at the Eden Project. To date Laura has won three Gold Medals from the RHS:
Botanical artist working in Cornwall. She is a Fellow of the Eden Project Florilegium Society. Tutor in botanical painting and drawing at the Eden Project. To date Laura has won three Gold Medals from the RHS:
- 2013: Varieties of Hardy Geranium that have received the RHS Award of Garden Merit i
- 2014 (October) Gold Medal and Best in Show Exhibit for Aristolochia species from botanic gardens in England
- 2018: GM Dryopteris: species and cultivars of Dryopteris ferns with an Award of Garden Merit
- 2018: Best Painting in Show Award - in the biggest ever RHS Botanical Art Show
Laura Silburn with her RHS 2018 exhibit "GM Dryopteris: species and cultivars of Dryopteris ferns with an Award of Garden Merit"> The Best Painting in Show award was for the one on the extreme right.
Niki Simpson GM (painting) 1998
Degree with honours in Environmental Science (including 3 years of Botany). Subsequently worked for the RHS Botany Department at RHS Wisley, initially as Administrator for the RHS Horticultural Database and subsequently managing the RHS Botany image collection. Fellow of the Linnean Society. Won an RHS Gold Medal in 1998 for her exhibit of watercolour paintings. Commissioned to produce illustrations for the RHS New Plantsman. Taught short courses in Botanical Art for the RHS Rosemoor in Devon for many years. Following a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust award in 2004, Niki has experimented with the use of digital techniques for botanical illustration - and two more Gold Medals. See Botanical Photography below.
Degree with honours in Environmental Science (including 3 years of Botany). Subsequently worked for the RHS Botany Department at RHS Wisley, initially as Administrator for the RHS Horticultural Database and subsequently managing the RHS Botany image collection. Fellow of the Linnean Society. Won an RHS Gold Medal in 1998 for her exhibit of watercolour paintings. Commissioned to produce illustrations for the RHS New Plantsman. Taught short courses in Botanical Art for the RHS Rosemoor in Devon for many years. Following a Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust award in 2004, Niki has experimented with the use of digital techniques for botanical illustration - and two more Gold Medals. See Botanical Photography below.
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Shirley Slocock GM (2017, 2019)
Has won two RHS Gold Medals for plants associated with 'Wayside tracks and verges' in different localities (2017) and British Seaweed (2019). Her Silver Gilt Medal was for paintings of palms (2012). Studied for her Diploma at the English Gardening School. She is a Fellow of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society, a member of the RBG Sydney Florilegium and is a member of Amicus Botanicus. Exhibited at the Hunt and has two paintings in the collection. |
Shirley Slocock GM - with her Gold Medal winning exhibit of plants associated with Wayside Tracks and Verges in the Lindley Hall (2017)
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Julie Small GM - see Pencil Artists below
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Lucy T Smith GM - see Pen and Ink Artists below
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Margaret Stevens GM (1990) PPSBA
Founder member and Past President of the Society of Botanical Artists and first Director of the SBA Distance Learning Diploma Course. Awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS in 1990. Exhibited two works at the 8th International Exhibition at the Hunt in 1995/96. She is also the author of five books about botanical art. She has exhibited widely and internationally and undertaken a number of important commissions. Sally Strawson
Member of the Florilegium Societies in Sheffield and Sydney and has contributed to the Highgrove and Transylavanian Florilegiums. Exhibited at the Hunt. |
Sally Stawson at the Tradescants' Orchard Exhibition at the Garden Museum
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Peta Stockton GM (2006)
Born 1973 in South Africa. As a teenager she lived on the grounds of Kirstenbosch where her father was the Director. Peta now lives in Sevenoaks in Kent. She has a degree in Art History from University of Cape Town (1997). She moved to London in 2004 and started painting full time. Her primary focus was on South African flora and won a Gold Medal at 2004 Kirstenbosch Biennale. In 2006 she received an RHS Gold Medal for her paintings of proteas. She has 6 works in the Shirley Sherwood Collection (of which three featured in "The Shirley Sherwood Collection" book. She exhibited two paintings of Protea at the Hunt in 2007. She also has work in the collections of Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society in London and the Hunt Institute in Pittsburgh. |
Pete Stockton with her painting of Protea coronata at the PV for the "Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art" at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew (November 2019)
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Fiona Strickland GM with her husband and fellow botanical artist Robert McNeill at the Shirley Sherwood 25th Anniversary Exhibition at the Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery (April 2015)
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Fiona Strickland GM
A world renowned botanical artist and tutor. Her watercolour paintings are large, complex and very detailed and demonstrate her amazing control over multiple layers of transparent watercolour to create her intense colour and beautifully rendered tone for the smallest details. Her work is included in premier collections around the world - including the RHS Lindley Library, the Shirley Sherwood Collection and the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation. You can read more about Fiona in A 'Making A Mark' Profile of Fiona Strickland. See also Fiona Strickland wins The Hort's "Best in Show" Award at 18th Annual International.. Work available from Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery. |
Below is a video of both Fiona Strickland and Robert McNeill talking about their work.
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Dianne Sutherland
Botanical artist and international botanical art tutor. Trained as a design technician with Royal Doulton. Moved to Scotland and began a career as an artist and illustrator in the 90s specialising in flowers. In 2003 she graduated BSc Hons in Biology from Aberdeen University. Her work is in the permanent Collections of the Hunt Institute and the RBG Sydney Florilegium. She exhibits nationally and internationally and has work in group exhibitions in New York and Sydney. She's currently working on a project documenting selected plants from Bank's Florilegium. |
Ann Swan GM - see Pencil Artists below
Fran Thomas GM (Biscot) - Fran paints native Scottish plants. In 2017 she won a Gold Medal at BISCOT 2017 and the Mary Mendum Medal for the Best Exhibit - for her watercolour paintings of "Native plants of the coasts and islands of the Firth of Forth". She also has two RHS Silver Gilt Medals |
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Sharon Tingey GM (2014)
Won her RHS Gold Medal for a suite of paintings of Helianthus annus (sunflowers) and a Gold Medal at BISCOT (endangered conifers) in 2013. She lives in Edinburgh and teaches on the courses run by the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. Visited Nepal in 2015 to draw and paint plants for the Flora of Nepal project. She has work in the permanent collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and Kew. |
Sharon Tingey with her RHS Gold Medal winning display of Helianthus annus (sunflowers) at RHS London Botanical Art Show 2014
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Julia Trickey GM ASBA (2006, 2008, 2012, 2013)
Works in watercolour and lives and tutors near Bath. She's a Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, the SBA and ASBA. She's won four RHS Gold Medals:
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Julia Trickey GM with her RHS Gold medal winning exhibit of 'Nature in Waiting' at the RHS Lindley Hall in 2013
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.Pauline Trim GM (2021) + Best Botanical Artwork 2021
Lives in Dorchester. Took up botanical art on retirement after teaching art and design for 25 years at Bournemouth College and 11 years teaching painting and drawing for the Dorset Adult Education Service. Fellow of the SBA (no website). Also a member of South West Society of Botanical Artists and Hilliard Society of Miniature Painters. Her exhibit was awarded "Best Botanical Artwork". |
Native British Deciduous Trees featuring Galls by Paulin Trim - includes 'RHS 2021 Best Botanical Artwork' on left
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Heidi Venamore
Born in Australia and lives in Wiltshire - when she's not being the Australian Ambassador to different parts of the world. Achieved a Distinction in her SBA Diploma. She is a painting member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, a Fellow of the Linnean Society and an Associate Member of the Society of Botanical Artists. Dahlia 'Twynings After Eight' and the original sketches were bought by the RHS Lindley Library in 2018. |
Sue Vize SBA ASBA - see Pencil Artists below
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Claire Ward
Botanical and nature artist based in rural West Wales. Completed her SBA Diploma with Distinction in 2007. Studied studied botany, horticulture and field ecology and combines this with painting in various media, Focuses on the wild flora and fauna of the British Isles, with a special fascination for orchids, lichen and fungi. She is now the tutor on the SBA diploma course for the 'working in the field' assignment. Margaret Walty GM (RHS 2007, 2010; BIscot 2010, 2013) Lives in Scotland and exhibits at RHS and BISCOT. Won her 2007 Gold Medal for peony paintings for the book "Peony rockii and Gansu Mudan" and her second Gold Medal in March 2010 for 15 paintings of Fritillaria. In 2010, she won her first GM from Biscot for Old and Species Roses and her second in 2013 for Spring Flowers of the Woodland |
Christiana Webb GM (2012)
Works in watercolour and won a GM for her Winter Oaks in 2012. (Does not have a website) Hazel West-Sherring GM (2005) Awarded a GM at her first attempt for 12 Phlox paniculata. Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. Work in the RHS Lindley Library, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Currently painting the Flora of Sissinghurst |
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Sue J Williams GM (2008)
Lives in Yalding in Kent. Awarded an RHS Gold Medal for Begonias. Painted the flowering trees and plants in Zimbabwe for the National Botanic Gardens. Commissioned to produce stamp designs for the Pitcairn Islands while living in New Zealand. Exhibited 25 paintings in a joint exhibition with Sue Wickison called “Black and White, in Colour”, at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew, in 2013/4. Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists and the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. She has work in the collections of Dr Shirley Sherwood, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, Chelsea Physic Garden, the RHS Lindley Library, as well as the Isaac Sutton Collection and Hunt Institute in the USA. See "Black and White in colour at Kew" |
Sue J Williams at the "Black and White" Exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens in 2013
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Simon Williams GM (2018)
Course Director and a tutor for the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) Distance Learning Diploma Course (DLDC). Won an RHS Gold Medal for his Nepenthes exhibit in 2018. He owns a tropical greenhouse and grows all this own plants. Author of Botanical Painting in Gouache |
Simon Williams - with this Gold Medal winning exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2018
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Masumi Yamanaka GM (2010) - Born in Nara Japan, Masumi has lived in the UK since 1985, when she came to work when she came to work as a ceramics designer for various prestigious clients. She learned how to paint botanical art from Pandora Sellars. Her RHS GM in 2010 was for her illustrations of Aesculus indica ‘Sydney Pearce’. She has a number of other botanical illustrations and paintings in the collection of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. Its website has images of her paintings of the Heritage Trees at Kew. This is my review of the 2015 exhibition in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery Review: Kew's Heritage Trees - paintings by Masumi Yamanaka. She is currently a resident artist at Kew.
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Masumi Yamanaka in her exhibition of watercolour paintings of Kew's Heritage Trees in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew in 2015
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Pencil Artists (graphite and/or coloured pencils)
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Susan Christopher Coulson PVPSBA GM (1999, 2001)
b. 1955 in Durham. Botanical artist and tutor. She graduated in Fashion and Textiles (1977) and worked for a number of years in the Fashion Industry. Began to focus on botanical art in 1994 using coloured pencils and is particularly well known for her composite drawings. She has won two RHS Gold Medals and numerous other awards. She is a member of the Sheffield Florilegium Society. Elected to the Society of Botanical Artists in 2001 she was until recently one of its Vice Presidents. 2 drawings in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and exhibited in Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art (2019/20) Guy William Eves Guy works in graphite. He is a fellow of The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and has had work exhibited at The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, USA Julia Craig-McFeely GM (2014) Started botanical art in 2010 and won an RHS Gold Medal in 2014 for her series of drawings in coloured pencil and graphite of "Apples - A Wisley Pomona" |
Susan Christopher Coulson with her work at the 2009 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists
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Janie Pirie GM (2009)
Won an RHS gold medal for a series of paintings of orchard fruits and ‘Best Botanical Artist in Show' at Malvern in 2009. She also been exhibited at the 13th International Exhibition run by the Hunt Institute. Published her first book in 2009. |
Julie Small GM (2000)
An outstanding pencil artist whose work displays great subtlety. Her career started in 1996 and she was awarded a an RHS GM in 2000. She has also showed in the 10th Hunt International Exhibition and has work in the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute, the National Museum of Wales and Sheffield Botanical Gardens and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She exhibits annually with the SBA. |
Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils by Ann Swan
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This was the first book by a Gold Medal Winning Botanical Artist to focus on how to create very high standards of botanical art in coloured pencils.
It remains a bible for very many coloured pencil artists. READ my Book review: Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils covering highlights of the contents and who should buy this book |
Hardcover: 128 pages
UK Publisher: Collins (1 April 2009) USA Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; 1 edition (April 1, 2010) This book is rated - out of 5 stars
UK: 4.7 stars by 108 customer reviews USA: 4.9 stars by 107 customer reviews BUY THS BOOK Botanical Painting with Coloured Pencils
 from Amazon.co.ukBotanical Portraits with Colored Pencils
 from Amazon.com |
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Ann Swan GM (1993,1993, 1997, 1999)
One of the leading botanical artists and art tutors in pencil and coloured pencils. She's won four RHS Gold Medals for Lycastre Orchids from the National Collection and has had three works purchased by the RHS Lindley Library. She is also a member of the RHS Picture Committee. Her book about using coloured pencils for botanical art was published in 2009. Sue Vize SBA ASBA A pencil artist working in graphite and coloured pencils who works full time and throughout the year on producing and teaching botanical art and illustration. She's also a member of the Sheffield Florilegium Society. She exhibited at the 13th International exhibition at the Hunt. Her work is held by the RHS Lindley Library, Nottingham University Plant Sciences Division and the Hunt Institute. In 2016 her highly rated nstruction book was published |
Ann Swan (right) receiving a Certificate of Botanical Merit from Elizabeth Banks DL, the then President of the Royal Horticultural Society, at the 2012 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists.
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Botanical Drawing using Graphite and Coloured Pencils by Sue Vize
  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED What's different about this book is it focuses on working through techniques for botanical drawing while focused on different parts of the plant e.g. roots and storage organs, stems, leaves, flowers. fruit and seeds. Plus also considers the particular demands of spirals and fungi. It has a constant emphasis on the botanical as well as the artistic. |
What this book provides is DETAIL in relation to instruction - and LOTS of it. This in turn makes it especially appreciated by lots of buyers.
The tips highlighted in boxes are especially helpful and very accessible. It covers:
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Paperback: 176 pages
over 300 illustrations Publisher: The Crowood Press Ltd Publication date: 15 June 2016 BUY IN THE UK Rated an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars based on 35 customer reviews Botanical Drawing Using Graphite and Coloured Pencils
from Amazon UKBUY IN THE USA Rated an average of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 15 customer reviews Botanical Drawing Using Graphite and Coloured Pencils
 from Amazon.com |
Sue Vize is a member of SBA and ASBA, an experienced botanical artist/tutor with work in the RHS Lindley Library.
Oil Painters
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Linda Alexander
Qualified as an architect and worked for a number of award winning architectural practices. Her graphic skills were employed preparing artwork and presentation drawings for national and international competitions. She's now an oil painter who became a full-time professional artist after a sell-out show in 2005. She is a signature member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Society of Botanical Artists. Linda has been exhibiting her botanicals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show since 2007 and also at RHS Wisley. She's won a number of prestigious awards for her art. She teaches privately in her studio in Isleworth |
Linda Alexander with her paintings on her stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017.
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Professional Botanical Illustrators and Artists working in Pen and Ink
Pen and ink is primarily used by professional botanical illustrators because of the ease and cost associated with images for publication in scientific journals. In addition, most botanical illustrations in pen and ink are made from material from a herbarium which has lost all colour.
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Claire Banks
Awarded the Jill Smythies award for Botanical Illustration by The Linnean Society in 2015. Works as a botanical illustrator for the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and as a tutor for the botanical art diploma and certificate courses run by RBGE. |
Christine Grey-Wilson GM
Illustrated plants for Kew for 12 years. She has a degree in botany and won an RHS Gold Medal for her botanical drawings. She also produced pen and ink drawings for the Alpine Garden Society’s Plant Encyclopaedia (now online), the Royal Horticultural Society’s Dictionary of Gardening and Beth Chatto’s Plant Portraits. Now active with Iceni Botanical Artists and teaching botanical illustration. |
Karen Musgrave Hill won an RHS Gold Medal at Malvern in 2015 for six chrysanthemum flower heads drawn three times larger than life size in pen and ink. She normally works in coloured pencil, graphite pencil and pen & ink.
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Lucy T Smith GM
A world class botanical illustrator, Lucy is an Australian who has worked for the botanists at Kew Gardens as a botanical illustrator for over 20 years. She works in pen and ink and watercolour and also teaches botanical illustration at Kew.
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Lucy T. Smith with one of the pen and ink drawings completed for a Kew Gardens project - photographed at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery (2014)
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Lucy T. Smith with her painting of the Victoria amazonica leaf - photographed at "The Wonderful World of Water Plants" Exhibition at Kew (2023)
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Camilla Speight GM
Known for her quite remarkable draughtsmanship in pen and ink. Has produced many line drawings for RHS Manuals and dictionaries. Has won a number of RHS Gold Medals and also exhibited at the Hunt. My first encounter with her work had me inspecting the tiny pen and ink marks she uses and her total control of tone. Dr Sherwood is a big admirer of her drawings and owns a number. (e.g. see Banksia coccinea 1996 Pen and ink drawing A Passion for Plants page 229). Illustrated the RHS Concise Garden Dictionary. |
Margaret Tebbs
Worked as a botanical illustrator for Kew Gardens, specialising in pen and ink drawings of new plants. Awarded the Jill Smythies medal for botanical illustration by the Linnean Society in 2011. Her illustrations have been published worldwide in a number of Journals, Books and Floras. |
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Hazel Wilks
Born in Zimbabwe. Completed a BSc degree at Rhodes University, South Africa, in 1994. Has worked as a freelance botanical illustrator for Kew since 2001. Her drawings have been published in 14 scientific publications including the Kew Bulletin, the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society and Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. She completed 110 illustrations for the book 'New Trees: Recent Introductions to Cultivation' which was published in 2009 by the International Dendrology Society and Kew. These drawings are now owned by a significant collector. Currently engaged on a large commission for Singapore Botanic Gardens. |
Hazel Wilks with Sandra Doyle at the Worldwide Day of Botanical Art at Kew 18 May 2018
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Amanda Willoughby GM (1997, 2002)
Grew up in Lincolnshire. Studied Graphic Information Design in London, MA Graphic Design in Leicester and Botanical Illustration at the University of Sheffield (1994) and she specialises in illustrating habitats associated with urban places or historical economic activity. She has two RHS Gold Medals - Plants of the Urban Wasteland (Nov. 1997); Rare and Endangered Cornfield Flowers at Ryedale Folk Museum (Jan.2002). Her most recent project have involved illustrating metallophyte flora of old lead mines in the North Pennines and the Peak District and Coal, Collapse, Colonisation: Plant Species Colonising the Decaying Industrial Features of an Abandoned Victorian Colliery. She has exhibited widely in the UK. (website: http://www.amandawilloughby.com/ currently down) |
Rosemary Wise FLS
Botanical Illustrator for the University of Oxford's Department of Plant Sciences; an associate member of the staff of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Fellow of the Linnean Society. Awarded the prestigious, annual international Jill Smythies award (1994) by the Linnean Society for published botanical illustration. Oxford University presented her with the Sibthorp Medal for 'life time services to botany' to mark 50 years working at Oxford. She estimates that 90-95% of her work is done in pen and ink. She has travelled widely and worked on very many projects with the botanists at the University and taught illustration courses for botanists in Bolivia, Sweden, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. She now runs the run the Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum Florilegium Project. Images of her work and Review by Oxford Times |
SEE ALSO
Botanical Photography
The Art of Plants by Nigel Chapman (RHS Gold Medal Autumn 2014)
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Isabel Bannerman produces large format photographs which record meticulous detail in plants and flowers. The Private Collections of The Prince of Wales, Jasper Conran, James Dyson and Richard E. Grant include her photographs
Jan Cassidy GM has won two Gold Medals for her lichen photography. She is a a Cambridge based writer and environmental photographer who teaches photography to women. |
Nigel Chapman GM has won many Gold Medals (see my posts about him RHS Gold Medal winning Botanical Photography in 2012 and in 2014). You can see his former exhibits at the RHS on his website
Laurence Hill GM won Gold in the RHS Botanical Photography Exhibition 2014 for a unique display of Kobaimo - Japanese Endemic Fritillaria which impressed in terms of both scholarship and techniques. Plus Gold in 2017 for "Deconstructed Fritillaria" |
Laurence Hill and his Fritillaria Flower Map at the RHS Botanical Photography Show 2015
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Clay Perry GM
Won a Gold Medal for his suite of photographs of Heritage Fruit and Vegetables which paid homage to the still life artwork of Juan Sanchez Cotan (1561 - 1627). |
Polina Plotnikova GM (2014, 2015)
a Russian photographer based in the UK has won Gold Medals for her botanical photography in 2014 and 2015 after a series of Silver Gilts. |
Heritage Fruit and Vegetables by Clay Perry (GM 2012)
Polina Plotnikova with her Gold Medal winning display of Tall Bearded Irises - National Collection portfolio at the RHS Botanical Photography Show 2015
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Niki Simpson GM FLS (photography) 2007, 2008
A botanical artist (see Botanical painters above) and Fellow of the Linnean Society who now specialises in using digital techniques, including photography, for botanical illustration. In 2018, she received the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration from the Linnean Society. Niki has exhibited widely - a number of solo exhibitions solo exhibitions in BGBM Berlin, Germany, at the invitation of Herr Professor Lack (2007); in the UK at RHS Hyde Hall, Essex (2009), The Garden Museum, London (2010) and RHS Wisley, Surrey (2012). Her work is held in collections at RBG Kew, RHS Lindley Library and the Linnean Society of London. Commissioned to illustrate The Vegetative Key of the British Flora (2009). Her briar rose illustration was selected for the book Plant: Exploring the Botanical World. |
Niki Simpson with a display of her digital botanical illustrations for the viewing by the Fellows of the Linnean Society. Photo © Niki Simpson
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All artwork copyright the artists; all photographs copyright Katherine Tyrrell (except where indicated) - all rights reserved
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READ MORE about Botanical Illustration, Art & Artists on the following pages: |