Botanical Art & Artists

Review: Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2017 - Changing Seasons

16/10/2017

This post is a review of the 2017 annual exhibition "Changing Seasons" of the Society of Botanical Artists. This year there are 467 paintings, drawings and prints, Miniatures and works in three dimensions (glass, sculpture, jewellery) by members and associated members of the SBA and artwork from non-members selected from the open entry.

The show is on at the Central Hall Westminster in London (opposite Westminster Abbey) until Saturday 21st October. It's open every day from 11am to 5pm and admission is free.

Artwork by (left) in coloured pencils by Su Jin Park and (right) watercolour by SMA member Roger Reynolds GM SBA

I'm going to comment on:

viewing this year's exhibition - including changes, what I liked and what I thought can be improved
some of the botanical artists and artworks which particularly caught my eye
how the exhibition has changed in the decade I've been reviewing it.

I'm also going to use seperate and subsequent posts to

highlight some smaller works by artists I don't normally mention which caught my eye
pricing and sales - because I think maybe artists need a bit more guidance

Viewing this year's exhibition

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Society of Botanical Art 2017 - Certificates of Botanical Merit

14/10/2017

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This is about the artists awarded Certificates of Botanical Merit and is the second of three posts about the annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists in London. This one

follows on from yesterday's post about the artists who received awards; and
precedes my review of the exhibition.

Below are the names of the artists and an image of the work which received the award.

The Awards Ceremony at the Private View. President Sandra Armitage presiding and Jekka McVicar presenting awards and certificates.

About the Certificates of Botanical Merit

The annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists is not a "strictly botanical" show in the same way that the RHS botanical art shows are. This is because the SBA's founder Suzanne Lucas MBE FLS HPRMS PPRMS FPSBA HonSWA HSF BMS (1915-2008) believed very strongly that the portrayal of plants need not always be highly scientific and illustrative.

“To incorporate more recent techniques and styles in a broader interpretation; combining the scientific and representational, giving a rich and varied view of the wonderful world of plants.”

Consequently the SBA created the award of a Certificate of Botanical Merit in order to:

highlight the importance of drawings and paintings which are created in a botanical style - including some which observe the very precise niceties of scientific botanical illustration
for those botanical artworks in the exhibition which are particularly noteworthy in this respect.

To my way of thinking, the CBMs are a nod in the direction of those artists who might well be expected to go on and achieve a medal at the RHS Shows. I've known very many members of the SBA who have been more a lot more impressed by getting a CBM than getting another sort of award!

The Judge

The work is always judged by a professional who is independent of the SBA.

The expert judge was Lucy T. Smith GM BVA MVA who also judged the artwork in last year's exhibition. Lucy is an experienced and award-winning professional botanical illustrator who produces botanical illustrations for publication by the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. She won the Margaret Flockton Award in 2014 and 2017 (see Second Margaret Flockton Award win for Lucy T. Smith) and the Jill Smythies Award for Botanical Illustration, awarded by the Linnean Society of London in 2004 . Her work has been published in numerous scientific publications. She also works as a botanical art tutor at Kew (including the Certificate of Botanical Illustration at Kew) and the Chelsea School of Botanical Art.

When judging the artwork for CBMs, Lucy awarded these on the basis of images which fulfilled the brief of describing the plant accurately and well rather than according to a strict botanical illustration brief.

A new Award - for the premier CBM

"Prunus domestica 'Victoria' " (£1,700) by Shevaun Doherty SBA (watercolour on vellum)

A NEW award has been created for the premier winning work of the CBMs.

The award was highlighted in yesterday's blog post and was won by Shevaun Doherty for her Prunus domestica 'Victoria' - a watercolour painting on vellum. Shevaun is the tutor for painting on vellum for the SBA's Distance Learning Diploma Course.

The CBMs in 2017

The artworks and their artists receiving CBMs in 2017 are listed below - followed by images of their work. The artworks also list the media and the price of the work in the image caption.

The name of the work is listed first followed by an alphabetical listing by surname of the artist - with a link to their website embedded in their name if they have one.

Prunus domestica 'Victoria' Shevaun Doherty SBA DipSBA(Dist.)
Pinus halepensis by Giovanni Cera Assoc.SBA (Italy)
Daisy Meadow by Timothy Draper BSc Assoc.SBA - image to follow
Flowered Teasel by Sharon Fox BA Hons. (Scotland)
Turning Leaves by Christiana Hale Webb
Vessels of Life by Jackie Isard BA(Hons)
Allium sphaerocephalon by Bridgette James SBA SGL
Begonia Leaves by Carmen Lyons DipFA AssocSBA
Sponge Gourd by Su Jin Park (Korea?)
Rosa cenina - Dog Rose by Roger Reynolds GM BSc CertEd SBA
Changing Seasons - Fraximus excelsior by Pauleen Trim AssocSBA HS

Now for the images of the artwork which merited a CBM.....

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Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2017

13/10/2017

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This post is the first of three about the annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists:

today's post is about the botanical artists receiving awards at "Changing Seasons" the 2017 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. It includes images of the artwork receiving awards and more information about the artists (links to their websites are embedded in their names).
tomorrow's post is about those awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit
finally, Sunday's post will be a review of the exhibition as a whole and a commentary on its development over the last decade that I have been writing reviews of this exhibition.

The show is on at the Central Hall Westminster in London (opposite Westminster Abbey) until 21 October. The exhibition opens to the public TODAY and is then open every day from 11am to 5pm. Admission is free.

Society Awards

The Joyce Cuming Presentation Award

This is probably one of the most prized awards and is a sterling silver Almoner’s plate which is a legacy from Joyce Cuming. The winner also receives a certificate.

Winner of The Joyce Cuming Presentation Award - "Allium christophii" (£500) by Bridgette James watercolour

This year the prize is awarded to Bridgette James SBA SGL for her Allium christophii which is very impressive. She has been a professional artist since 1987 and a member of The Society of Botanical Artists for more than 20 years. In February this year she exhibited her suite of Allium paintings at the RHS and was awarded a Silver Gilt Medal.
Judges also produce a list of people who were Highly Commended during the selection process.

Those identified as highly commended for this award in 2017 are:

Shevaun Doherty SBA for "Prunus domestica 'Victoria' "
Sandra Doyle for "The 4,000 year old Cypress of Abaruh, Sarv-e Abarkuh, Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis"
Penny Gould SBA for "Euphorbia amygaloides 'Purpurea' "
Christiana Hale Webb for "Turning Leaves" (Her painting ‘Winter Oak Leaves’ is held in the RHS Lindley Library art collections.)
Yumi Henderson "Fuschia 'Irene Stinton' "
Svetlana Lanse "Capiscum annuum"
Roger Reynolds GM SBA "Quercus robur Pendulate Oak"
Julie Whelan SBA "Couroupita guianensis - Cannonball Tree"

Images of their artwork can be seen below. Shevaun Doherty's painting appears further down as it won another Award.

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Review: Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition

11/10/2017

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Yesterday I visited the Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition at Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery just off the Fulham Road in Chelsea. The exhibition finishes on Saturday and I very much recommend you try and get to see it if you can before it finishes. Her work is simply stunning!

View into the Gallery from Park Walk

There's a very big incentive for those coming to London for the SBA Annual Exhibition to also make a visit to the gallery to see this one too. Gallery hours are 10am – 6.30pm on weekdays and 11am – 4pm on Saturday so it's definitely possible to fit two botanical art exhibitions into one day!

Three of the paintings in the Rosie Sanders: Secret Letter Exhibition

The exhibition focuses in particular on large and small paintings of roses - painted in a less conventional way - from the rear or as they have reached a stage where they are past their best but nonetheless marvellous convoluted structures.

The box with the secret letters - one of which is given to the buyer of each painting - is displayed in the window

The box of Secret Letters

The exhibition also includes

smaller paintings of parrot tulips (typically 15.35 x 19.68ins / 39 x 50cm)
large watercolour paintings of irises and a dandelion clock on backgrounds of black charcoal.

I think many of the more precise botanical artists might be surprised by Rosie's techniques. Rather than using dry brushwork, it's her practice to work much more directly - wet in wet and mixing her colours on the paper. She's extremely adept at developing very convincing structures through masterful use of tone and colour.

Her work is not matted. Rather the deckle edged paper is float mounted within a narrow quality frame.

The paper she uses is either

Arches 640gsm paper (for larger paintings with dimensions in excess of 100cm); or
Richard de Bas handmade paper for the smaller works.

The latter comes from a paper mill, at Ambert d'Auvergne in France, which has been handmaking paper for the last 700 years. (see this page for more about what the mill has to offer)

Prices of paintings are for the serious collector - one of whom is Shirley Sherwood. I arrived at the gallery after a visit to her home nearby where I admired her new acquisition of a splendid smaller painting of a very red rose past its best.

Don't miss some of the larger paintings on the lower floor of the gallery!

I took some short video shots as well yesterday and will include the video in this post after I've done the editing - which always takes a little time.

Two of the large paintings of roses - seen in the lower floor - both have sold.

Sales have been very brisk - Rosie's work is always very popular!

I counted sixteen paintings of the 26 paintings in the exhibition sold to date. Prices of those paintings still available can be seen on the website and are in five figures for the larger paintings and £3,800 for the smaller paintings.

Paintings also include large paintings of tulips and irises as well as roses

For those who couldn't get to see the exhibition - this is my video of a walk round the exhibition. It starts outside in Park Walk, shows you the window of the gallery with the box of secrets and then looks around the walls on the ground floor and lower floor.

Rosie exhibits with Jonathan on a regular basis - typically a solo show every one to two years which always do well as her work is very collectible. You can see all currently available work on the gallery website.

You can also see her work in her book Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art (affiliate link).

Gallery: Jonathan Cooper, 20 Park Walk, London SW10 0AQ
Bus: 211, 11 and 22 on the Kings Road or 14 and 414 on the Fulham Road
Tube: South Kensington and Sloane Square

My previous reviews of her work and exhibitions:

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Selected Artists for 'Out of the Woods'

8/10/2017

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44 artworks by 39 botanical artists from 8 countries around the world will be exhibited in the Out of the Woods: Celebrating Trees in Public Gardens - The Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial - which opens on 18th November 2017.

The exhibition is organised by the American Society of Botanical Artists in liaison with the New York Botanical Garden.

The artists producing artwork selected for the exhibition are listed below - grouped according to their country. A link to their website or their gallery page on an art society is embedded in their name. (I'd also add that I much enjoyed looking at all the galleries on their websites!)

Subjects for the paintings in this exhibition are all trees in public gardens or arboreta. Each painting records the location of the tree. The artwork is in a variety of media including watercolour, oil, graphite, coloured pencil and ink.

The goal of the exhibition is to

record notable trees in public collections for the historical record and
highlight the role of botanical gardens and arboreta in educating the public about trees and their ecological and utilitarian roles, as well as their research/scholarship in these areas.

©Ingrid Finnan, Snake Branch Spruce, oil on paper, 13-1/2" x 10-1/2", New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY

USA

Susan Benjamin (Florida)
Karen Coleman (Virginia)
Monika deVries Gohlke (Brooklyn)
Carrie Di Costanzo (USA)
Jean Emmons (Vashon Island, Washington)
Beverly Fink (New York State)
Ingrid Finnan (USA) - see image
Deborah Friedman (California)
Ann Hoffenberg (New Jersey)
Wendy Hollender (New York State)
Claudia Lane (Chicago)
Stephanie Law (N. California)
Lucy Martin (California) - see image

©Lucy Martin, Big-leaf Maple with Mushrooms, Gouache on paper, 17" x 23", University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley, CA

Joan McGann (Sonoran Desert, Arizona)
Linda Medved Lufkin (Minneapolis)
Julie Sims Messenger (Cape Cod)
Robin Moore
Alexandra Negoita (New York State)
Keiko Nibu-Tarver (Philadelphia)
Derek Norman (Chicago)
Betsy Rogers-Knox (Litchfield County, Connecticutt)
Sarah Roche (Cohasset, Massachusetts)
Olga Ryabtsova (California)
Mitsuko Schultz (California)
Heidi Snyder (Colorado)
Jeannetta vanRaalte (New York State)
Carol Woodin (USA)

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"The Amazing World of Trees" exhibition in Bath

6/10/2017

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Tulip Tree by Maureen Seed

Trees are the largest plants on earth and some of the oldest. Bath Society of Botanical Painters (BSBP) took on the daunting challenge of capturing their strong forms and delicate beauty for their NEW exhibition The Amazing World of Trees.

It opened yesterday in Bath - details below.

Venue: The Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution, Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Dates: 5 - 23 October 2017 (Closed Sundays) 10am - 4pm daily

This exhibition builds on themes we have explored over recent years, and combines our passion for botanical art with an equal passion for exploring and conserving the environment. Trees play a vital role in helping to balance the world’s ecosystems: did you know that trees can communicate with other trees, ward off predators and protect their seedling offspring?

Preparing for an exhibition

In preparation for the exhibition, BSBP ran a number of workshops in different aspects of drawing and painting trees with different tutors ahead of the exhibition in order to get members attuned to the particular demands of representing a tree - given they are a subject not always pursued by all botanical artists. Sounds to me like a great way of developing skills in member artists and a great exhibition at the same time!

Exhibition event

Alan Power, Garden and Estate Manager for Stourhead and BBC Presenter, will be giving a talk entitled My Life with Trees and Theirs with Me on 13th October at 7.30. Details of how to book this event on the exhibition page of the website

Bath Society of Botanical Artists

This is a small local botanical art society based around Bath in the west of England.
Key features of this society are as follows:

all members share a passion for painting plants
many started with little or no knowledge of botanical art
members meet and paint weekly in Winsley, a small village near Bath
some members have studied for and gained a qualification in botanical art
a number of members now exhibit at the RHS in London and have been awarded been awarded Gold, Silver Gilt or Silver Medals.
You can see the names of members and view their work on the Gallery Page of their website

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'Cannabis - A Visual Perspective' - botanical art exhibition by RMSBA at Boulder Museum

3/10/2017

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The new exhibition "Cannabis - a Visual Perspective" exhibition by the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists (motto - "botanical art with attitude') is getting some great publicity. I think it might be breaking records!

The exhibition is in the BioLounge of the Colorado University's Boulder Museum of Natural History. It opened last month and continues until 26 January 2018 and the admission is FREE.

The aim of the exhibition is for botanical illustration to help those who see the exhibition to appreciate the diversity of the Cannabis genus. Although there's no virtual version of the exhibition by either the museum or the art society, I did come across a virtual exhibition on OnlineJuriedShows website of all the work entered for the show.

The subject for the exhibition will be the entire Cannabis genus, including all three species and seven subspecies.
Prospectus-Cannabis, a Visual Perspective

What's unique about the exhibition?

“Our vision in highlighting the cannabis plant was for this to be educational. “We just wanted to take it back to [the fact] that this is a plant – just like any of the others out in your garden. It’s nature. Let’s let the dialogue go from there.”
RMSBA president Vanessa Martin

The exhibition deserves mention and promotion for several reasons:

It's the first ever exhibition of images of the cannabis plant in the USA
It's strictly non-political and is not 'making a statement' about the plant
It's happening in a state which has legalised the use of cannabis for recreational use
It's highlighting the variation in the visual image of a cannabis plant
It helps highlight the ground-breaking research being undertaken by Colorado University to expand our knowledge of this group of flowering plants. Last year, the university received more than $830,000 to study the effects of high-potency cannabis on the brain and human behaviour. The grant was one of multiple state-funded grants to study the effects of marijuana on public health — research funded by sales of legal pot in the state.

It's great to see an exhibition which links back to the reason why people started drawing and painting plants in the first place - because of their medicinal and other useful properties (see the Herbals section of my website)

“This is the first exhibit of its kind that we know of in the United States. We really want to focus on the artistic process as well as use this as a launching point to talk about the science that’s happening on campus on this flowering species of plant.”
Suzanne Balog, Event and communications specialist at the Boulder Museum

In terms of the art in the exhibition, images have rendered in rendered in watercolour, coloured pencil, print and mixed media. Below you can see a wonderful public post on Facebook by Dorothy DePaulo. Her artwork is in coloured pencils on drafting film and measures 11 x 14 inches.

Other artwork that stood out for me (on the virtual exhibition) includes:

a solar plate etching (11x14") of Charlotte's Web Cannabis by Susan T Fisher
a watercolour and Coloured Pencil painting (18x24") of 'Cannabis indica ssp. indica Peyote Purple' by Pam Miller
a wonderful Pen and Ink drawing (11x14") of Cannabis sativa / Rio Negro, Colombia / A. Male, B. Female by Shiere Melin who did her Certificate and Diploma, Botanical Illustration at the Denver Botanic Gardens / School of Botanical Art and Illustration
an attractive watercolour painting (9x12") titled Harlequin Seduction by Terri Knok
what appears to be a pencil drawing (9x12") of Cannabis sativa Cherry by Patti Hearn
and findally, a fine watercolour painting on hemp paper (12x16") of Wild Marijuana,Cannabis sativa by Linda Powers

Cannabis isn’t a single species: It’s a genus of flowering plants with up to three species: sativa, ruderalis and indica. (Debates about how to classify the species have raged since the plant was first classified in 1753.)
Washington Post

Illustrating the challenge!

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<<Previous

News about
Botanical Art
and for Botanical Artists

Review: Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2017 - Changing Seasons

Viewing this year's exhibition

Society of Botanical Art 2017 - Certificates of Botanical Merit

About the Certificates of Botanical Merit

The Judge

A new Award - for the premier CBM

The CBMs in 2017

Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2017

Society Awards

The Joyce Cuming Presentation Award

Review: Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition

Selected Artists for 'Out of the Woods'

"The Amazing World of Trees" exhibition in Bath

Preparing for an exhibition

Exhibition event

Bath Society of Botanical Artists

'Cannabis - A Visual Perspective' - botanical art exhibition by RMSBA at Boulder Museum

What's unique about the exhibition?

Illustrating the challenge!

Author

Copyright

Subscribe to BAA News

What's your news?

2016 Workshops, Classes & Courses

The Best Botanical Art Instruction Books

BAA News Archives

Categories

Archive (MaM)

News about ​Botanical ​​Artand for ​Botanical Artists

Review: Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2017 - Changing Seasons

Viewing this year's exhibition​

Society of Botanical Art 2017 - Certificates of Botanical Merit

About the Certificates of Botanical Merit​

The Judge

A new Award - for the premier CBM

The CBMs in 2017

Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2017

Society Awards​

​The Joyce Cuming Presentation Award

Review: Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition

Selected Artists for 'Out of the Woods'

"The Amazing World of Trees" exhibition in Bath

Preparing for an exhibition

Exhibition event

Bath Society of Botanical Artists

'Cannabis - A Visual Perspective' - botanical art exhibition by RMSBA at Boulder Museum

​What's unique about the exhibition?​

Illustrating the challenge! ​

Author

Copyright

Subscribe to BAA News

What's your news?

2016 Workshops, Classes & Courses

The Best Botanical Art Instruction Books

BAA News Archives

Categories

Archive (MaM)

News about
Botanical Art
and for Botanical Artists

Viewing this year's exhibition

About the Certificates of Botanical Merit

Society Awards

The Joyce Cuming Presentation Award

What's unique about the exhibition?

Illustrating the challenge!