NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

More TOP TIPS from RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallists

29/2/2016

This website has a page devoted to Tips and Techniques for those aspiring to improve their development of botanical art.

A central section to that page are the tips which I've derived from interviews with botanical artists from around the world who have won an RHS Gold Medal at the Botanical Art Shows in London.

The exhibition of Xanthorrhoea (Grass Trees) by Australian artist Julie Nettleton - who won "Best Painting in Show" for the painting on the left

Tips from 2016 RHS Gold Medal Winners - Botanical Art is my latest blog post with top tips from gold medal winners.

These cover:

choosing a subject and a plant
botanical trends in RHS exhibits
preservation of the plant
preparation and reference material prior to painting
art materials - media and supports
drawing and painting in different media
continuous development of knowledge and skills
preparation for and presentation at the RHS London Botanical Art Show

The Tips and Techniques page will be updated this week to incorporate the latest set of valuable insights and tips and techniques by leading contemporary botanical artists

P.S. The new Facebook Page for Botanical Art and Artists is working extremely well and gained over 500 likes in 2.5 days. If you're interested in botanical art and artists why not take a look

0 Comments

Best in Show and Medallists at RHS London Botanical Art 2016

27/2/2016

0 Comments

Morning of the RHS Botanical Art Show 2016 brings news of medals and awards

You can find out about the medallists and who got the Best in Show Awards in this post on Making A Mark - RHS London Botanical Art Show 2016 - Medal Winners. In total there are:

13 Gold Medallists
8 Silver Gilt Medallists
11 Silver Medallists
1 Bronze Medallist

35 people were selected for exhibition and 2 pulled out leaving 33 exhibiting on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th February at the 2016 RHS London Botanical art Show in the RHS Lindley Hall in London.

The exhibition looked splendid with its brand new white stands. They're very robust and stable and the new arrangement within the hall makes it much easier to walk around. Plus you can see all the exhibit at once!

The exhibits which looked best are those which applied for enough space for one row of artwork. I'll be including more tips in future blog posts about the exhibition - which will include interviews with the 13 Gold Medallists.

0 Comments

Facebook Page for Botanical Art and Artists

24/2/2016

0 Comments

The brand new Botanical Art and Artists Facebook Page

Two announcements today.

I know a lot of people follow botanical art via social media and the use of Twitter and Facebook enables those who use these to follow more easily.

First I've got a brand new page on the website "About Botanical Art and Artists on Facebook" The aim of this page is to create an index of all those people and organisations that have a Facebook Page. It's not yet finished but it's already got a lot of content.

The second is that I've just created a brand NEW Facebook Page associated with this website. Its URL is https://www.facebook.com/botanicalartandartists and it's called (unsurprisingly) Botanical Art and Artists

This complements the recently created Twitter account (the URL for this is https://twitter.com/botanicartists) and the creation of this blog.

It means that I can share more information online without irritating those who are not interested in botanical art!

I'll continue to write about major events on "Making A Mark (such as the upcoming RHS Botanical Art Show) but lots of information about other exhibitions, events and the activities of societies, groups, courses and artists will now be carried by the social media associated with this website.

If you'd like to follow this website and the information shared you can:

Subscribe to this blog
Follow the Twitter account
Like the Facebook Page
or all three!

0 Comments

Margaret Mee and Brazilian botanical art at Kew Gardens

21/2/2016

0 Comments

Brazil: a powerhouse of plants: Margaret Mee, pioneering artist and her legacy opened yesterday at Kew Gardens.

The exhibition is on display at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art until 29 August 2016, 10am to 5pm.

The Cannonball Tree by Margaret Mee (Shirley Sherwood Collection)

The aim of the exhibition is to highlight artwork of the botanical flora of Brazil by various artists past and present. It includes artwork from the collections of both Kew gardens and Dr Shirley Sherwood.

The paintings of Margaret Mee - an English artist who went to live in Brazil - are a prominent feature of the exhibition. Mee's 15 trips into the Amazon Rain Forest recorded the diversity of its plant life - and new plants were also discovered on her trips.

As well as her paintings, visitors to the exhibition will also be able to see to trace her footsteps via a map of her travels and see other artifacts from her expeditions - including paintbrushes, paint pots and sketchbooks.

You can find out more - About Margaret Mee - on a NEW page on this website

'Aristolomia gigantic' by Rosalia Demonte (Shirley Sherwood Collection)

The exhibition also includes:

18th Century:

Copperplate engravings of the local flora of Rio de Janeiro from the Joseph Banks’ Florilegium. This is a collection of plates showing the novel plants collected on Captain Cook’s first HMS Endeavour voyage in 1768

19th Century

Works from the Kew Collection by old masters such as Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892) and Sydenham Edwards (1768 – 1819)
Orchid drawings by the Victorian artist Sarah Ann Drake (1803-1857). These were published in 1838 by botanist and orchidologist John Lindley in Sertum orchidaceum: a wreath of the most beautiful orchidaceous flowers.

20th and 21st centuries

paintings by contemporary Brazilian born artists such as Álvaro Nunes.
including Margaret Mee Scholars such as Fatima Zagonel. Her scholarship awarded in 1999 Scholar enabled her to travel to Kew Gardens to study botanical painting. She is also a founding member of the Centre of Botanical Illustration of Paraná (CIBP)

You can read more about the exhibition in this post Discovering Brazil in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art by Joanne Yeomans in the Kew Gardens Library, Art and Archives blog

There is also a linked exhibition - Orchids 2016. If visiting the exhibition before 6th March you can also view the transformation of the Princess of Wales Conservatory into a celebration of Brazil’s plant life and habitats.

0 Comments

Sarah Morrish - tips on preparing a botanical art exhibit for the RHS

19/2/2016

0 Comments

Finishing and fine tuning - reaching that goal is a blog post by Sarah Morrish about the process she has been following as she prepares for the RHS London Botanical Art Show which she is exhibiting at in a week's time (26th and 27th February).

The header of Sarah's blog "The Natural Year"

With under a week to go until the RHS London Botanical Art Show, I thought that I would pen some words, hopefully to encourage others and also to give an insight into what goes into the preparation of such an exhibit in the final stages.
Sarah Morrish - Nature's Details blog

This is recommended reading for anybody contemplating applying to exhibit their botanical art with the RHS.

It's particularly useful for all the things you need to think about in terms of presentation of your exhibit and the wisdom of getting various aspects sorted well before the deadline for 'being ready to go'

I'm adding a link to it to my Tips and Techniques page on the website.

0 Comments

Korean Botanical Art in Vienna 2016

8/2/2016

0 Comments

Exhibition Flyer

The Korea Botanical Arts Cooperative are exhibiting In Austria in February. The exhibition opens next Monday and lasts for a week.

Venue: the Korea Kulturhaus Österreich
Dates: Monday 15th February - Monday 22nd February 2016 (11:00am to 19:00pm)
(Note: Details are being added to the Exhibitions in Europe Page)

The exhibition includes work by Soyoung Sin, Sujung Jung, Sunhwa Lee and Jiyeon Choi who are all graduates of the Society of Botanical Art's Distance Learning Diploma Course (from courses 10,11 and 12).

SoYoung Sin will also have work on show at the RHS London Botanical Art Show at the end of the month.

0 Comments

Other exhibitors at RHS London Botanical Art Show

6/2/2016

0 Comments

A number of the organisations who exhibited at last year's show will be back again later this month - for the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2016

Education in Botanical Art

The three leading providers of botanical art education in the UK will all be present at the show. Those wanting to pursue and education and/or career in botanical art should definitely attend the show to see what's on offer, how they vary and ask questions.

The Chelsea School of Botanical Art - Will be running a pop-up classroom with demonstrations of botanical painting techniques that form part of the school's curriculum, as well as student and tutor work in progress.
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - a world-renowned centre of excellence for botanical art. Learn more about the courses on offer here.
The Society of Botanical Artists Founded in 1985, the Society of Botanical Artists brings together artists of national and international repute. Demonstrations will take place throughout the Show, featuring various media associated with botanical illustration.

The Vice President and President of the SBA and Director of the Distance Learning Diploma Course

Botanical and Florilegium Societies

Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society - Now in its 20th year, painting plants from this renowned garden, creating a collection of now 650 works. Artists will be demonstrating botanical painting during the Show.
Leicestershire Society of Botanical Artists - This Midlands society has an exhibition at Burghley House, Stamford in October 2016.

Botanical Artists / Tutors

Julia Trickey

Two RHS Gold Medal winning artists will be demonstrating techniques - one in watercolour and the other in coloured pencils. The photos are from last year's show.

Julia Trickey - Botanical Artist & Tutor Award-winning botanical artist and experienced tutor. Demonstrating various watercolour techniques, mainly how to use wet-in-wet techniques to create form at the beginning of any botanical study.
Susan Christopher-Coulson will be demonstrating various aspects of coloured pencil technique as well as discussing the different types of pencils and papers and their uses.

Susan Christopher Coulson's coloured pencils - with colour charts

Other Exhibitors

Eco Design Fair Coasters and table mats made in London using up-cycled botanical books, magazines and maps dating from 1930s to the present. Will be running a workshop in up-cycling, using off-cuts of images to make
Hannah McVicar Printmaker and illustrator who specialises in botanical screenprints which she exhibits all over the UK. Hannah will be demonstrating how she creates her botanical screenprints by producing a limited edition five colour screenprint specifically for the show.
The Pressed Flower Guild aim to raise the standard of pressed flower art by holding conferences, workshops and seminars around the UK. They are demonstrating up to date techniques using pressed plant material on greeting cards. Visitors can join a workshop to make a keyring with pressed flowers. www.pressedflowerguild.org.uk
RHS Shop are selling gardening and gift products. All profits are reinvested into the RHS’ charitable work.
Save Me I'm Wild Photographic prints of pressed flowers as greeting cards, mat-mounted and framed prints.

The complete list of trade stand exhibitors is available as a pdf file with the names of the artists exhibiting in the Botanical Art Show

You can read about the backgrounds of the exhibiting artists in the main botanical art show in my blog post RHS Botanical Art 2016 - Selected Artists on my main blog.

0 Comments

<<Previous