NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

The SBA Distance Learning Diploma - DEADLINE tomorrow!

29/9/2023

Just a reminder that the deadline for the Distance Learning Diploma in Botanical Art offered by the Society of Botanical Artists is TOMORROW 30th September 2023.

Course 21 will commence in January 2024.

Who can do it? The SBA's Distance LearningDiploma Course (DDLC) is open to students anywhere in the world and there are currently students from Australia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, India, Israel, Italy, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.
What are the dates? The Course lasts for 27 months and the fee includes a student subscription to the Society for the duration of the Course and Foundation membership of the Society for the year after Graduation. It starts in January each year.
Where can I find out more?
- This is the page dedicated to the DDLC https://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/education/distance-learning-diploma-course/
- An example of the prospectus, list of assignments, application form, fees and payment arrangements is available to download as a PDF here
How much does it cost? The cost of the entire course from January 2023 to June 2025 to be
- £4,155 for those living in the UK,
- £4,285 for those living in the EU and
- £4,430 for those living in the rest of the world (because of the different postage and courier rates).
Additional Notes:
- coursework has been updated and improved
- there are a number of new tutors starting in 2024. (I am still very much of the mind that ALL Diploma Courses should state the names of all the teachers - and provide some info about them - on their website)

You can also read about some of the DLDC assignments that students did in the past to get a sense of what's involved from a student perspective - on my page dedicated to Society of Botanical Art Diploma Course - commentary via blog posts

HOW TO DECIDE ON THE BEST COURSE FOR YOU

You can also check out alternative options for studying via a Diploma or Certificate on my page about Diploma and Certificate Courses in Botanical Art & Illustration in 2022-23 - which I will be updating in the near future.

This also includes a LOT of questions that I recommend every student should ask before making a decision as to which is the best course for them as an individual.

[PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH INFORMATION ABOUT ANY NEW DIPLOMAS OR CERTIFICATES - please use the form at the bottom of the page to provide:

updated details
details of new courses]

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Botanical Art Worldwide and in UK (excluding Scotland)

24/9/2023

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This post covers:

Basic Principles:
- Botanical Art Worldwide Central Guidelines
- Country Guidelines
Participating countries to date
Botanical Art Worldwide in the UK

Botanical Art Worldwide - Basic Principles

The second Botanical Art Worldwide Project will focus on and celebrate biodiversity in the crops that have been closely associated with the human species over thousands of years. The theme is designed to draw attention to the vast variety of food and useful plants available, in contrast with the relatively few varieties currently used in mass cultivation. Plants eligible for inclusion are those cultivated for food, textiles, building, energy, and medicine

BAW Central Guidelines

The theme of the Exhibition in 2025 is "Crop Diversity".

Eligible subject matter covers:

HERITAGE CROPS: Crops that are not used in modern, large scale monocultural agriculture. Crops chosen should have been in cultivation for a minimum of 50 years (in the country in which they're being portrayed).
CROP WILD RELATIVES: Wild species that can be hybridized with cultivated crops to impart a new characteristic to the cultivated crop, or that are foraged wild plants.
ANCIENT CROPS: Those that have been cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years in the same form.

Every country needs to comply with the central guidelines which will be produced by the Steering Committee for Botanical Art Worldwide.

These central guidelines has not yet been fully finalised - and hence not yet formalised and published . However these are coming soon and will be prominent on the Botanical Art Worldwide website when available.

BAW International Exhibition

The International Exhibition is going to be digital/virtual and will be available online to everybody around the world and remain on view during May 2025.

(To be honest, I've always thought that the point of going digital is you can remain online - as indeed all the historical art does in the various collections / major projects relating to past botanical artwork and illustrations. Maybe it's an issue of expense? There again YouTube is forever if you so choose.)

Overall Goals

Artists around the world are working on this project to:
- build partnerships between artists, institutions, scientists, and the public.
- raise awareness of the worldwide renaissance in botanical art.
- acknowledge and build upon the increasing ease of communication and connection between botanical artists wherever they might live and work.
- increase appreciation and understanding of crop diversity around the world.
- engage in a project to document some of the world’s diverse crop plants.

Components of the BAW Project 2025

BASIC PRINCIPLES of how it will work in every country - as agreed by the Steering Committee.

Exhibitions of original botanical artworks juried from submissions of artists in each participating country.
All will depict crop plants grown in each country to focus on worldwide crop diversity (i.e. not plants you can buy in the country; ONLY crops which grow in the country).
Digital presentations will be shown featuring artworks appearing in all other countries’ exhibitions.
Each country will set its own opening and closing dates for exhibitions and other events
- Lectures, webinars, workshops, demonstrations, and other public programming will be presented by organizers and host venues
- during the exhibitions’ opening times.
Exhibition venues around the world will all hold special events on May 18, 2025 - a Worldwide Day of Botanical Art following the sun from venue to venue.

Participating Countries

If your botanical art organisation / botanical garden / museum wants to participate - and your country is not already participating (see list below) - you should

either go to this page and find out who to contact
or email [email protected] for more information.

The following are all the participating countries - to date. I expect more will join.

Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
France
Germany
Indonesia
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Philippines
Republic of Korea
Russia
Scotland
Singapore
South Africa
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
USA

You can see everything that happened around the world on one page on my website - see ARCHIVE: World Wide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018. It includes a number of images and videos.

I will be setting up a similar page for Botanical Art Worldwide 2025 on this website very soon.

Country Guidelines / Exhibition

Each participating country has a Steering Committee who are organising the country contribution to the International Exhibition.

One member of that Steering Committee is on the International Steering Committee
Every country is going to choose 40 works for their digital contribution to the digital open INTERNATIONAL exhibition.

Within their own country, each country can choose to have as many artworks as they like in a physical exhibition in the country - depending on the space available.

Each country can organise additional lectures, webinars, workshops, demonstrations, and other public programming - during the dates agreed for the opening and closing of the exhibition in that country.

Botanical Art Worldwide in the UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

In the UK the contribution to Botanical Art Worldwide is SPLIT - as it was in 2018 - between:

UK excluding Scotland (i.e. England, Wales and Northern Ireland) These three countries are being organised by a consortium of botanical art societies / groups and "hosted" by the Association of Botanical Artists (more details below)
Scotland - Scotland's exhibition will be run by the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists (SSBA) - but there is nothing up on either the BAW or the SSBA websites as yet. I'm guessing they'll work "Scotia" into the title somehow as they did in 2018

Below you can find out more about

Botanical Art Worldwide Guidelines for UK (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
How to Register
Support for your entry
The Exhibition
A Webinar Talk about the project

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Finnis Scott Foundation: £10,000 Botanical Art Prize 2024

18/9/2023

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Applications are invited for the £10,000 Botanical Art Prize 2024 awarded by the Finnis Scott Foundation. This is about the Call for Entries, who can apply and how to apply.

In summary, the Botanical Art Prize is dedicated to the practice and promotion of botanical art. It aims

to support and promote collaborative botanical art projects in the UK and Ireland; and
through established botanical art groups which go beyond their day-to-day activities and recognises those which have already helped to raise the profile of botanical art.

Specifically the £10K Award is:

intended to fund discrete and collaborative projects that promote and encourage the practice and appreciation of botanical painting in the UK and/or Ireland
awarded biennially i.e. every two years.
sponsored by The Finnis Scott Foundation - a charity that was established by the will of the late Valerie Finnis to support Horticulture and Art.

Projects might include:

a new education programme,
the development of an existing course,
an exhibition, publication, event or collaborative project.

Previous Winners of this Botanical Art Prize have been:

2018 – Sir Cedric Morris Florilegium
2020 – Gloucestershire Society for Botanical Illustration
2022 – Scottish Society of Botanical Artists.

Links are to information about the projects which won the award.

Call for Entries: Botanical Art Prize 2024

What follows is about:

which organisations are eligible to apply
how to apply
how applications are assessed
the timeline
monitoring processes

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Botanical Art Worldwide 2025 Q&A Webinar TONIGHT!

12/9/2023

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The Association of Botanical Artists are TONIGHT hosting a free online webinar about Botanical Art Worldwide 2025 on Zoom for artists from around the world.

DATE: Tuesday 12th September
TIME: 8pm (British Summer Time)
TOPIC: Q&A session focused on the Botanical Art World Wide 2025 exhibition
SPEAKERS: Carol Woodin in conversation with Martin Allen
This session is designed to help answer any questions you may have about this exhibition.
WHO CAN VIEW: The event is open to ALL botanical artists no matter where you live.
This event is NOT just for ABA Members and you do not have to be a member to watch.
LINK: Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86845923213

The webinar is also being recorded and will be available to watch after the event.

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?
You can:

either email your questions in advance to the Association of Botanical Artists via assocbotart @ gmail.com (close the gaps before you send!)
or you can ask a question via the Chat Channel during the webinar.

Botanical Art Worldwide 2025

DATE: 18th May 2025 (i.e. 20 months in the future)
INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION: "Crop Diversity".

The second Botanical Art Worldwide Project will focus on and celebrate biodiversity in the crops that have been closely associated with the human species over thousands of years. The theme is designed to draw attention to the vast variety of food and useful plants available, in contrast with the relatively few varieties currently used in mass cultivation. Plants eligible for inclusion are those cultivated for food, textiles, building, energy, and medicine.
Currently, many heritage species and varieties are only cultivated in small quantities by specialist growers on a limited scale. It is vital to promote this genetic diversity in a world challenged by a growing population, changing climate, and habitat losses.
Botanical Art Worldwide Website

In 2025, Botanical Artists and associated organisations and various institutions from around the world will be collaborating to develop the second Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition by

creating botanical artworks related to crop diversity
exhibiting these artworks in each of the participating countries - at the same time.

All artwork will focus on plants which are included in one of the following categories

HERITAGE CROPS: Crops that are not used in modern, large scale monocultural agriculture. Crops chosen should have been in cultivation for a minimum of 50 years.
CROP WILD RELATIVES: Wild species that can be hybridized with cultivated crops to impart a new characteristic to the cultivated crop, or that are foraged wild plants.
ANCIENT CROPS: Those that have been cultivated for hundreds or thousands of years in the same form.

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Autumn 2023: Chinese watercolour of Asian Fruits

3/9/2023

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When I change the seasonal banners for my website and Facebook Page, I normally try to pick images for each seasonal banner of flowers or fruits which I'm totally confident are correct for the season. However I've been totally seduced by a wonderful album of Chinese watercolours of Asian fruits - and I have absolutely no idea which ones are correct in which season or even what some of the fruits are - despite three trips to the east (Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia) and visiting local markets! Although I think I recognised some....

The main problem is none of the fruits are identified in English and indeed each is identified only by very faint arabic script. However I did recognise the pink pineapple which I regularly see fruiting in the Princess of Wales Glasshouse at Kew.

[Note: feel free to suggest what the fruits are in this image via the comments]

Page 21 of the Album of Chinese Watercolours of Asian Fruits

I found the album:

in the Biodiversity Heritage Library website
it's also on the Internet Archive and
available to view via the Harvard Library Viewer.

I think the source is the Dunbarton Oaks website where it is identified as a rare heritage folio of Album of Chinese watercolors of Asian fruits]. [between 1798 and 1810]. There's absolutely no indication as to who the painter is. Such labels as do exist are written in Arabic script - which makes one wonder why they were identified as Chinese Watercolours.

The Harvard reference page states...

Bill Archer and his wife Mildred, an English art historian who specialized in 18th- and 19th-century art in British India, curator of Prints and Drawings at the India Office Library from 1954 to 1980, viewed this album of watercolors at Dumbarton Oaks around 1958 and determined from their style and coloring that the album was most likely painted by a Chinese artist, probably in Malaysia or Sumatra. Archer dated the manuscript to between 1798 and 1810.

while the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library shelflist card apparently states

"Drawn by Indian artists under English influence: probably done in India but has no relation to Chinese artists - check where Chinese were working at this time in India or possibly in Indo-China. Indian artists started this vogue of drawing. Writing is perhaps Malaysian."

Whoever painted them, the first 12 paintings are absolutely fascinating as they are very elaborate compositions which fill the page. they comprise:

several fruit on each page
sometimes at different stages of their life cycle
sometimes peeled or segmented to reveal their internal structure
surrounded by relevant flowers and foliage

Each of the 12 images are well worth studying in terms of composition and arrangement.

Asian artists who go large.....

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