Artists' Exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017

I now have the list of the exhibits for the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 - to be held at the end of this week in the RHS Lindley Hall in Vincent Square London.  

You can find the list below my commentary on the exhibits being displayed this year.
You can find our more information about the artists in RHS Botanical Art 2017 - Selected Artists.

The show is open to the public 24–25th February 10am–5pm. Free Entry - no ticket required

Casting my eye over the list of exhibits I see we will be viewing the usual orchids, roses and camellias as we do most years.

However I'm always more interested in what's novel or unusual. The first one which jumped out at me was the Pandanus (Mariko Ikeda) - which I know can make for a very striking painting. I've got a feeling either Kew or Shirley Sherwood have one in their collections.  Here's an example of what I mean.

a 19th century image of Pandanus furcatus Roxburgh by Christiaan Frederik Baede Jr (watercolour and pen and ink wash) Source: Naturalis Biodiversity Center/Wikimedia Common

Another one which was going to be really interesting is Plants of the Holy Qur'an (Sue Wickison GM) - however Sue has had to pull out at the last minute 

mainly because I haven't got a clue what these might be but am interested to find out.  I couldn't wait so started looking this up on Google and it seems they're a popular topic for academic papers! However one source says there are 22 identifiable plants belonging to seventeen plant families while another says there there are 54 !  I shall wait for Sue to pronounce on the topic however I think I might arrive armed with a list of what I think she might have painted (e.g. Olive, Fig, Pomegranate, Date Palm, Zinger and Allium).
​
​I note that we also have two lots of bamboo and I can't remember a single bamboo submission in the last 10 years!

I looked up Claudine Paquin's Plants of ‘Margredi’, dry grasslands of Friuli  as it sounded like a bigger project - and I was right. There's a major restoration project going on so I'm assuming the two might be connected.

Shirley Slocock's Wayside Tracks and Verges appeals to me as it's not going to be cultivated flowers so much as "found" flowers. I assume these will be wild plants - but who knows?

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Australia

• Eucalyptus of Western Australia - by Annie Hughes GM

France

• ​In an Irish Garden by Patricia Newman 

Hong Kong

• ​A Variety of Asian Bamboos by Mark Isaac-Williams

Italy

• Plants of ‘Margredi’, dry grasslands of Friuli by Claudine Pasquin 
• Excellent Harvests of Italy by Silvana Rava GM 

Japan

• Growth of Bamboo in Japan by Keiko Fujita 
• Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda (I'm looking forward to this one)
• Roses by Mayumi Ishii
• Cirsium in Japan by Hideko Kamoshita
• Chrysanthemum - Asako Kuwajima 
• Camellias of Japan by Harue Takumi 
• White Flowers by Kazumi Yoshikawa

New Zealand

• Plants of the Holy Qur'an by Sue Wickison GM (withdrawn)

South Korea

• Endemic Plants to Korea by Suyeon Kim 

Thailand (but living in Scotland)

• Tropical Versatile Plants by Sansanee Deekrajang GM (withdrawn)

UK

• Climbers growing in a Devon Garden by Kate Barling 
• Orchid Flower Portraits by Nigel Bowley 
• Datura by Olivia Chalmers 
• Wild Orchids of Crete by Sumiko Davies 
• Root Vegetables: Lifecycle by Bridget Gillespie 
• The Genus Lavandula by Sarah Jane Humphrey 
• Allium by Bridgette James
• Anemone hupehensis var. japonica and Anemone x hybrida (species of flowering perennials in the Ranunculaceae family) by ​Catherine Kellie 
• Clematis by Kathy Pickles GM 
• Metamorphosis - Lifecycle of Papaver orientale by Vivienne Rew 
• Wayside Tracks and Verges by Shirley Slocock

USA

• ​Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude by Denver School of Botanical Art & Illustration 
• Autumn Textures, Prickly to Smooth: Nuts, Cones & Fruit by Martha G Kemp GM 

Plus a further display which will not be judged

• Nerines - A tribute to John Terence Gallagher by Barbara Oozeerally

In terms of different ways of categorising exhibits I make that:

• species/plant specific: 10
• plants in a locality specific:  13
• life cycle specific: 2
• composite theme: 4

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