Best Exhibit and Best Painting in RHS Botanical Art 2017

I went to the Preview of the RHS Botanical Art Show last night. Mostly to be able to have a chat with friends because they'll be very busy for the next two days. I also wanted to be able to have a quick look around the artwork before I get seriously stuck in to my review of the show and interviews with RHS Gold Medal-winning artists.

However I didn't get all the way round after I found the Best Exhibit and Best Painting - which happen to be opposite one another! (Expect big crowds in this area tomorrow and Saturday)

Best Exhibit in Show 2017

Some of you may recall that I said on Wednesday in Artists' Exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 that....

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.

Best Exhibit in Show and a Gold Medal for Mariko Ikeda.

I also said I was looking forward to seeing this exhibit. Naturally I had a big smile on my face when I saw that Mariko Ikeda had not only won a Gold Medal for her exhibit of Pandanus - she had also won the Best Exhibit in Show.

Her display of Pandanus is quite simply stunning in design, technical quality - both botanical and artistic - impact and presentation.  Everybody was talking about it!

More of this when I do my interview with Mariko. 

However one thing I'd like to say now. I was very touched when talking with Mariko, when she explained how much she had found my previous reviews and posts about the RHS Botanical Show to be very helpful in her preparation for this show. This is why I do what I do......

Best Painting in Show

Right opposite Mariko is Bridget Gillespie with her exhibit of Root Vegetables: Lifecycle.  It's another really splendid exhibit. I saw the first painting as I came round the corner and told myself I'd found one of the Gold Medal exhibits - and so I had. However in the middle of the exhibit is a really wonderful painting of beetroot - complete with seeds!

Bridget has won two previous Gold Medals for Plums and Pears - the last one being eight years ago. We discussed how much the show has changed in the last eight years!

Bridget Gillespie - Gold Medal for 'Root Vegetables: Lifecycle' and Best Painting in Show for Beetroot Beta vulgaris

Coming up in the next few days on this blog will be:

• a list of who won which medal
• my review of the show
• interviews with the Gold Medal Winners
• tips from Gold Medal Winners for those aspiring to enter this very prestigious show of botanical art

Plus I got permission from the Show Manager to do a video!

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