BISCOT Medal Winners 2019

Medals and awards were made on Friday at the BISCOT display at Gardening Scotland in Edinburgh.

BISCOT is an acronym for "Botanical Images Scotia". It's annual exhibition of contemporary botanical illustration which 

• promotes excellence in botanical painting and illustration. 
• gives both national and international artists an opportunity to exhibit in Edinburgh and presents new and original botanical work.

Each exhibitor creates a display of SIX artworks - and the exhibition is open to and attracts international entrants.  In this respect BISCOT is the Scottish equivalent of the RHS Botanical Art Show in London - and is regarded as the top show in Scotland in terms of awards and prestige.

The BISCOT Exhibition is held annually at 

• Gardening Scotland (sponsored by the Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society) (31 May - 2 June)
• the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) - John Hope Gateway (5-20 June 2019)​

A view of part of BISCOT at Gardening Scotland

The judges look at the individual quality of the paintings/drawings and the way they look together as a complete exhibit; and the following points are considered

• The depiction of the plants should be botanically accurate
  
• Show a high level of draughtsmanship and painting skills
  
• Both the composition of each painting and the complete exhibit are noted
  
• All written names, including Latin names, must be accurate and well presented
  
• The mounts are appropriate to the exhibit,
  
• The overall design of the exhibit enhances the paintings
  
• Paintings have a themed subject

Below is a list of the medal and award winners and images of some of the exhibits.  Links to the website or Facebook Page are embedded in the name of the artist.

Best in Show
​

Sansanee Deekrajang and her exhibit of Tropical Palm Trees which won a Gold Medal and the Mary Mendum Award for an exhibit of exceptional merit

• Best In Show - Sansanee Deekrajang (Thailand) - Cyrtostachys Renda
• The Mary Mendum Medal Mary Mendum Award for an Exhibit of Exceptional Quality -  Sansanee Deekrajang - Tropical Palm Trees

Note: the Mary Mendum Award is not awarded every year i.e. it's only awarded when there is an outstanding botanical art exhibit - which excels in terms of both botanical information and artistic quality.

I first met Sansanee at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2016 when her RHS Gold Medal-winning exhibit of Tropical Fruits astounded very many visitors. Sansanee is renowned for her complex and colourful compositions of the scientific detail of her subject. Once seen never forgotten!

Sansanee comes form Thailand and was born in Bangkok in 1980. She has also spent time living in Lothian in Scotland - hence her awareness of this exhibition. She has a degree of art and has specialised in fine art printmaking in the past. She taught herself how to create botanical art and won an RHS Gold Medal for her watercolour paintings of tropical plants in 2016. She has a particular talent for producing very bright paintings full of content with excellent compositions.

Sansanee is also exhibiting at the 16th International Exhibition of the Hunt Institute in the Autumn 2019 and planning to exhibit at the Korea Botanical Art Award exhibition. She's also planning to be back at RHS in two years time - in 2021.

Gold Medals 

• ​Fran Thomas  (Scotland, UK) - Scottish Native Cladonia Lichens
• Sansanee Deekrajang  (Thailand) - Tropical Palm Trees
• Marianne Hazlewood  (Scotland, UK) - Arisaema biseasonal
• Simonetta Occhipinti  (Italy) - The Golden Fruits

Scottish Native Cladonia Lichens by Fran Thomas (GOLD)

Fran Thomas makes a point of always painting native Scottish plants. In 2017 she won a Gold Medal at BISCOT 2017 and the Mary Mendum Medal for the Best Exhibit - for her watercolour paintings of "Native plants of the coasts and islands of the Firth of Forth". She also has two RHS Silver Gilt Medals.

Arisaema biseasonal by Marianne Hazlewood (GOLD)

Marianne Hazlewood has been impressing me for some time and I am not in the least bit surprised that she has won a BISCOT Gold Medal for her paintings of Arisaemas.  Marianne won the Eve Bennett Award for Botanical Illustration when graduating from her RBGE Diploma Course in 2017 and since then has had her botanical illustrations exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy (where she won a prize) and the Society of Scottish Artists Annual Exhibition 2018 at the RSA Gallery on the Mound

She is proof positive that there is a life for botanical paintings outside botanical art exhibitions!​

The Golden Fruits by Simonetta Occhipinti (GOLD)

Simonetta Occhipinto ​loves citrus fruits. She also won an RHS old Medal in 2016 for her (different) series of paintings of the Citrus of the Medicia Family.

Silver Gilt Medals

• Linda Russell (Scotland, UK) - Rhododendrons of Ardvorlich​

Rhododendrons of Ardvorlich by Linda Russell SILVER GILT

​Linda Russell graduated (2017) with an RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration (Distinction). Awards during the course include: Botanical Artist Award winner in the First year for "most progress" and RBGE Alumni Graduate of 2017. Member of ESBA

Silver Medals

• Vivanne Dubach (Switzerland) - Common Leaf Damage on Swiss Trees
• Mariapia Pasini (Italy) - The Allure of What Remains​
• ​​Sandra Russell (Scotland, UK) - Clematis All Year

Common Leaf Damage on Swiss Trees by Vivanne Dubach (SILVER)

Vivanne Dubach works with with the Swiss Federal Institute for Forestry / Swiss Forest Protection and has contributed to five botanical publications

The Allure of What Remains by Mariapia Pasini (SILVER)

Mariapia Pasini is a Doctor and the Director of the rehabilitation department of the Sondrio hospital in Italy. She started botanical painting ten years ago. In 2010 she started winning being placed in botanical art competitions.  She was taught by Maria Rita Stirpe

Clematis All Year by ​​Sandra Russell (SILVER)

Bronze Medal

• Denise Playfair (Scotland, UK) - Hydrangea

Hydrangea by Denise Playfair (BRONZE)

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More information about BISCOT
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For those interested in applying for next year's exhibition you might want to review

• my blog BISCOT 2019: a change to the call for assessment to get an idea of what is required. 
  
• This link to the Regulations for 2019

​Note that although there has been no Group Exhibit this year, that a Group Exhibit is possible.

I would imagine the rules work the same as at RHS for Exhibits - the colour of the medal is very much influenced by the weakest painting in the exhibit - so always worth making sure that ALL paintings are up to the standard of medal you want to achieve.

You can review my previous blog posts about BISCOT Exhibitions and who won which medal via the links below.

• BISCOT 2019: a change to the call for assessment ​(February 2019)
• BISCOT Medal Winners 2018 (June 2018)
• BISCOT 2018 - Call for assessment - Botanical Art & Artists (March 2018)
• BISCOT Exhibition deadlines - Botanical Art & Artists (Jan 2018)
• BISCOT 2017 at the RBGE - Botanical Art & Artists (June 2017)
• Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT) 2017 - Medal Winners (June 2017)
• Botanical Images Scotia 2017 (Jan 2017)
• BISCOT 2016 Call for Entries (Jan 2016)
• More images of BISCOT (June 2016)
• BISCOT 2016 at the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh (June 2016)
• Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT) 2016 - Medal Winners (June 2016)
• Botanical artists exhibiting at BISCOT 2016 (June 2016)
• BISCOT 2015 continues at RGBE (June 2015)
• BISCOT 2015 Medal winners (June 2015)

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​Plus this page includes information about Botanical Art Exhibitions in Scotland