NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Rosie Sanders at Connect Art Fair at Mall Galleries

1/2/2019

Paintings by Rosie Sanders are currently exhibited by Coombe Gallery at Connect – The Independent Art Fair - a new Art Fair at the Mall Galleries in London this week.

Coombe Gallery - who represent Rosie and exhibit her artwork in South West England have brought some delightful examples of her paintings to London for the fair.

Below you can see a slideshow of her paintings.

the first one is the one Rosie is painting in photo used for the Foreword of her latest book (see below)
I thought Summer's Story was absolutely delightful and a "wow" addition to any collection
all always Rosie is an expert at capturing rich coloured darks - such as the rich dark purples of the purple Iris on display elsewhere in the Fair
To get a sense of size and scale of these paintings take a look at the last pic of Mark Riley, Gallery Manager of Coombe Gallery and his mum on the stand.

The Fair is open until 70om tonight and again tomorrow from 11am –5pm.

Coombe Gallery

If you visit the south west, you can find examples of Rosie's paintings at the Coombe Gallery in Dartmouth.

website: https://www.coombegallery.com/
Rosie Sanders - available paintings at the Gallery
Address: 20 Foss Street, Dartmouth, Devon TQ6 9DR

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Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art

Rosie Sanders's latest book is Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art published by Batsford in late 2016 (UK) and early 2017 (USA). It's a large format book with over 80 colour illustrations of her flower paintings and Rosie at work. If you're a fan of her work or her very large botanical paintings it's definitely a book to buy.

It's also got an average rating of:

4.9 out of 5 stars by 19 customer reviews (UK)
4.7 out of 5 stars by 18 customer reviews (USA)

BUY THIS BOOK

Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art from Amazon UK
Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art from Amazon.com

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Gael Sellwood - 'The Measure of the Year' exhibition and book

3/10/2018

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Gael Sellwood has an exhibition at Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery, with two ceramic artists, opening Saturday 6th October until 28th October.

The theme of her part of the exhibition is A Measure of Time which is also the title of her new book.

About the exhibition

SUMMARY: The Measure of the Year
Botanical Artist: Gael Sellwood GM VPSBA
Exhibition: Gael Sellwood (with two ceramic artists Tiffany Scull and Margaret Gardiner)
Venue: Cambridge Contemporary Art, 6 Trinity Street | Cambridge CB2 1SU
Dates: 6th to 28th October 2018
Hours: Monday to Saturday 9am - 5:30pm; Sundays & bank holidays: 11am - 5pm

This exhibition uses material from Gael's extensive conservation garden with meadow surrounding her home, which provides much of her inspiration for her botanical art.

A number of the 150 paintings included in her new book 'The Measure of the Year - Seasons in an Artist's Garden' are also included in the exhibition.

There are a number of events involving Gael at the Gallery:

tomorrow night is Preview night at Cambridge Contemporary Art (6pm - 7.30pm). This is a free event - but you do need to register in advance
Gael will be in the gallery again on Saturday 27th October between 11am-4pm to demonstrate and talk about her practice as a botanical artist and to sign her new book 'The Measure of the Year'.

Some of the images from her new book.

About Gael Sellwood GM VPSBA

Gael Sellwood has been working as a a botanical and natural history artist for twenty five years. Features of her professional practice achievements to date include:

A Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medalist (for ‘hydrangea macrophylla in autumn and winter’ - awarded in 2014) and
A Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society Gold Medallist - awarded in 2011
The Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation at the Carnegie Mellon University in the USA has also bought one of her paintings for its collection of botanical art by leading botanical artists from all over the world.
Vice President of the Society of Botanical Artists.
Gael has also been filmed for a Heritage Craft item on BBC1's Countryfile programme in relation to her painting on vellum.

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About the book: "A Measure of Time - Seasons in an Artist's Garden

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One millionth visitor to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art!

19/9/2018

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One million visitors in 10 years!

Last week, The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens welcomed its one millionth visitor - in its 10th anniversary year.

The winner was chosen by a prize draw which visitors participated in last week when the millionth person was predicted to be entering the gallery. Weronika Chilewska received an exquisite giclee print by botanical artist Rory McEwen to mark the occasion.

Weronika Chilewska with her prize, a giclee print of a ginkgo leaf by botanical artist Rory McEwen. Credit RBG Kew.

I had planned to visit the Gallery last week to see the exhibitions again - but caught a bug and hence missed my opportunity to be the millionth visitor!

However as a long time visitor to the Gallery (I was there on Opening Day!) I can confirm that the Gallery has become steadily more and more popular as more people have become aware of the wonderful exhibitions it hosts and the amazing drawings and paintings of plants that you can see inside.

About the Shirley Sherwood Gallery

Currently celebrating its 10-year anniversary having opened to the public in 2008, the Gallery is the first in the world to be dedicated solely to botanical art.

Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art 10th anniversary

The 10th Anniversary spelt out in decals of flower paintings on the glass entrance hall to the Gallery

Dr Shirley Sherwood has dedicated the last 27 years to travelling extensively and amassing an astonishing collection of botanical illustrations from artists around the world - and eventually needed a gallery to be able to display it for all other botanical art enthusiasts. Hence the collaboration with Kew over the last 10 years.

The Gallery displays several different exhibitions each year, along with art from the 200,000 pieces stored in the Kew Collection archives, and works from Dr Sherwood’s own collections.

“This is an amazing achievement for Dr Sherwood and the galleries...(which) showcases just how much the world loves botanical art.”
Victoria Kew, Gallery Manager

You can read about:

upcoming exhibitions in my preview blog posts
read my blog posts reviewing each exhibition - including both details of what's on display and photos of both the botanical art and the botanical artists who created it in
the previous exhibitions in the Gallery on my ARCHIVE: Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art page

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Opening Hours - Autumn/Winter 2018-19

This autumn, the Gallery will host four new exhibitions running from 6 October 2018 – 17 March 2019:

Mark Frith: A Legacy of Ancient Oaks 
Trees: Delight in the Detail
Rankafu: Masterpieces of Japanese Woodblock Prints of Orchids
Botanical Theatre: The Art of Pandora Sellars (1936-2017)

See my blog post Four new botanical art exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery for more details

ENTRY IS FREE. Entrance to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery is included in standard entry to the Gardens.

The times when the Gallery will be open over the Autumn and Winter months will vary with the light.

You may think it worthwhile copying the information below (or bookmarking this blog post) as a reminder of the various opening times - I know I will be!

6 Oct - 27 Oct 10am to 5pm, with last admission at 4.45.
28 Oct - 20 Nov 10am to 3.30pm, with last admission at 3.15.
21 Nov - 5 Jan 10am to 3pm, with last admission 2.45.
6 Jan - 31 Jan 10am to 3.30pm, with last admission 3.15.
February 10am to 5pm, with last admission at 4.45.

For more details, go to

The Shirley Sherwood Gallery - which includes details of gallery opening times and the exhibitions
Plan your visit to Kew Gardens
What's on at Kew Gardens
or call 0208 332 3622.

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Sarah Graham exhibition opens 26th September

10/9/2018

Medinilla magnifica by Sarah Graham (ink on paper 72.4 x 53.1 inches / 184 x 135 cm)

Sarah Graham is renowned for her large works about plants on paper. Her work is at what I think of as the fine art end of botanical drawing and painting.

Later this month she is having a solo exhibition in London - which marks an important shift in her focus as it concentrates on just one plant.
Venue: Lyndsey Ingram (Gallery) 20 Bourdon Street, London W1K 3PL
Dates: 26th September - 2nd November, 2018

The exhibition focuses on the magnificent forms of just one plant the Medinilla magnifica also known as the rose grape - which just so happens to be a plant which greatly intrigues me every time I see it in the Princess of Wales Glasshouse at Kew (just to the right of the pond of nympheas). I always make a point of having a look at where it's got to in its life cycle.

You can view the works in the exhibition - a group of new large drawings - in the e-catalogue for the exhibition available via Issuu. They vary between ink on paper and graphite on paper.

Graham's style has evolved over time but he always seems attracted to large and stong, almost sculptural, shapes in plants. At one point she was just working in charcoal and graphite on paper. Then she began to add colour and started working with coloured inks - on large sheets of paper - sometimes joined together (e.g. to make support 49" x 70"). The works in this exhibition are even larger.

You can see how big her work is in situ on her website. Some of you who have been to exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery may well have seen some of her works.

PS You can see an e-catalogue of previous works exhibited at the Gallery in 2016 and in the other e-catalogues on Issuu

Sarah Graham was born in Edinburgh in 1973. Between 1992 and 1996 she completed two MA’s at Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art in History of Art and Fine Art.... Natural forms, insects and the plant world provide her main source of inspiration, either borrowed from the Natural History Museum or forming collections from her travels in the studio.
Biography on her website

Botanical art at Jonathan Cooper: 30 years exhibition - opens 12 July 2018

5/7/2018

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If you're coming up to London for the RHS Botanical Art Show, why not grab a taxi or catch a bus to Chelsea - and see some more incredible artwork!

The Jonathan Cooper 30 Years Exhibition opens a week today (12 - 21 July 2018) at 'Jonathan Cooper', his Park Walk Gallery in Chelsea to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the gallery - established in 1988.

You can review the catalogue for the exhibition online.

Fiona Strickland, Celebration Papaver, Watercolour on Kelmscott vellum, 42.2 x 42.5cm

Over 30 years, Jonathan Cooper has played an important role in developing the careers of many of today’s figurative greats. His passion is to discover and promote artists demonstrating a new viewpoint within the genres of botanical, wildlife, landscape and still life.

The gallery has also been host to some major exhibitions, including; Work from botanical artists in the collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood in 2015, an exhibition in conjunction with Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE, which drew together works by contemporary botanical artists held in Dr Sherwood’s comprehensive botanical collection, the largest in the world.

This group exhibition aims to celebrate the very best of contemporary figurative painting, drawing and sculpture through the artwork of every genre by his 'gallery artists' including leading botanical artists and still life painters who paint flowers (see below)

This post contains my 72dpi web-level versions of the high resolution images of their artwork sent to me. You will only get a small insight into how impressive these works are - and why it is so much better to see them in person!

Botanical Art

The four botanical artists (in alphabetical order) are:

Beverley Allen
Kate Nessler
Rosie Sanders
Fiona Strickland

Beverly Allen, White batflower - ‘Tacca integrifolia’, Watercolour, 62cm x 57cm

Rosie Sanders 'It was the time of roses' watercolour on Arches 640gsm paper, 102 x 124cm

Still Life - with flowers

Two of the still life artists paint flowers are:

Ben Henriques
Susan Angharad Williams - who he discovered after I introduced her to him - after she won the ING Discerning Eye Prize in 2007! ;)

Ben Henriques, Potted Flower, oil on canvas, 39.4 x 52.1cm

Susan Angharad Williams, Poppies, (detail), oil on linen, 63 x 56cm

Information about the Gallery

Address: Jonathan Cooper Gallery, 20 Park Walk, Chelsea, London, SW10 0AQ
Gallery Opening Times: Mon – Fri (10 – 6.30pm); Sat (11 – 4pm) Closed Bank Holidays
Free Admission
Website: jonathancooper.co.uk
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7351 0410
Social #jonathancooper30years
Instagram: @jonathancoopergallery
Twitter: @JCooperGallery
Facebook: @jonathancooperparkwalkgallery
The gallery is a member of SLAD (The Society of London Art Dealers), BADA (The British Antique Dealers Association) and LAPADA (The Association of Art & Antique Dealers), and regularly exhibits at international art fairs including Masterpiece, London.

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Inaugural botanical art exhibition at Easton Walled Gardens

21/2/2018

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I'm delighted to be able to bring you photos of the three artists behind the inaugural botanical art exhibition at Easton Walled Gardens in Lincolnshire.

A Year in the Garden appears to be enjoying a lot of success! The exhibition includes 69 drawings and paintings, of which 22 are graphite and the rest watercolour, displayed in a well lit exhibition area.

Sue Vize with her graphite drawings

Sue Vize SBA is a botanical illustrator, tutor and author (of Botanical Drawing Using Graphite and Coloured Pencils). Sue’s passion is to work with graphite and coloured pencil. She has previously exhibited at the 13th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in the USA.

Sue told me

The exhibition is going really well. On the first day of Snowdrop Week the Easton Walled Gardens had almost 700 people through their gates and I must say that it felt as though they were all in the exhibition room at the same time! The Coach House is an amazing venue and it has worked exceptionally well. The hanging space has been split into three so that each artist has their own area with plenty of room for visitors and demonstrating tables. Snowdrop Week finishes on Sunday February 25th but the exhibition and gardens will be open again on March 4th, 7-9th and 10th. The snowdrops are out in force and well worth a visit to see them.

Norma Gregory with her paintings

Norma Gregory GM SBA has won an RHS Gold Medal three times. Norma has also exhibited her work both nationally and internationally and works predominantly in watercolour and some graphite.

This is the first botanical art exhibition at Easton Walled Gardens.

Venue: The Coach House, Easton Walled Gardens, Easton, Grantham, Lincolnshire. NG33 5AP. England
Dates: 17th February - 11th March 2018 - one or more artists will be present most days. (NOTE: the Garden - and the exhibition - is closed on the following days: 26th February - 3rd March; 5-6th and 10th March)
Normal garden admission applies. Free admission for Friends of Easton Walled Gardens.

Dawn Wright with her work

Dawn Wright SBA is the resident tutor at Easton Walled Gardens. Dawn’s work has received ’highly commended’ for the Joyce Cuming Award at The Society of Botanical Artists’ Annual Exhibition. She also provides botanical art workshops across the East Midlands.

Find out more about:
Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales
Botanical Art Courses and Tuition in the UK
The Best Botanical Art and Illustration Instruction Books

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Review: Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition

11/10/2017

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Yesterday I visited the Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition at Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery just off the Fulham Road in Chelsea. The exhibition finishes on Saturday and I very much recommend you try and get to see it if you can before it finishes. Her work is simply stunning!

View into the Gallery from Park Walk

There's a very big incentive for those coming to London for the SBA Annual Exhibition to also make a visit to the gallery to see this one too. Gallery hours are 10am – 6.30pm on weekdays and 11am – 4pm on Saturday so it's definitely possible to fit two botanical art exhibitions into one day!

Three of the paintings in the Rosie Sanders: Secret Letter Exhibition

The exhibition focuses in particular on large and small paintings of roses - painted in a less conventional way - from the rear or as they have reached a stage where they are past their best but nonetheless marvellous convoluted structures.

The box with the secret letters - one of which is given to the buyer of each painting - is displayed in the window

The box of Secret Letters

The exhibition also includes

smaller paintings of parrot tulips (typically 15.35 x 19.68ins / 39 x 50cm)
large watercolour paintings of irises and a dandelion clock on backgrounds of black charcoal.

I think many of the more precise botanical artists might be surprised by Rosie's techniques. Rather than using dry brushwork, it's her practice to work much more directly - wet in wet and mixing her colours on the paper. She's extremely adept at developing very convincing structures through masterful use of tone and colour.

Her work is not matted. Rather the deckle edged paper is float mounted within a narrow quality frame.

The paper she uses is either

Arches 640gsm paper (for larger paintings with dimensions in excess of 100cm); or
Richard de Bas handmade paper for the smaller works.

The latter comes from a paper mill, at Ambert d'Auvergne in France, which has been handmaking paper for the last 700 years. (see this page for more about what the mill has to offer)

Prices of paintings are for the serious collector - one of whom is Shirley Sherwood. I arrived at the gallery after a visit to her home nearby where I admired her new acquisition of a splendid smaller painting of a very red rose past its best.

Don't miss some of the larger paintings on the lower floor of the gallery!

I took some short video shots as well yesterday and will include the video in this post after I've done the editing - which always takes a little time.

Two of the large paintings of roses - seen in the lower floor - both have sold.

Sales have been very brisk - Rosie's work is always very popular!

I counted sixteen paintings of the 26 paintings in the exhibition sold to date. Prices of those paintings still available can be seen on the website and are in five figures for the larger paintings and £3,800 for the smaller paintings.

Paintings also include large paintings of tulips and irises as well as roses

For those who couldn't get to see the exhibition - this is my video of a walk round the exhibition. It starts outside in Park Walk, shows you the window of the gallery with the box of secrets and then looks around the walls on the ground floor and lower floor.

Rosie exhibits with Jonathan on a regular basis - typically a solo show every one to two years which always do well as her work is very collectible. You can see all currently available work on the gallery website.

You can also see her work in her book Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art (affiliate link).

Gallery: Jonathan Cooper, 20 Park Walk, London SW10 0AQ
Bus: 211, 11 and 22 on the Kings Road or 14 and 414 on the Fulham Road
Tube: South Kensington and Sloane Square

My previous reviews of her work and exhibitions:

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