NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

TOP TIPS from RHS Gold Medal Winners 2017

14/8/2018

When I interview the botanical artists who have just won an RHS Gold Medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show, I always ask them for tips for those aspiring to do the same.

In 2017 I was rewarded - more than I can say - by hearing from Mariko Ikeda who won the Best Exhibit prize at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017. She wanted to thank me profusely for everything I've written before as it really helped her with preparing her exhibit!

Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 (photo Katherine Tyrrell)

Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda - Gold Medal and Best Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 (photo Katherine Tyrrell)

Then Kate Barling, another exhibitor, found me to thank me for the tip about how to mount the work - and I collected another tip from her which you'll find below!

So the bottom line is what goes around comes around.

You can benefit from the tips I've identified to date and...
...in future I might be asking you what's your top tip!

Note: Unfortunately last year I started this post but forgot finish it. But it's never too late to pass on a few more tips!
READ ON for my very belated post about the top tips from the RHS Gold Medallists in 2017 - which is now complete!

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RHS London Botanical Photography Show 2018 - Awards and Medal Winners

13/7/2018

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The names and exhibit titles of the medal winners and best portfolio award winner at the RHS London Botanical Photography Show 2018 are listed below.

You can see much better images of the portfolios of six images on the RHS website than you can in this post and I recommend any aspiring entrant to do so - PLUS do study the descriptions as well as the images.

Laurence Hill with his intensely botanical and extremely well presented exhibit of Fritillaria affinis and a discussion and demonstration of plant variability relative to the agreed taxonomic description of one species of a wild plant

Photographs at RHS Shows will be assessed for their botanical and horticultural content and for their photographic quality. Judges take account of the overall impression of an exhibit, including details of presentation such as mounting, labelling and framing.

I was struggling to find either botanical or horticultural content in some of the exhibits and I'm personally very much not in favour of Bronze medals being handed out simply for turning up and presenting an exhibit.

I'd very much recommend that ALL those entering work in this competition in future read up on the Guidelines for Botanical Photo Exhibitors which I also think the RHS could make a great deal more prominent on their website!! (see notes at end)

Best Portfolio Photography Exhibit

Polina Plotnikova - Dancing Flowers
I would normally place this exhibit as the feature at the top. However the amount of reflection generated by the exhibit meant that it was difficult to see in the hall and very difficult to photograph

"Dancing Flowers" by Polina Plotnikova

Gold Medals

"Botanical Prints: Where Art Meets Science" - Eleanor Coate

Nigel Chapman GM (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014) - Abstract Images RHS Garden Wisley
Eleanor Coate - Botanical Prints: Where Art Meets Science
Laurence Hill (GM 2014, 2017) - Species Boundaries: Fritillaria affinis
Polina Plotnikova GM (2014, 2015, 2017) - Dancing Flowers

My favourite exhibit was the one by Laurence Hill - and not just because he'd taken on board my comments about exhibit notes at a previous exhibition! His exhibit displayed six precise and different "versions" of the same plant species - at life size - at different locations inland from the Pacific coast of the USA. The latter was indicated by a fine line drawing of the coast line (relative to Mount Hood in Oregon to Point Reyes in California) towards the bottom of 'plate'. Each exhibit was also identified in terms of the specific location and height where it was collected and by whom. The point of the exhibit was to demonstrate the extent of variability in the taxonomic description of the same species with a when found in the wild. He also tracked and documented the extent to which this gets reflected in the synonyms for the taxonomy of names over time - before everybody agrees it is in fact the same plant!

NOTE: It was very difficult to photograph some of the exhibits for this post. Exhibition requirements are that exhibits should be protected by NON-REFLECTIVE acetate sheets.

It was very noticeable that Laurence Hill, Nigel Chapmen and Jan Cassidy who have previously won Gold Medals and previously exhibited in the Horticultural Halls all chose to exhibit images with an unprotected matt surface to reduce the bounce from some extremely bright light overhead.

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RHS London Botanical Art Show 2018 - Awards and Medal Winners

12/7/2018

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This post is about who won which award and which colour of medal at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2018.

Below you can read about

which three artists won Awards for outstanding botanical artwork
the names of artists and exhibits which won different colour medals - and some images of the Gold Medal winners

Links in the names of artists are to their websites where you can see more about their botanical artwork.

A small part of the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018 - on the Preview evening

Awards for outstanding botanical artwork

Laura Silburn with her "Best Botanical Painting in Show'

There were just two Awards - Best Painting in Show and Best Exhibit in Show - and now there are three! These were awarded as follows:

Best Botanical Painting 2018: Laura Silburn, Fern ‘No 6’
Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2018: Michie Yamada ‘Wild Roses in Japan’
Judges’ Special Award 2018: Hye-Woo Shin ‘Plants in Dokdo Island’

Best Botanical Art Exhibit: Michie Yamada ‘Wild Roses in Japan’

Judges’ Special Award: Hye-Woo Shin ‘Plants in Dokdo Island’

Gold Medals

SIXTEEN Gold Medals have been awarded in this year's Botanical Art Show

I predicted a lot of them - but the overall number was unexpected. I'm inclined to say that there is beginning to be a considerable range that "meet the criteria" of the Gold Medal Standard. I'll comment more in the overall review of the show later.

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Worth a Thousand Words - exhibition at the RHS

8/7/2018

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Worth a Thousand Words is the new exhibition at the RHS Lindley Library of RHS Gold Medal winning paintings in the botanical art collection.

It's timed to coincide with the Botanical Art Show which is part of the Plant and Art Fair on 10th - 12th July 2018, at which the very latest RHS Gold Medals will be handed out to the worthy winners.

What you can see

This exhibition features original artworks by artists who have excelled in all areas in order to achieve the Gold-medal standard.

You can see:

artwork in watercolour, watercolour and pencil, coloured pencils, gouache, pen and ink
a selection of recent acquisitions and some of the finest contemporary botanical artworks in the RHS Lindley Collections
the very different ways that contemporary artists portray plants and flowers while raising the standards and pushing the boundaries of botanical illustration.

Two of the works also include the supplementary studies done in preparation for the painting - plus there is a slideshow of the process of creating one of the works.

IMPORTANT! The exhibits are on both sides of the white partition display walls - so don't imadvertently miss any of the paintings!

The Participating Artists

The participating artists are listed below and next to the view of their work in the exhibition. The labels beneath the artwork explain:

the latin and common name of the plant and
which RHS Botanical Art Shows they have exhibited at
what medals were awarded at each show

All artists are from England unless otherwise indicated.
The majority of artists are multiple Gold Medal Winners.

"Worth a Thousand Words" - paintings and preparatory studies

Left to right the above artwork is by:

Kimoyo Maruyama (Japan) Gold Medals 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010 (+ Best Exhibit), 2015
Samantha Cook - Gold Medal 2006
(top) Sandra Sanger (Australia) Gold Medals 2008, 2010, 2013, 2016 She has also received the 'The Celia Rosser Award' for an outstanding painting.
(Bottom) Clare McGhee (Scotland) Gold Medal 2010 This is her Facebook Page
Norma Gregory - Gold Medals 2006, 2009, 2011 - The Rheum in the exhibition is from her third series in 2011. It was great to see it again - see below for a photo of Norma and the first time I saw it.
Janet Dyer - Gold Medal and Best Botanical Painting 2013. Interestingly her painting is of a plant which is now outlawed in the UK due to its invasive and destructive nature - the Giant Hogweed

In addition (and initially omitted accidentally due to my photography) is Ann Swan Gold medals in 1991, 1993, 1997, 1999 (Joint) - who also has a coloured pencil drawing of an Opuntia in the show to the left of the fir by Kimoyo Maruyama. Ann is now a very popular botanical art tutor in coloured pencils.

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RHS Photography 2018 and 2019

7/7/2018

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The RHS Plant and Art Fair (10-12 July 2018) includes two photographic displays

The RHS Botanical Photography Show - you can find the list of exhibitors below - and also find out something about the ones I know about
The RHS Photographer of the Year 2018 is a competition run by the RHS - more details below

The main difference between the two is that:

the first is the photographic equivalent of the RHS Botanical Art Show i.e. emphasis on the botanical
The second is a photographic competition for garden lovers, horticulturists and photographers alike and has more generic appeal.

BOTH ARE INTERNATIONAL - and have entries and displays from people from all over the world

The photographic displays are in the Lawrence Hall, Greycoat Street, Westminster (just around the corner from the Lindley Hall where the Botanical Art Show will be held - your admission ticket gets you into both).

The RHS Botanical Photography Show

Flora of the Silk Road: Gentiana arethause copyright Chris Gardner

The RHS Botanical (Portfolio) Photography Show is the photographic equivalent of the RHS Botanical Art Show.

Each photographer is required to exhibit a portfolio of photographs on a botanical theme (plants and/or habitats)
Each photographer is eligible to win a Gold, Silver Gilt, Silver or Bronze RHS Medal.
Entries are submitted by Photographers of international standing
Photographs can be taken anywhere in the world

The 2018 Exhibitors include a number of previous Gold Medal (GM) winners and the years in which they won a medal is indicated after their name. I've met three of the exhibitors previously (Nigel Chapman, Laurence Hill and Polina Plotnikova and seen exhibits by four) - see photos below.

The display this year is just beyond the RHS Photographer of the Year display in the Lawrence Hall.

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RHS Botanical Art Show #3: Medals Awards and Feedback

26/6/2018

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This is the final post in my short series of posts about the RHS Botanical Art Assessment Process. Today's post covers:

how Judges decide the colour of a medal at an RHS Botanical Art Show
how the Best Exhibit and Best Painting in the show are determined
how feedback is provided

The three posts are

Seeking approval to exhibit (24 June)
The Judges and the Judging Process (25 June)
How the colour of the medal and additional awards are decided + Feedback (today's post)

What follows are:

my questions (in green) followed by responses from the RHS Picture Panel
odd comments from me (in italics)
images of RHS Gold Medal Winners who have also won either a Best Painting or Best Exhibit award.

Bridget Gillespie who won a Gold Medal for "Root Vegetables: Lifecycle" and Best Painting in Show 2017 for "Beetroot Beta vulgaris". Next month she's back with another exhibit!

How does the RHS scale standards and criteria
- so they know whether they are looking at different levels of 'performance' and what colour of medal they are looking at in terms of the particular and overall?

When judging, the Panel will look at each exhibit at least twice, sometimes three times, to ensure there is parity between the medals being awarded. There is a lot of discussion and each member votes on the medal to be awarded.

A Gold medal exhibit has to be outstanding in all areas and really have the ‘wow’ factor.
A Silver-Gilt medal is a very high award and still an exceptional achievement. In many cases a Silver-gilt will have only been missing a couple of elements that meant it was not quite a Gold.
The Silver medal will usually have numerous areas for improvement.
A Bronze medal is rarely awarded as the standard is generally so high, but it may be awarded if the artist has really only achieved one or two elements from the criteria.

NOTE (my comment): You will recall from my post RHS Botanical Art Show #1 Approval to Submit that the Picture Panel are expecting those approved to exhibit to be capable of achieving a Silver Medal. Thus an artist achieving a Bronze Medal has either misunderstood what was required or fallen short of expectations in a significant way.

Julie Nettleton (Australia) with her "Best Painting in Show 2016" titled "Xanthorrhoea and marsupial mouse". She won her Gold Medal for "Xanthorroea (Grass Trees)"

Which are "the really important bits" of the criteria?

It is all important and contributes to make the RHS shows unique.

High quality artistic skill must be coupled with botanical and horticultural understanding, correct plant names and well-presented pictures.

If any one of these elements is compromised, it lets down the whole exhibit.

For our audience, botanical art is another way of appreciating and understanding plants, therefore the information that is presented should be as accurate as possible, both visually and in written form.

The best botanical artists serve as advocates for the art form as well as for the plants they paint.

Mariko Ikeda (Japan - Tochigi) won Best Exhibit in Show 2017 with her six watercolour paintings of Pandanus (screwpine) on vellum. Her watercolour paintings were mounted on a board (unframed and unmatted) and a clear perspex sheet was fixed in front of each

The crowds around the Best Exhibit 2017 of Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda (Japan)

In reaching decisions about "Best Painting" and "Best Exhibit" what is "the best"? Can it be described?

Both of these categories are selected from the exhibits that won a Gold medal.

They are ‘show specific’ and so mean the exhibits are judged comparative to those around them, as distinct from the Gold medal that serves as an absolute standard.
The Best Exhibit is given to the one that the judges agree was outstanding in all areas,
The Best Painting is for the individual painting that stands out as exemplary.
These are voted on as the last thing the judges look at.

What happens if somebody produces an outstanding exhibit in all but one respect?

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RHS Botanical Art Show #2: The Judges and Judging Process

25/6/2018

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This is the second three posts covering RHS Picture Panel responses to my questions about the assessment process relating to the RHS Botanical Art Shows.

The three posts are

Seeking approval to exhibit (24 June)
The Judges and the Judging Process (TODAY'S post)
How the colour of the medal and additional awards are decided + Feedback (Tuesday 26th June)

I asked an awful lot of questions and the answers run to five A4 pages - hence the three blog posts!

Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 - summarising the purpose of the show and the assessment process

The Judges and the Judging Process

Below you can find the questions I asked and the responses I got from the RHS Picture Panel Secretary. I've edited the format of the latter slightly (e.g. paragraphs/bullet points) to make it more readable online.

Who is involved with the judging? What experience and expertise do they bring to assessment?

The judging Panel currently includes experienced practising botanical artists and teachers, botanists, an art collector, horticultural experts and garden writing editors.
We are always looking to make sure we have the right combination of skills.

Gillian Barlow has been the Chair of the Panel for over 10 years and continues to be a respected botanical artist. She brings a wealth of experience as a practicing artist, a previous gold medal winner and a judge.

Along with other members of the judging panel, Gillian is supported by Deborah Lambkin and Helen Allen, both of whom are also practicing artists and teachers.

How are standards and criteria defined by the RHS Picture Committee - for the guidance of those assessing each year?

The judges take into account the following criteria, which is a summary of the guidance, rules and regulations detailed in the Botanical Illustration Exhibitor Factsheet (557kB pdf) :

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