NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses

23/3/2020

Many of you will be unable to attend botanical art classes, courses and workshops during the Coronavirus Crisis.

However there are a couple of alternatives for learning more techniques about how to draw and paint plants to botanical standards away from a physical face to face class. These are:

online instruction
art instruction books

Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses

For those wanting to learn more about botanical art and illustration at home, there was nowhere on the web offering a comparative analysis and evaluation of the available online instruction and tutorials in botanical art and illustration - until I published my Guide to Online Botanical Art Instruction & Courses.

My webpage providing advice and information on how to choose and lists of those providing online instruction in botanical art and illustration

This web page includes:

RECOMMENDED READING

a SUMMARY of what Online Botanical Art Instruction is
a SUMMARY of who benefits from online instruction
OVERVIEW of providers of Online Botanical Art Courses - this indicates the different types and providers, namely
- Recognised Institutions (e.g. Botanic Gardens) - providing distance learning courses using web-based instruction
- Online Instruction via Video Tutorials
- Online Instruction via individual Teachers (written guides and/or ebooks plus typically minor use of videos. Plus some teachers also provide one on one masterclasses, critiques and/or tutorials)
- Corporate Providers of Online Instruction Platforms - where botanical art (and art too) is just one of very many topics taught.
CHECKLIST of questions for prospective students - to be used by students who want to evaluate the alternative options on offer

BOTANICAL ART ONLINE COURSE PROVIDERS

LIST of Online Providers of Botanical Art Instruction - more information
REVIEW of Online Botanical Art Courses - if you'd like to say what you want from online courses or what you think about online course provision there is a form. No comments are published but may inform the future content of this page.

It's essential that BEFORE parting with any money
you are clear about:
- what type of instruction or course you are buying
- what you are paying for i.e. what the instruction comprises
- whether it works on ALL your online devices(desktop/tablet/smartphone etc) i.e. the website must be designed for and accessible by all mobile devices
- how the payment scheme works - whether it is one-off or a subscription scheme and whether any subscription is automated (i.e. payments renew automatically until you stop them)
- whether you can get a refund if you realise you've made a mistake
- whether you are dealing with a tutor who knows about all the Regulatory Requirements of eCommerce which should provide you with protection in the event of a concern (e.g. data privacy) or dispute (e.g. re your consumer contract)

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Providers of Online Botanical art Instruction include:

Recognised Institutions
- providing distance learning courses using web-based instruction

UK: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - 3 year Diploma Course and 6 month Certificate Course - with a team of tutors
UK: London Art College - Botanical Painting Online Art Course (D9) (Tutor: Polly O' Leary ) Botanical Coloured Pencil Online (D12) (Tutor: Ida Mitrani)
USA: Cornell University - Online Botanical Illustration series

Online Instruction via Video Tutorials
by Botanical Artists/Tutors

Anna Mason - Learn botanical painting online
Billy Showell - Online Tutorials
Wendy Hollender - Botanical Basics and Draw Botanical's Complete Course
Jarnie Godwin - Online Botanical Watercolour Tutorials

Online Tuition via individual tutors
- using written guides / ebooks and videos + feedback / Private Facebook Groups i.e. it varies

Dianne Sutherland - Botanical Art Online
Elaine Searle - Paint Botanical Online Shorts
Gaynor Dickson - Gaynor's Flora - Online Botanical Art Course
Julia Trickey - Botanical Art Tutorials
Ann Swan - Pencil Potential - Online Tuition Programme
Shevaun Doherty - Botanical Elements
Sarah Morrish - Illustrating Nature's Details - Online Courses

Corporate Instruction Providers - Online Instruction
- the platform is owned by a company which elects to provide teaching as a business. It can change the business model at any time (e.g. as happened with Craftsy).

Udemy - Paint Realistic Watercolours and Botanicals - with Heidi Elliis
Bluprint / Craftsy - Botanical Illustration With Watercolor & Colored Pencils with Adele Rossetti

I do NOT include those are providing video tutorials or other online instruction which is design oriented i.e. not observing the essential characteristics of botanical art and illustration.

I hope you find this Guide useful during the Coronavirus Crisis.

CLICK the image to go to this page on this website

Teach Botanical Art Online

I'm also going to try and provide a Guide to all those thinking about switching their workshop teaching to online instruction - hopefully this week. Although I expect this may be a work in progress for a while.

If you're interested, please use comments below (or contact me) to tell me what you want to know about.

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RHS Botanical Art Show 2020 Selection Meeting - Postponed

19/3/2020

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This is an update for:

those botanical artists hoping to be selected for future RHS Botanical Art Shows
those interested in exhibitions at the RHS Lindley Library
those interested in RHS Show updates.

Dr Shirley Sherwood and Charlotte Brooks at the Selection Meeting for the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2019 - in the RHS Council Chamber (photo courtesy of Deborah Lambkin)

Charlotte Brooks, the Art Curator of the RHS Lindley Library - and the Secretary of the RHS Picture Panel which deals with RHS Botanical Art Shows - wrote to me yesterday with an update on what has been cancelled and how things are moving forward with respect to other matters related to the RHS Botanical Art Show.

You can read her email below. KEY POINTS are:

2020 Selection Meeting is cancelled - but will be rescheduled in due course (depending on the coronavirus timescale). This meeting identifies those eligible to exhibit for the first time in future RHS Botanical Art Shows - including that taking place in 2021.
RHS Botanical Art Show 2020 - The RHS Shows Team are looking at options for possible rescheduling of cancelled shows (presumably only those which do not involve plants.)
Notices will go on the RHS website soon and will be updated as and when this is possible.

Dear Katherine,
As I’m sure you’re now aware, due to COVID 19, we had to cancel the Botanical Art and Photography Show yesterday. All of the exhibitors have now been informed and I have been in touch with the botanical artists via email. Further information is available on the RHS website https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/policies/coronavirus-statement

We have also had to postpone the 2020 Selection meeting, as the library is now closed until further notice and we are working from home. Notices are due to go up on the RHS website shortly and we will update the information as it becomes available.

The Shows team will be looking at the options and over the coming months work out what is possible regarding the shows. As and when we have more information, we’ll keep you updated. I will also re-schedule the Selection meeting, once we know how other things are working out.

Thank you for your support and I hope you and yours stay well.
All best wishes, Charlotte

Art Curator
RHS Lindley Library

See more (and larger) photos from the 2019 Selection meeting on Deborah Lambkin's Twitter feed

The Picture Panel in action at the 2019 Selection Meeting (Left to right: Helen Allen, Andrew Brown, Shirley Sherwood and Charlotte Brooks)

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In the meantime......

For those thinking about submitting botanical art or illustrations for selection for the RHS Botanical Art Shows at some future date, you might like to read more on this website about

the RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions
Archive of Past RHS Botanical Art Shows
and/or contemplate the page about Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows which I started a while back - which gives the titles used in the show along with images of some of the exhibits. It certainly provides food for thought - especially for those working from home!

Like Charlotte, I hope you are all keeping well and looking after your health.

Now's a good time to get on with drawing and painting plants and reading about and looking at botanical art in books and online!

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RHS Botanical Art Show 2020 CANCELLED

17/3/2020

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The RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2020 has been cancelled due to the formal coronavirus guidance issued by the UK Government yesterday.

Further to my blog post last week, RHS London - Botanical Art & Photography Show 2020, this morning's announcement by the RHS immediately follows the announcements at 5pm yesterday by the Government about:

injunctions to avoid mass gatherings
the need for much more social distancing within the wider community and
the need for social isolation for some vulnerable groups of people.

I was fully expecting this to happen and am not surprised. I am however a little surprised by the notion that this particular exhibition will not be held later in the year. Obviously all the show which involve plants also involve growers growing for a particular date. However that's not quite the same for Botanical Art and Botanical Photography. However given the uncertainty about how the coronavirus

RHS Libraries

In addition, the RHS Libraries at Vincent Square, RHS Garden Wisley and RHS Garden Harlow Carr will all close from 18 March 2020 (i.e. tomorrow). This effectively means that no public will be allowed on RHS premises.

I'm so sad for RHS Orchid Artist Deborah Lambkin as the exhibition of her work only opened a few days ago. I'd planned to go to see it this week!

You can see some of the images of her botanical illustrations from her exhibitionin her tweet online.

I'm sure it will left up and/or we'll get an opportunity to see it again at a later date.

So sad to hear @The_RHS shows cancelled and my @RHSLibraries exhibition will close tomorrow. Unprecedented times. I am so glad I saw it yesterday and I will now post a few photos of the exhibition here so you can see it. pic.twitter.com/sCFJjOu9hS
— Deborah Lambkin (@DeborahLambkin) March 17, 2020

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Royal Horticultural Society Gardens

For the record so far there has been no announcements about the RHS Gardens - other than the statement by Sue Biggs below

It's my expectation that the gardens may well stay open but all shopping and catering facilities may well be candidates for closure.

“As with everyone, we have no crystal ball, but for the time being we are planning our Summer Flower Shows and our Gardens remain open, as they are large outside spaces where people can escape in open space and benefit from some tranquillity and beauty, surrounded by nature – all things that are much needed during these unsettling times.

“Things of course may change, but whatever decisions we make, safety will be utmost in our mind and we will, like the rest of the world, be monitoring the situation closely.”
Sue Biggs RHS Director General

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RHS London - Botanical Art & Photography Show 2020

10/3/2020

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Just to confirm - the dates for this year's RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show are Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April 2020 - with a preview evening on Thursday 18th.

I've been in touch with the RHS (in the light of announcements yesterday by the Chief Medical Officer about moving into the "Delay" Phase in the next 10-14 days) and the current official RHS position is that:

The RHS is monitoring the current position very closely and carefully
The Picture Committee is in touch with all the participating artists
At present, the RHS still expects the show to go ahead - as planned
If anything changes the RHS will highlight this ASAP.

I will also highlight any change on this blog and also on my Facebook Page. (You can subscribe to my blog via the link below)

I will be highlighting the artists participating in this year's show in the near future - just as soon as that listing has been finalised.

For what it's worth, my personal view is that if the RHS do decide it is necessary to cancel this Show in April, the worst case scenario will be that will only be postponed and will then be held at a later date in 2020.

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Drawn from Nature: Irish Botanical Art at the National Gallery of Ireland

7/3/2020

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Last night was the formal opening of the Drawn from Nature: Irish Botanical Art exhibition of Irish Botanical Art in the Print Gallery, at the National Gallery of Ireland. This exhibition:

celebrates artists - past and present - who have made significant contributions to art, science, and our understanding of the natural world.
spans almost 300 years, from the 1720s to 2019
features and highlights botanical artworks by over 15 women artists
was inspired by Patricia Butler’s book Irish Botanical Illustrators and Flower Painters and celebrates three centuries of Irish botanical art
has been curated by Patricia Butler (below) assisted by Janet McLean (National Gallery of Ireland)
opened to the public today 7 March and continues until 21 June 2020.
Admission is free.

Guest Curator Patricia Butler at the Private View for Drawn from Nature: Irish Botanical Art

Many of the drawings, watercolours, prints, and books will be on display for the first time at the National Gallery of Ireland during the exhibition. Works from public and private collections include selections from the National Botanic Gardens (Glasnevin), National Museums Northern Ireland, Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew) and the V&A (London).

George Victor Du Noyer (1817-1869) Engl. King. King. Musk. Turnip. Black annat. Winter Rose, 1837 Courtesy of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin

Below you can find out about the exhibition and see photos of some of the artists who have work in the exhibition.

The exhibition combines the botanical artwork of celebrated Irish botanical artists of the past - many of whom were women - such as

William Kilburn (1745–1818) - an illustrator for William Curtis' Flora Londinensis. A few hundred originals of his water colour designs make up the Kilburn Album, housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
Ellen Hutchins (1785–1815) - specialised in seaweeds, lichens, mosses and liverworts. She also discovered many seaweeds and mosses before her death in Cork at the age of 29.
Lydia Shackleton (1824-1914) - the first artist-in-residence at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Dublin
John Templeton (1766–1825) - an early Irish naturalist and botanist often referred to as the "Father of Irish Botany".
Lady Edith Blake (1845–1926) - an Irish botanical illustrator and writer, noted for her work on the flora and fauna of countries such as The Bahamas, Jamaica and Ceylon
Raymond Piper (1923 -2007) - his paintings of orchids were displayed in the British Museum and the Ulster Museum.
Wendy Walsh (1915-2014) - The Irish Times called her ' Ireland's finest practiotner of botanical art' when she died age 98. She worked closely with Dr E Charles Nelson, formerly taxonomist at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, on two volumes of An Irish Florilegium – Wild and Garden Flowers of Ireland , which were published in 1983 and 1987. She received a number of national and international awards for her work.

alongside a number of contemporary botanical artists (see below).

Items have been lent by private collectors and public collections including the V&A, Kew, and National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin.

“While many Irish botanical artists ventured across the world, others barely stepped beyond their townlands. This exhibition highlights how they are bonded by a common curiosity in nature and a compulsion to record it. It celebrates centuries of looking closely, drawing carefully, and treasuring the complex beauty of plants.”
Janet McLean of the National Gallery of Ireland

Leading contemporary Irish botanical artists (see below for who's who)

The artists in the above photograph are leading Irish contemporary botanical artists. Most are active in organising exhibitions of botanical art by the Irish Society of Botanical Artists and/or at Bloom.

They are (left to right)

Deborah Lambkin GM - The official 'Orchid Artist' to the Royal Horticultural Society Orchid Committee since 2005. Awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society in 2019.
Lynn Stringer - Botanical artist living and working in Co. Wicklow. Exhibits botanical art with the Watercolour Society of Ireland and is Chair of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists.
Shevaun Doherty - Won Gold Medals for her botanical artwork on vellum in the Botanical category at Bloom Botanical Art in Dublin (2014, 2015, 2016). Won Gold Medal and Best Painting in Show (Botanical category) at Bloom 2017.
Holly Somerville - A very experienced botanical illustrator with an MA in Botany from Oxford. She has extensive experience of drawing plants from herbarium specimens and was based in the herbarium of the Botany Department of Trinity College, Dublin. Commissioned to draw new illustrations for the 7th edition of David Webb’s ‘An Irish Flora’.
Yanny Petters - Wicklow based botanical artist and tutor who has work in the Shirley Sherwood Collection and the Office of Public Works in Dublin and exhibits regularly at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in Dublin. Specialises in Verre Églomisé, or painting on glass, an old and rare technique which she has developed to suit her plant portraits. Vice Chair of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists.
Jane Stark - a founding member of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists and curator of the annual Claregalway Botanical Art Expo, held in conjunction with the Galway Garden Festival at Claregalway Castle.
Susan Sex GM - One of Ireland's foremost botanical artists - based in Dublin. in 1996, she had a solo exhibition in the National Botanic Gardens which sold out. She has won three RHS gold medals (2000, 2001, 2002) for her paintings of orchids. Awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society in 2010.
Mary Dillon - Founding Chairperson of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists 2014. Exhibits and teaches botanical art internationally. Awarded Gold Medal and Best in Show in Botanical and Floral Art at Bloom, Dublin, 2016, and a Gold at Bloom, 2017. Exhibited at the 16th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, PA.
Siobhan Larkin - Won Gold Medals and "Best in Show" (Botanical Art) at both the 3rd (2015) and the 4th (2016) and 7th (2019) Botanical Art Exhibitions at Bloom in the Park in Dublin. Exhibited at the 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, PA.
Margareta Pertl - An Austrian born artist living in Ireland for part of the year. Since 1998, she has illustrated orchids from the collections of the National Botanical Gardens, Glasnevin, and the Botanical Gardens of the University of Vienna.

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Deborah Lambkin, Shevaun Doherty, Madeline Hutchins (great great grandniece of Ellen Hutchins), Susan Sex and John Parnell, Professor of Systematic Botany at Trinity College Dublin

The group of contemporary artists participating in the exhibition also found out last night that they are all invited to exhibit in a group show at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in Dublin in July-August 2020!

Yanny Petters, Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera, 2014, Verre Eglomisé (Back painting on glass), Private Collection

Shevaun Doherty with her watercolour painting on vellum of Golden Eye Lichen, Teloschistes chrysophthalmus.

Thanks to various of the botanical artists participating in the show and the Olivier Cornet Gallery for details and photos.

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Ask an expert: botanical art surgery - with Deborah Lambkin at Kew Gardens on 1st March

23/2/2020

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Next Sunday there's another Botanical Art Surgery with an expert at Kew Gardens - and the expert this time is Deborah Lambkin - winner of the prestigious Jill Smythies Award in 2019.

Expert: Deborah Lambkin
Venue: Main Gallery of the Shirley Sherwood Art Gallery, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Date: Sunday 1st March 2020
Time: 11am - 3pm

I’m doing the next Botanical Art Surgery in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery @kewgardens next Sunday 1st March. I’ll be painting a bit and chatting about botanical art mostly. Will show a few bits and pieces that I am working on too. 11 til 3. pic.twitter.com/uvymD9HoU2
— Deborah Lambkin (@DeborahLambkin) February 22, 2020

About Deborah Lambkin

Deborah Lambkin after being presented with the Jill Smythies Award 2019 | Permission of The Linnean Society of London

Some facts about Deborah Lambkin:

born in Ireland but now lives in London
trained at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin
official orchid artist for the RHS Orchid Committee since 2005 - and has painted over 200 different orchids
winner of the Linnean Society's Jill Smythies Award in 2019
an artist member of the RHS Picture Panel which judges exhibits at the RHS Botanical Art Shows
One of only two Irish artists (to date) to win a gold medal at the RHS exhibition, the other being Wendy F. Walsh.
She won an RHS Gold Medal for her collection of eight paintings of nerines in 1999.
Contributes paintings to Curtis's Botanical Magazine regularly.
This is an article she wrote about Dealing with plant specimens – Deborah Lambkin

Social Media Accounts

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British Wild Flowers - botanical art exhibition at Easton Walled Garden

14/2/2020

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Botanical Art Exhibition: British Wild Flowers
This is an exhibition of 38 original botanical artworks about wild flowers found in Britain by Dawn Wright FSBA, Dianne Sutherland FSBA and Polly Sutherland.

The Sutherland Corner - watercolours on vellum by Dianne Sutherland and graphite drawings by Polly Sutherland

Venue: Coach House, Easton Walled Gardens
Dates: Saturday 15th February - Sunday 15th March 2020
(On usual open days: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays but not 12th March)
Hours: 11am - 4pm

It's open daily during snowdrop week (16th-23rd Feb)
After that, it's open on their usual open days (Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays) beginning 1st March until 15th March.
However, sadly it's NOT open this weekend as originally planned (Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th) due to the forecast of very high winds from Storm Denis (the Menace) and possible flooding.

Botanical watercolour paintings of plants with white blooms by Dawn Wright

The exhibition features work by botanical artists

Dawn Wright - painting in watercolour on paper. Dawn is a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists, a member of the Northamptonshire Botanical Artists' Society, the Eden Project Florilegium Society and the American Society of Botanical Artists.
Dianne Sutherland - painting in watercolour on vellum. Dianne was elected to membership of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2012 and is also a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists. She has been a regular exhibitor at RHS botanical art shows and with the SBA. She has work in the permanent collection at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Illustration in the USA and the Sydney Florilegium in Australia.
Polly Sutherland - working in graphite on paper. Polly graduated in both a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Lancaster University and an MA in Art in Science from Liverpool John Moores University. She specialises in detailed drawings of microscopic and botanical forms, working with both graphite and coloured pencil.
In addition, there are 3 joint paintings of dissections by Polly and Dianne in graphite and watercolour
All original artwork (except for 3 pieces) is for for sale. Plus limited edition prints, regular prints and cards are available.

Do please make an effort to visit as it's always very sad for artists when they create an exhibition - and then "life happens" and gets in the way. Dawn tells me that the paths are barked but it's wise to wear boots. Also the tea rooms are excellent, but 5,000 people visit during snowdrop week(!) so it can get very crowded that week. I'm planning to visit early in March.

By way of a bit of temptation, here are some more photographs of the exhibition and the artwork.

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