NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

40th Anniversary of the School of Botanical Art & Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens

9/11/2020

This is a lovely video about the activities of the School of Botanical Art & Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens. It was made to celebrate:

its 40th anniversary
the 30th anniversary of its certificate program.

I think it must be the oldest botanical art school in the world. I'm hard put to think of one which is older. (Any suggestions?)

Below is the video on the (public) Facebook Page for the SBAI but if you prefer to view on YouTube this is the link

The video highlights how the School is only the third group to win an RHS Gold Medal (in 2017) in the history of the Royal Horticultural Society - and I was extremely pleased to be able to photograph Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Ph.D., D.Sc. at the time. Mervi led the School as Manager for the last 13 years until her retirement earlier this year. Much of what I have admired about the School has been down to initiatives by Mervi.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with her again when Covid lets her husband and her embark on their retirement tour of Europe!

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Ph.D., D.Sc. with the RHS Gold Medal winning exhibit

Subscribe to this news blog to find out more
about botanical art and illustration and associated instruction
Blog posts are emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email
You can also follow Botanical Art and Artists on Twitter

Find out more about Botanical Art Education and Diplomas & Certificates

REFERENCE LINKS: The School of Botanical Art & Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens

If you'd like to know more about the School these links tell you a lot.

WEBSITE: https://www.botanicgardens.org/education/school-botanical-art-illustration
FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolOfBotanicalArtAndIllustration/
BLOG: Botanical Illustration - which has always been open access in the past but now seems to be open to invited people only. (I'm rather surprised as I always thought his blog did the most amazing job of marketing both the school and its Diploma in Botanical Illustration and Foundation Certificate.

For educational organisations interested in submitting an exhibit to the RHS Botanical Art Show as a Group, can I refer you to:

0 Comments

RBGE Botanical Illustration Diploma Graduation Show 2018

22/9/2018

3 Comments

You've got one more day to visit the botanical art exhibits at the RBGE Graduation Show at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh by the international students who have just completed their RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration this summer.

(This would have been earlier but for my recent computer woes/hard drive failure - I only got my photoshop software working again this morning!)

Fortunately Elaine Searle was visiting earlier this month for the Graduation ceremony and took photos and sent them to me - so below is a record of the graduates, what they chose to do for their portfolios and pics of their exhibit.

Constanza (Coco) Obach with her exhibit of "Plants of the Coastal Mountain Range (Chile)"

The Diploma show is a showcase of work from the RBGE Diplomas in Botanical Illustration, Herbology and Plantsmanship courses.

Graduate Show - RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration (2017/18)

Venue: Fletcher Building, Botanic Garden Edinburgh (accessed by the ramp to the right of the Cacti House.)
Dates: Saturday 22nd September 2018 - Sunday 23rd September 2018
Hours: Open daily from 10:30 - 16:00
Admission: Free

RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration:
Graduation Show

The Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is ideal for those who want to take botanical illustration to a professional level. Designed for those with a background or some experience in art, design or illustration, this three year RBGE diploma develops skills across a complete range of watercolour, pencil and pen.

The graduating students this summer come from various countries around the world - including:

Chile
France
Japan: Tokyo
Netherlands
Switzerland: Geneva
UK: The Wirral in Cheshire; Melrose in the Scotland Borders
USA: New Mexico and Southern California

Click RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration for more details about the three year course using online instruction.

Wren M Allen - Native Plants of the American Desert South West and their Traditional Uses

Wren lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and discovered botanical illustration while living in Brazil. Her plants are those found near her home.

Jenny Bache-Usher - Five Plants from SSSI Red Rock Marsh, Hoylake

The marsh local to her home is a site of special scientific interest and exhibits different habitats within its boundary. Her plants are the very rare Wirral Horsetail and the Sea Holly, Flag Iris, Salad Burnet and Sea Radish.

A course with headlines and tasks concentrates the mind wonderfully!

Julia Blower - Hosta Cultivars

Julia started to paint after many years of working as a lawyer and then in management roles. She had grown Hostas in her woodland garden for many years and regarded the portfolio assignment as a great excuse to buy and plant more hostas!

3 Comments

UPDATE - RBGE Diploma Graduation Show 2017

11/9/2017

0 Comments

RBGE Diploma Graduates 2017 at the Graduation Ceremony on Friday evening

Further to my earlier post about the RBGE Diploma Graduation Show 2017 - this post includes photos of

ALL the artwork (in a new slideshow - in alphabetical order) for the Diploma graduates (minus one artist)
a photo of the RGBE Diploma graduates at their graduation ceremony.

Many thanks to Marianne Hazlewood (extreme left in the above photo) for providing the photos.

Can I suggest you have a look at more pics of Marianne's work posted on Instagram and displayed via Picbear - and you'll some of the reasons why she was awarded the prize for botanical illustration!

See the show and find out about the Diploma options

You can see the show in Edinburgh until Sunday 17th September.

Graduate Show - RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration (2016/17)

Venue: Fletcher Building, Botanic Garden Edinburgh (accessed by the ramp to the right of the Cacti House.)
Dates: 9 - 17th September 2017
Hours: Open daily from 11am - 4pm.
Admission: Free
RBGE Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dipbi/

You can find out more about the RBGE Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration - and other Diploma Courses - on my page about Diplomas and Certificates in Botanical Art and Illustration

Subscribe to BAA News
Get every blog post emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email

0 Comments

Three Botanical Art Exhibitions in Scotland in September

3/9/2017

0 Comments

There are three botanical art exhibitions in Scotland - two of which have already opened.
Here's a list of them

SSBA 2nd Annual Exhibition - “The Colours of Nature”
Art in Bloom: Biggar Botanical Art Exhibition
RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration - Graduate Show (2016/17)

I'm even thinking it might be worth a train journey!

SSBA 2nd Annual Exhibition - “The Colours of Nature”

SSBA - The Colour of Nature Flyer

The first exhibition is The Colours of Nature. This is second Annual Exhibition of the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists. They held their Private View yesterday afternoon and the exhibition opens to the public today and continues until 22nd October.

Venue: The Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Dumbarton Road, Stirling, FK8 2RQ.
Dates: Sunday 3rd September - Sunday 22nd October
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10.30am - 5pm; Sunday 2pm - 5pm
Admission: Free

There are two prizes:

The 'Best in Show’ Award - determined by a panel of three expert judges.
the People’s Choice Award - determined by those visiting the show and voting for the painting they like the best.

The image on the flyer is a watercolour of a painting of a tulip by Victoria Braithwaite.

Part of the exhibition - after it was hung and before the PV guests and visitors arrived

We also have two Meet the Artists days, on Saturday 9th and Saturday 23rd September from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.(11.00 – 15.00) when two exhibiting artists will be on hand to talk to visitors about the paintings in the exhibition, and explain and demonstrate some of the painting techniques used in botanical art. Visitors will also be able to see the paints, brushes, paper and other equipment used in our art, as well as view a painting ‘in progress’.

Art in Bloom: Biggar Botanical Art Exhibition

Art in Bloom - the Flyer

This exhibition is by Biggar Botanical Artists (Facebook Page). It's an exhibition of contemporary botanical artwork by artists from Biggar and the surrounding area plus invited guest artists from further afield.

Venue: Biggar & Upper Clydesdale Museum, 156 High Street, Biggar, ML12 6DH
Dates: 2nd September 2017 -29th September 2017
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 5pm | Sunday 1pm - 5pm
Admission: Free

They are having open studio demonstration days on Wednesdays and Saturdays days on the following dates

September 2nd, 6th and 9th
September 13th and 16th
September 20th, 23rd and 27th

'Open Table' days invite all visitors to join the artists who will be at the museum demonstrating how they do their work.
Pencils, paper, erasers, watercolours everything you will need to have a go will be there. It will be amazing what you can achieve when given the correct guidance! Don't worry though, there will be no pressure and it will be a laugh for everyone. Its free and fun tuition by qualified, award winning artists!

For those looking to emphasise what the art is all about, make a note of the fact that Biggar Botanical Artists had cupcakes with petals at their PV - which is a new one on me!

Cupcakes with petals!

RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration - Graduate Show (2016/17)

Flyer for the RBGE Diploma Show of work by recent graduates of the Botanical Illustration Diploma Course.

Graduate Show - RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration (2016/17)
Venue: Fletcher Building, Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Dates: 9 - 17th September 2017
Hours: Open daily from 11am - 4pm.
Admission: Free

This is an exhibition of botanical artwork by the graduating diplomates of the RBGE Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration. It opens next Saturday - and I hope to do a further blog post about it once I've received photographs.

The paintings on the flyer are by Marianne Hazelwood. You can see her very impressive work for the Diploma Course in Botanical Illustration at RBGE on her website:

Year 1 work
Year 2 work - which generated the work for the flyer for the exhibition.

I very much RECOMMEND you take a look - and visit the exhibition too of course! I've been very impressed by the quality of the artwork being produced by the RBGE diploma students in recent times - not least at the RHS Botanical Art Shows!

0 Comments

Call for Botanical Art Courses, Classes and Workshops in 2016

18/11/2015

0 Comments

End of the Class: Teacher's Summary of homework for the holidays! (see source at end)

Information about Tuition in Botanical Art and Courses, Classes and Workshops is at present contained on the following pages on this website:

Diplomas and Certificates
Fellowships, Scholarships and Residencies
Tuition and Workshops - Tutors' page

Future Workshops, Classes and Courses in 2016 in:

I want to update all these pages for students planning what they want to do next year.

What I'm looking for are the names of established and reputable tutors - plus workshops, classes and short courses run by institutions in 2016

I'm also wanting to develop similar pages for tuition opportunities available in South America, Europe, and Asia. I'd be very happy to receive information about opportunities on these continents - however I'm afraid this must be in English.

PLEASE HELP

If you are an established artist or an educational institution providing tuition in botanical art and/or illustration by way of Diplomas, Certificates, short courses, classes or workshops please let me know:

WHERE prospective students can find you online
WHAT sort of tuition you deliver
HOW LONG you have been teaching
how I can conteact you via email if I have any queries

Please note the form goes direct to me and is NOT published.

I'm not promising to list everybody who writes but do aim to list as many reputable botanical art tutors as possible.

Students can also complete the form and recommend tutors who they think deserve to be on the list. If you are a student please indicate all the data required above AND when you did a course with this tutor.

Thanks for your help - in anticipation of a good response!

Image: this is the homework for the summer given to Diploma students at the Chelsea School of Botanical Art by Lucy T. Smith. Lucy is an award winning and professional botanical illustrator who produces illustrations for Kew Gardens and Curtis botanical magazine - and teaches short courses for botanical art schools.

0 Comments

The Chelsea School of Botanical Art - interview with Helen Allen

14/9/2015

0 Comments

The Chelsea School of Botanical Art is a blog post containing:

my review of the Chelsea School of Botanical Art and its home at the Chelsea Physic Garden following my visit to the school this summer
an overview of the Diploma and short courses offered
an insight into the people teaching the Diploma Couses and short courses
an interview with Helen Allen, the Principal of the School
links to where you can find the Chelsea School of Botanical Art online

You can also find details about the School on this website - on the Diplomas and Certificates page

0 Comments