NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Lucy Smith filmed by BBC News

22/12/2018

Botanical Illustrator Lucy Smith was telling me earlier in the week about how exciting it was to be filmed creating one of her botanical illustrations for the Kew Herbarium Archive by a BBC News crew who came to Kew Gardens. (This is part of a wider filming project by the BBC at Kew)>

Her item was due to run on yesterday's news.

...and so:

the good news - the title given to the piece is The woman who draws the world's plants
the good news - you can still see the video on the BBC website - just click the blue link above. In it she describes how she draws a NEW species and what she has to do to dry botanical material in order to see its features properly - and how long it takes her to produce an illustration
the bad news - the piece about her got bumped by a drone! BBC News needed extra time for the impact caused by the awful men who closed down Gatwick by flying drones with a view to causing maximum disruption!

RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Do take a look at the video - it's only short but packed full of information!

There's also an article about Lucy Smith on the Kew Gardens website
RECOMMENDED READ: Meet award-winning botanical illustrator Lucy Smith & discover her line drawings

You can also read more about Lucy and what she does on:

her website http://www.lucytsmith.com
her Facebook Page - Lucy T Smith Botanical Artist
her Twitter account - Lucy Smith at https://twitter.com/palmsmithy

Blog posts are emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email
Emails are only sent to you after you have activated the link you will receive.

0 Comments

Margaret Mee 1909-1988: 30th Anniversary

30/11/2018

0 Comments

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic death of Margaret Mee (1909 - 1988) the renowned painter of the flora of the Amazon Forest and dedicated environmental conservationist.

She and her husband had returned to England in November 1988 for a major exhibition of her paintings at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew coupled with the launch of a book Margaret Mee in Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forest (1988) based on Margaret's diaries - and discussion about the future of her paintings.

Very sadly she was killed at the age of 79 in a car crash in Leicester on 30 November 1988 a few months after her last expedition to the Amazon.

Those attending her memorial service, held at Kew on 16 January 1989, included representatives of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Brazilian government, and the world of botany.
In May 1989, her ashes were scattered in the Amazon Forest by her husband and close friends. A plaque was fixed to a tree to record her passing.

Paintings by Margaret Mee at the the "Brazil: a powerhouse of plants: Margaret Mee, pioneering artist and her legacy" Exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery (20 February 2016 to 29 August 2016)

About Margaret Mee

About Margaret Mee is my page about this remarkable and very petite woman, who was

a famous and important botanical artist, who specialised in painting the flora of the Amazon Forest. 
an ardent conservationist who highlighted the way in which the forest was being destroyed; and
a botanical painter who inspired a number of botanical artists around the world - notably a number of Brazilian botanical artists.

In Search of Flowers of the Amazon Forest

from Amazon UK

Her legacy includes

images from her 15 expeditions into the Amazon Rainforest
nine new plants - previously unknown to botanical record
400 folios of gouache illustrations, 40 sketchbooks and 15 diaries - many now archived at Kew Gardens
her diaries and three books about her work and her paintings
a heightened awareness of the importance of conservation of habitat in the Amazon rainforest.
inspiration for a number of Brazilian artists - notably the Demonte family, Marlena Baretto, Patricia Villela and Alvaro Nunes
The Margaret Mee Amazon Trust (closed 1996) followed by a Fellowship Programme which enables Brazilian artists to train at Kew Gardens
3,000 dancers paraded to a Margaret Mee theme at the Rio Carnival in 1994!

Plus a number of plants are named after her, including:

Heliconia chartacea var. meeana - which has vivid blue berries
Aechmea polyantha - a vaselike Bromeliad discovered by Margaret Mee

On About Margaret Mee you can find out about:

A Timeline of her life and work
Margaret Mee and the Amazon Flora
Margaret Mee's Paintings - and her approach to painting
Exhibitions of Margaret Mee's paintings - in the UK, USA and Brazil
The Margaret Mee Trust and Fellowship Programme

Videos and Slideshows of her work

0 Comments

More from Brazil and New Zealand re. the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art

8/11/2018

0 Comments

Catalogue cover: Expomundial Brasil

Today I added two more items to my page about the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018. Each was added to their country's section of the webpage (which is organised alphabetically in continents and then countries)

an onscreen link to the Issuu version of the Catalogue for the Brazil exhibition - Expomundial Brasil - which was published today. You can view it full screen by clicking the full screen icon bottom right.
a video of 'Ngai Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora' - the New Zealand exhibition - which has now been uploaded to YouTube (see below)

This was the message from the Brazilian team

Here's our e-book finally completed.
We could not allow such an important event to be just a good memory. So we decided to take another step and face another challenge. It seemed simple, but it was months of work and patience of luiz berri, adjustments, wait, doubts and a lot of message exchange, e-mail, watsapp and everything else that could help get the material and information we needed.
But now we have here an important record not only of a remarkable and special moment that was the Brazil, but an overview of the current wealth of botanical illustration in Brazil. Thank you all for participation and trust.
Enjoy to inspire even more

and the message from New Zealand is

This video of New Zealand's 'Ngai Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora' exhibition showcases our diverse and unique flora as seen by the best of New Zealand's botanical artists.

If any other country has information or catalogues or videos that need to be added please let me know using the FORM at the bottom of the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2018 page

0 Comments

Video Interview with Kathy Pickles

19/8/2018

0 Comments

Between 1991 and 1996, Kathy Pickles exhibited every year at the RHS Botanical Art Show. Each year she won a Gold Medal for her exhibit.

In 2015, after nearly 20 years, she returned for a sixth time - and won a sixth Gold Medal. This time she managed to display 16 paintings - eight of Fritillaries and eight of Hellebores.

I've been sorting out my videos of interviews with botanical artists and realised that I'd never made a video of an interview with Kathy in 2015 into a 'proper' published video.

So below you can find my video interview with Kathy Pickles on 27 February 2015 at the RHS Botanical Art Show in the Lindley Hall Westminster - which has now been uploaded to my new Botanical Art and Artists Video Channel on YouTube

In it she advises on why it's always a good idea to go and view botanical art in person - especially at the top shows.

In 2017, Kathy returned for a seventh time and won her seventh Gold Medal for her display of paintings of Clematis. The Judging Panel happened to include the renowned clematis grower Raymond Evison!

Kathy Pickles with her seventh Gold Medal in 2017

Three of Kathy Pickles's paintings of clematis in 2017

To find out more about Kathy Pickles - or even ask her a question you can find her at:

her website http://www.kathypickles.co.uk
her Facebook Page: Kathy Pickles Botanical Art
as a regular participant in the Botanical Artists Facebook Group

Many thanks to those who visit and consult Botanical Art and Artists.
Today this website recorded its 750,000th visitor in just over 3 years.

If you'd like to subscribe to this news blog
Blog posts are emailed to you when youSubscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email

0 Comments

Tulipa Tulipae - the Slideshow Video

30/6/2018

2 Comments

Marta Chirino who co-ordinated the recent Tulipa Tulipae exhibition and associated catalogue at the Real Botanical Gardens in Madrid has made a very effective slideshow video of the sequence of how the show came about from beginning to end.

You can view it below.

This exhibition celebrated the tulip and was a collaboration between

the Society of Botanical Artists,
the Real Botanical Gardens in Madrid and
the Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas.

It featured 87 paintings of different tulips by 47 SBA members, historical botanical illustrations of the tulip and was complemented by 20,000 tulips planted specially in the botanical garden.

More details of the exhibition can be found in my blog posts about

the exhibition Tulipa Tulipae at Real Jardin Botanico Madrid
the exhibition catalogue Book Review: Tulipa Tulipae - El tulipan ilustrado

and my Archive: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in Europe page on my website

2 Comments

A Curious Performance: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Art of Natural History

7/5/2018

0 Comments

Maria Sibylla Merian was a woman of both Art and Science. She was a Botanical & Natural History Illustrator who was the first to record metamorphosis

A Curious Performance: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Art of Natural History by Kate Heard at the Linnean Society

BELOW you can view the video of the presentation at the Linnean Society - A Curious Performance: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Art of Natural History by Kate Heard, Senior Curator of Prints and Drawings at Royal Collection Trust. This was part of the 300th

I attended the talk last December and, despite having already already created a resource about her, I learned a few new things that evening!

It covers her life but also the Merian illustrations which are in the Royal Collection kept at Windsor Castle. It includes comparisons of the printed image with the watercolour on vellum in the Royal Collection.

This video is very much recommended viewing for all Merian fans- however the presentation and the video lasts 45 minutes

Find out more about Maria Sibylla Merian

See About Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717)

Subscribe to BAA News
Blog posts are emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email
Your subscription is:
ONLY to this blog + ONLY activated IF you verify the link you will receive
It will NOT be used for anything else and will NEVER be given to anybody else.
You can unsubscribe at any time

0 Comments

VIDEO of the SBA Annual Exhibition 2017

29/1/2018

1 Comment

I knew that the Society of Botanical Artists were planning a video of their annual exhibition. This morning it's finally been published! I've embedded:

a large version on ARCHIVE: Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK
a smaller version above.

It's well made - with nice music! I know how long these videos can take time to do, so I'm very impressed - particularly with the steady hand and the shot taken from up a step ladder! 2nd year student Grace Sutton currently studying film and television production at Ravensbourne University London is responsible for it. I believe she is an "SBA Relative".

'Changing Seasons' - Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition in 2017

Sadly, the SBA will NOT be having an annual OPEN exhibition in England in 2018.
Billy Showell (President Designate) and her team are looking for alternative options for a future venue for this annual OPEN exhibition.

The SBA Winter Newsletter which I received at the weekend indicates there will be a number of smaller exhibitions and satellite events supported by SBA members - such as:

May 18 2018 - Supporting Botanical Art Worldwide at The Artworkers Guild, Bloomsbury, London
23-24 June 2018 - Exhibition at Woburn Abbey Garden Show

PLUS exhibitions by SBA members at botanical gardens in Spain and Germany

20 March - 20 May 2018 - Tulipa Tulipae, Madrid Botanical Gardens, Spain - comprising 87 paintings by 47 artists
26 October - 25 November 2018 - The Seasonal Garden, November Palmengarten, Frankfurt, Germany

PLUS lots of exhibitions by individual members and small groups.

I've now updated my Exhibitions Pages for all known botanical art exhibitions / exhibits - see

I've also got exhibition pages dedicated to Africa, Asia, Australasia and North America (and will set up one for South America very soon!)

Did you know you can get your botanical art exhibition listed?
Just use the form at the bottom of every exhibition page to send me the details.

For those wanting to improve their botanical art knowledge and skills
The Best Botanical Art and Illustration Instruction Books
(including the NEW book for 2018 about
"Botanical Painting" by Margaret Stevens PPSBA)
and
Botanical Art Classes, Courses and Tutors
around the world

1 Comment

<<Previous