 This year the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. Hence the name of its annual exhibition this year is Plantae 2025 – The 40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. This is being held as follows:
Besides the exhibition, the educational focus of the SBA means there are also a number of Masterclasses, Talks and Gallery Tours available for people to sign up for - and the list has just been published. Details are below - and I'd recommend you book early as some of these are going to be VERY VERY popular! This is the link to the Eventbrite site where you can book and pay for a place in the Masterclass or to hear a Talk.
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The RHS Botanical Art Show opens at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, London on 13th June. Below you can find out which artists are exhibiting in this year's show and what their exhibits are about.
For those interested in exhibiting with the RHS in future years, this is the 2025 Artists' Guide to Exhibiting. 
This year’s exhibits highlight the deep connection between plants and people, highlighting their significance in our everyday lives and demonstrating the enduring relevance of botanical art. Exhibiting artists and their exhibits
The botanical artists exhibiting in the 2025 show are
It's important to note - as I have been saying for years - that there comes a time when only getting a Silver Medal at RHS will mean there will be no guarantee that you'll get a second chance to exhibit at RHS. Which is WHY it's very important the first time you exhibit to present your very best work. I think we've maybe reached that point. In 2025, there are a mix of people who are
This post is all about some of the KEY THEMES of this year's exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show - particularly those which, relative to the judging criteria, displayed:
It should be emphasised that all those who get to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show have already met a high bar in being "approved to exhibit". So this post, to the extent that it considers weaknesses and aspects capable of improvement is very much focused on the tweaking and refining which is always a focus for those seeking to exhibit at the top level of this international exhibition. The only artists I name are those who won Gold Medals and the only images I show are those by Gold Medal winners. It's another of my VERY LONG posts and it's intended for all those artists who:
I'm bound to have forgotten something I meant to say, so this may well be revised and updated over the next couple of days. It will be added to my archive of posts about RHS Exhibits for the benefit of those who I'll be reviewing in future years.  Two paintings by Lynne Uptin from the RHS Best Exhibit 2024 Why write this post?One of the HUGE benefits of the RHS Botanical Art Show is that each Judge provides detailed feedback to artists individually. So each artist has already had the "official view" on why they got the colour of medal that they did. So why write this post? After all I'm not a Judge - but
As a result I've learned, over time, how to recognise a Gold Medal winner. Indeed I'm proud to say I used to be able to identify most of them before the medal certificates went up. I also like to work out
When we had the RHS Botanical Art Show for just two days in the Lindley Horticultural Hall in Victoria, lots of artists from all over the world were able to attend for the entire 2.5 days involved with the hang, private view, open to the public and take down. As a result I always made a point of interviewing all the Gold Medallists who were there and able to converse in English. In doing so, I identified what were their top tips for the benefit of future exhibitors. (See various posts in my Archive of my posts about the RHS Show) However I cannot do that any more given the very limited time to access those artists who do attend the opening of the exhibition. So, I decided to find another way of passing on what I think may well be useful tips for others who want to exhibit - or exhibit again. Hence this post! I'm happy for others to comment (below) on their views or what they've learned - but please be respectful of artists. I'd prefer you to highlight what you liked most! Judging CriteriaThis is about who was awarded what - in terms of awards and medals - at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024 - which opened to the public at the Saatchi Gallery in London on Friday 14th July 2023. The exhibition continues until 7th July 2024 and I highly recommend you pay it a visit if you have any aspirations to being a better botanical artist.  The Three Award Winners at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024 This is a VERY, VERY LONG post - with lots of images and lots of useful information and tips. Below is a list of all the 22 botanical artists and illustrators whose exhibits were
At the end, I highlight
My next post (this week) will focus on key themes around
Both will hopefully be helpful.
Awards for Outstanding Botanical ArtworkThere are three awards which, in the context of the show, are all of relatively recent origin. However as the numbers of exhibitors have grown and the standard of art exhibited has improved significantly, it was felt that there was a need to recognise all those who had particularly impressed the Judges. (More about the Judges at the end!) It's notable that all three Gold Medal winners - who also won an Award - are ALL First Time Exhibitors. This is VERY impressive - but it must be acknowledged that it is actually becoming more normal. That's because very many artists, after becoming approved to exhibit, do not apply to exhibit at a specific exhibition UNTIL they have an excellent exhibit to submit. Best Botanical Art Exhibit LYNNE UPTIN The Genus Richea: A Relic of Gondwana.  The Genus Richea: A Relic of Gondwana This is a classic example of an artist who chose to do a very unusual and highly scientific project - and then produced paintings which are very complex and yet explain everything and are also very attractive. A number of them were painted from herbaria specimens - and we see examples of these in the slideshow in the gallery. Lynne has been painting the Genus Richea since 2020. Richea is a genus of 11 species of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. Nine of the species are endemic to Tasmania - where she lives - and the other two are endemic to the south-east of the Australian mainland. It's also associated with the split up of the supercontinent of Gondwana as Tasmania was the last region of the continental plates to split from Antartica. I think we can expect a second exhibit of Genus Richea from Lynne! In 2023/24 Lynne has focussed on developing a body of works for this exhibition which is a study of 6 of the species of the genus Richea, a plant with ancient and fascinating origins. The majority of the species are endemic to Tasmania’s World Heritage temperate rainforests.  Charlotte Brooks (left) presents Lynne Uptin with her Crystal Vase for Best Exhibit Lynne Uptin was the Director of Arts Tasmania for 20 years. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2010 for her services to arts administration. Prior to that she worked as an illustrator and owned two art galleries. What's really interesting is that Lynne is relatively new to botanical art. However she has started exhibiting, became a Fellow of SBA and has won awards for her artwork.
Judge’s Special Award There's a second award for an entire exhibit called the Judges Special Award which was introduced in 2018. This was after Dr. Hye Woo Shin GM (2013,2014,2018,2022) came back for the third time to win another Gold Medal, after she had also previously won the Best Exhibit (2013 and 2014). It's not an award which automatically goes to a Gold Medal Winner. However it is an award which is often more related to new ideas or subjects for botanical art and/or the scale of the endeavour - and exhibits which the Judges really like! SUNANDA VERMA WIDEL Ornamental Bananas from Southeast Asia.  Ornamental bananas are very much associated with South East Asia and these particular bananas grow in Singapore Botanical Gardens which is a UNESCO Heritage Site. Her exhibit demonstrates the morphological diversity found in the Musaceae genus in Singapore. This was a project which clearly exemplified the scale of her endeavour to record this genus. Her aim was to demonstrate their upright habit and the variety of the flower forms, the fruit and the amazing array of colours of different species. Her artwork also includes a neat row of dissections to illustrate parts of the plant. Overall she has more than succeeded, as her exhibit has great impact within the Gallery. Her fieldwork, over several years, involved making accurate measurements, detailed drawings and colour swatches throughout the year - all while sat in the tropical heat of Singapore - and there are photographs of her doing this in the slideshow opposite her exhibit in the gallery.  Sunanda Verma Widel - with three of the paintings in her exhibit Sunanda, who lives in Singapore, only took up botanical art after she retired from her teaching career in international schools around the world. She has a background in art and a degree in Printmaking. On retirement from teaching, she began to study botanical art with the Society of Botanical Art's 2-year Distance Learning Diploma Course (DLDC). In 2018, she graduated with distinction. Sunanda is a Fellow of the SBA and a member of the ASBA and a founder member of the Botanical Art Society of Singapore (BASS). She has exhibited internationally and her artwork is held in the archive collections at both the RBG Edinburgh and the SBG. She will also be exhibiting in the 17th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Institute in Pittsburgh this autumn. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Sunada's artwork in future! Best Botanical Artwork
DALEEN ROODT Eulophia horsfallii & Dissotis princeps with carpenter bees (Xylocopa flavorufa).
This post is about:
Some of the exhibiting artists at RHS Botanical Art Show 2024
Facts about the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024
This is how to see the exhibition.
The Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea
Some of you may be aware I've been interviewing Gold Medal Winners for years and years.
RHS Botanical Art Show 2024: List of Exhibiting Botanical Artists & Illustrators
Charlotte Brooks and the RHS have gone to a lot of trouble this year to improve the scope and quality of the information about the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show and the exhibitors on the RHS Website.
Every artist has their work featured with a profile and links to their websites and social media. The exhibition will showcase exquisite botanical art and photography, featuring a rich variety of subjects from medicinal desert flowers to ornamental bananas, and from images of forest slime moulds to urban street plants. It will showcase the new work of leading botanical artists and photographers representing the UK, Italy, Portugal, Romania, USA, South Africa, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Japan. Saatchi Gallery
As usual, the two countries dominating the show are the UK and Japan - with four artists each.
Unusually, the majority of the artists are first time exhibitors - and only two artists (Linda Pitkin and Toni Dade) are previous RHS Gold Medal Winners. It's been apparent in recent years, how much the calibre of entrant has improved and it's now not at all unusual for first time exhibitors to achieve a Gold Medal the first time they exhibit. As a number of the artists have demonstrated their ability to excel in other countries and other exhibitions, I'm expecting the same will happen this year. (I am already making my list of those who look to me like possible GMs!) ​So it will be interesting to see what the medal table looks like after the exhibits have all been assessed and the medals and prizes awarded. I'm looking forward to meeting as many as possible of the artists listed below as possible. I'll be there on the 13th for the Press View and Private View in the evening.... 
Botanical artists and illustrators from England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and the USA - exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024
Below, I'm listing the names of the various botanical artists and illustrators, ordered by country - starting with the UK and then going alphabetically for the remaining countries.
Each of the names - on this page - provides
UK (4 artists)
England
 At long last, the good news is that BISCOT is coming back to Scotland! It's been a very long time since I wrote on this website about BISCOT. My last post BISCOT 2019 & RBGE Florilegium at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh was in pre-pandemic in June 2019. I've been waiting ever since to see if it was going to be resurrected. Which is why it gives me great pleasure to share the news that BISCOT is to resume holding exhibitions. This post tells you about:
About Upcoming BISCOT Exhibitions There is to be:
About Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT)Just a reminder that the deadline for the Distance Learning Diploma in Botanical Art offered by the Society of Botanical Artists is TOMORROW 30th September 2023.  Course 21 will commence in January 2024.
You can also read about some of the DLDC assignments that students did in the past to get a sense of what's involved from a student perspective - on my page dedicated to Society of Botanical Art Diploma Course - commentary via blog posts HOW TO DECIDE ON THE BEST COURSE FOR YOU You can also check out alternative options for studying via a Diploma or Certificate on my page about Diploma and Certificate Courses in Botanical Art & Illustration in 2022-23 - which I will be updating in the near future. This also includes a LOT of questions that I recommend every student should ask before making a decision as to which is the best course for them as an individual. [PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH INFORMATION ABOUT ANY NEW DIPLOMAS OR CERTIFICATES - please use the form at the bottom of the page to provide:
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