NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Niki Simpson and Juliet Williamson win Jill Smythies Award 2018

31/5/2018

Every year the The Jill Smythies Award is awarded to one or more botanical illustrators - for outstanding botancal illustrations in publications.

Last week, on 24th May 2018, the Annual Anniversary Meeting of the Linnean Society started with the presentation of annual medals, recognising outstanding contributions to the Natural Sciences by a variety of different people.

The Jill Smythies Award was founded in 1988 and awards a prize of £1000 to a botanical artist for outstanding illustrations.

I've now created a page about the The Jill Smythies Award which lists the people who have received the award to date and how nominations are made. The list includes some famous names in the world of contemporary botanical art have received the award plus a lot of very experienced botanical illustrators who work in Botanic Gardens across the world. It finishes with a summary biography of Jill Smythies.

I've checked and you don't have to be a fellow to nominate somebody for the Award!

Niki Simpson receive her Jill Smythies Award

Niki Simpson

Juliet Williamson

Juliet Williamson receiving her Jill Smythies Award

The Jill Smythies Award 2018

For 2018, the Council agreed to make two awards: to

Niki Simpson - who has developed a technique for digital botanical images similar to conventional botanical illustration plates.
Juliet Williamson - who illustrated The Kew Plant Glossary: An Illustrated Dictionary of Plant Identification Terms - which contains 700 of her line drawings.

Juliet seems to be quite a private person and there's very little about her online other. However my 'sources' say she's been producing botanical illustrations for Kew for years - dating back to 2002. (However I'm very happy to correct any inaccuracies).

Niki is pretty well known within the botanical illustration community for being the first person to recreate botanical illustration using digital imaging technology and software.

Niki with a display of her digital botanical illustrations for the viewing by the Fellows of the Linnean Society. Photo copyright Niki Simpson.

The aim is for scientific, reference-standard images. Each composite illustration is a comprehensive plant portrait of a single taxon or plant species, showing the diagnostic and, where space allows, the characteristic features of that plant. All parts and dissections are shown to scale by a metric scale bar, and where appropriate, the notable parts are colour referenced. In addition, each illustration contains a time bar showing the month/s of flowering, a title block and symbols indicating the plant's life form and sexual arrangement.
Visual Botany - Artist Statement

I've previously featured Niki's work on my page about Artists using Other Media which highlights her exhibition catalogue Niki Simpson: Digital Diversity | Exhibition Catalogue on Issuu. I spent a lovely afternoon in the Linnean Society when her book was published - looking at the way she manages to develop her plates. - which is a complex process.

Finally - the medallists from all the different categories have a group photo - and this is the one for 2018.

The Linnean Society Medallists 2018 (24 May 2018)

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Exhibition by Bobbi Angell and Beverley Duncan at the Arnold Arboretum

6/5/2018

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Impressions of Woody Plants: Disjunction, Two Artists, and the Arnold Arboretum is the title of a new botanical art exhibition which includes Copper Etchings by Bobbi Angell and Watercolor Paintings by Beverly Duncan

Impressions of Wood Plants Bobbi Angell Beverley Duncan

About the Exhibition

The word disjunction, defined as the relationship between two distinct alternatives, can be applied to botanical artists Bobbi Angell and Beverly Duncan: their media--copper and watercolor, their plant focuses--exotic and native, their backgrounds--botany and art. In the end though, as in this Arnold Arboretum exhibition, it is all about the wonder of woody plants, and the artists' approaches to creating images.

Venue: Hunnewell Building (Visitor Centre), 125 Arborway, Boston, MA 02130
in the The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University (click link for how to get there)
Dates: May 11 – July 22, 2018
Hours: 10am - 5pm
Admission: Free - but limited (Note - The Hunnewell lecture hall is used for programs, classes, and other events. Please call 617 384-5209 for accessibility.)
Opening Reception: Saturday 19th May (1:00-3:00pm)
Information: Details of the show can be found here
https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/news-events/art-shows/

The show also includes a Workshop with the artists (Location: Hunnewell Building)
Saturday 9th June 2018 (1-3pm) Free, no registration required

About Bobbi Angell

Bobbi Angell is attracted to unusual, cultivated specimens due to her long history working with botanists and horticulturalists.

Her subjects, all Asian natives, several of which were introduced into cultivation by the Arboretum, represent the remarkable history of plant collecting around the world.
All can be found in the collections of the Arboretum.
Her drawings are developed into finely crafted copper etchings, which are then printed in limited editions.

Angell has been drawing plants since 1978, illustrating floras, monographs, and new species for botanists at The New York Botanical Garden, Harvard University, and Smithsonian Institution. Drawing herbarium specimens has been the focus of her work. Angell's copper plate etchings reflect her interest in fine detail. They have allowed her a satisfying and natural extension of her compositional style.

See also my recent blog post Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell

About Beverly Duncan

Beverly Duncan is drawn to the familiarity of native plants.

She translates the common and recognisable into intimate portraits in detailed watercolor paintings.
Her sketches capture the various stages in the life of a native plant.
For this exhibition, Duncan focused on paintings of seedlings, the delicate early life of a tree or shrub.
All her subjects can also be found as mature trees on the grounds of the Arnold Arboretum.

Duncan is an award-winning botanical artist, the first to receive Best in Show at the annual exhibition of the Horticultural Society in New York and the American Society of Botanical Artists. Her work is in corporate and private collections around the world. Duncan exhibited and received recognition at the 2014 royal Horticultural Exhibit in London. She teaches botanical drawing and painting classes, and has illustrated commissions for numerous books and magazines.

About the Arnold Arboretum

The Arnold Arboretum

Established in 1872 and founded as a public-private partnership between the City of Boston and Harvard University
281 acres hosting the Arboretum’s living collection of trees, shrubs, and woody vines

Planned and designed in collaboration with Frederick Law Olmsted; it is a National Historic Landmark and one of the best preserved of Olmsted’s landscapes.
An international center for the study of plants - with a a 43,000-square-foot state-of-the-art research center and a herbaria containing more than 1.3 million specimens
Free and open to the public every day of the year

Find out about more botanical art exhibitions

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3rd Birthday and 600,000 Visitors

28/4/2018

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Botanical Art and Artists started three years ago on 16 April 2015.

This week, this compendium about Botanical Art and Illustration for Botanical Artists and fans received its 600,000th visitor.

Home Page (crop) of Botanical Art and Artists as it passes 3rd birthday and tops 600,000 visitors

ABOUT
botanical art and illustration past and present
FOR
botanical artists & illustrators of today & tomorrow
around the world

It sounds like it's been 200,000 each year whereas in fact it's been a steady - and ever increasing - upward trend as more and more people and groups have found out about it. Each month BA&A currently gets between 35,000-40,000 visits and 50-55,000 page views.

I'd like to say a big thank you to all those individuals and organisations that have

found enjoyment and/or value in the website,
provided an awful lot of content for me through your own achievements
inspire me to keep going!

There's lots more still to come.
This is a major retirement project for me - which will keep me happy and fulfilled for a long time - and I have a very long "to do" list!

The website Home Page on the Launch Day.

Your suggestions for content are, as always, most welcome - particularly in relation to any new content or new pages.

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Blog posts are emailed to you when you
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Your subscription is ONLY activated IF you verify the link in the email you will receive
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NOTE:

The image on the Launch Page is Fritillaria imperialis by Alexander Marshal
The image on the current Home Page is Studies of Peonies Paoenia officinalis (c.1472-3) by Martin Schongauer (1450-1491) Gouache and watercolour; 25.7 × 33 cm (10 1/8 × 13 in.) One of the earliest surviving northern European botanical studies drawn from life which now lives at The Getty.

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Nataneal Nascimento wins Margaret Flockton Award 2018

24/4/2018

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Brazilian scientific illustrator Natanael Nascimento has won the Margaret Flockton Award 2018.

This Award and Exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is very prestigious and attracts submissions from scientific botanical illustrators from all over the world - as demonstrated by the prizewinners below.

Margaret Flockton Award 2018
for Scientific Botanical Illustration

This is very much an award for the professional botanical illustrator since it is very much focused on the plates produced for the record and for scientific botanical publications.

What happens is that illustrators from around the world

digitally submit scientifically accurate taxonomic illustrations
i.e. highly detailed black and white drawings primarily undertaken in pen and ink, pencil or digitally rendered.
that accompany a published taxonomic description of the plant,
with the drawing clearly highlighting all of the distinctive features of the species.

The Criteria used to judge the Award are listed below:

Accurate interpretation and portrayal of the plant characters and diagnostic features highlighted in the botanical description
Technical merit
Artistic merit
Composition
Reproducibility

See A Guide to Scientific Illustration for more information on judging criteria.

First Prize $5,000 (AUS)

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Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell

18/4/2018

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Bobbi Angell is a name which is well known to the botanical art and illustration community in the USA - but is maybe less well known further afield.

My contribution to highlighting her contribution to scientific botanical illustration has been to create a new page about two books she co-authored which I think are particularly noteworthy. They were also published 30 years apart in 1986 and 2016. Both are very valued books in my botanical art bookcase.

Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell is a NEW page among the group of pages which form a subset of The Best Botanical Art and Illustration Instruction Books

It focuses on:

Botanical Illustration: Preparation for Publication (1986) by Noel H. Holmgren and Bobbi Angell
A Botanist's Vocabulary: 1300 Terms Explained and Illustrated (2016) by Susan K. Pell and Bobbi Angell

The first book is 30 years old but contains an absolute wealth of information and how to prepare botanical illustrations for production and the approaches and materials used for this task

The second book is a book for a wider audience - but also has particular relevance to the student of botanical art, who needs to both understand technical botanical terms - and terms used by gardeners - and appreciate the standards in technical monochrome botanical illustration achieved by those who do it for a living.

READ MORE about them on Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell

You'll also find the above books listed on The Best Botany Books for Botanical Artist and Illustrators.

READ MORE about Bobbi Angell on her website or on my page about the top botanical artists in the USA

Bobbi Angell in Vermont

In-depth Reviews of botanical art instruction books ad authors

Certain instruction books or authors receive in-depth reviews - and get a page all to themselves. CLICK the links below to go to those pages.

SBA Books - in-depth reviews

Books by popular botanical art tutors

Technical books about Botanical Illustration

Botanical Illustration - Books by Bobbi Angell

Botany books for botanical artists

Botany for the Artist

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List of artists exhibited in "Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit" at Kew

9/3/2018

This post puts on record all those artists who contributed to Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit at the The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens before it ends on Sunday March 11th 2018.

The exhibition is open this weekend 10am to 5pm (last admission 4.45pm). It includes artwork by botanical artists and illustrators from Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA.

Left: Custard Apple by Álvaro Xavier Núñez; next Pomegranates by Ann Schweizer; Right: two paintings of the Ivy Gourd and Bitter Gourd by Phansakdi Chakkaphak

Like many of the smaller exhibitions in the side corridors of the gallery Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit does not have a catalogue and there is also no list of artists and artworks available at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery.

However I've been given a set of the labels used for the exhibition and was able to discus the plants in the exhibition with Shirley Sherwood.

This was supposed to have been written in November last year - and here we are at the last weekend! Which will teach me not to mistake uploading images of the artists with their paintings to Facebook after the Private View with the rather longer(!) task of sorting out this type of blog post.

Explanation of the exhibition - and how dispersal occurs via wind, water, animals and explosive mechanisms

How this list of artists in the exhibition works

I did think of ordering works by methods of dispersion but that would have got very repetitive in terms of artists names!

So the way it works is like this

The list is alphabetical based on (1) the country they come from and (2) the surname of the artist.
A link to their website (if they have one) is embedded in their name. Alternatively another page has been linked to if this tells you about an artist who doesn't have a website.
an asterisk * after their name indicates they are included in my current summary of artists for the country they live in - where you can read more about them. If the artist is deceased they will be listed in 20th century Botanical Artists in the history section. Those without an asterisk will be added soon!
The name is followed by basic bio data which indicates where they were born and live
This is then followed by the title of the work. The common vernacular name is very often followed by the correct latin name in italics, (for more about naming plants see Plant Names and Botanical Latin in the Botany section on this website)
Media: All paintings are watercolour on paper unless otherwise stated.
Artwork which has been published in one of Dr Sherwood's books includes the title of the book and page number (in green) after the title
Those who have more than one artwork in the exhibition have the titles of the works bullet pointed below their names.

Some of the plants have interesting stories or names and these are also highlighted.

Names of the Artists and Titles of the Artworks

Australia

Second from left is the Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense painting by Betty Hinton

Betty Hinton b.1935 Gin Gin, Queensland
Betty has painted a group of 'plant dinosaurs' from the tropical forest reserve at Daintree, north of Cairns

Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense - gouache and watercolour on paper A Passion for Plants, pg 107 AND The Art of Plant Evolution page 74 and 75

This very ancient plant has huge and heavy seeds. It was first discovered in the nineteenth century and then "lost" again as land was cleared. The fruit is classed as very poisonous by the Aborigines. If eaten by cattle they go mad. The tree is 15 metres tall and the flowers can only be retrieved by somebody climbing the tree to the top to cut off flowering branches - which is what happened in relation to this painting.

Mali Moir GM b.1960

Ovuliferous Scale Bunya Pine Nut Araucaria bidwillii 2014 Watercolour on deer vellum

Jenny Phillips GM b.1949

Corymbia ficifolia 1998 Watercolour on vellum
Sausage Tree Kigelia africana 1999

Brazil

Far Left: Seed Pod, Cardiocrinum giganteum by Robert McNeill. Far right: Two works by by Alvaro E. X. Nunes - Cybistax antisyphilitica and Zeyheria montana

Álvaro Xavier Núñez b.1945 Annapolis, Brazil
One the best known of the contemporary Brazilian botanical artists, Álvaro specialises in painting plants from all the different ecosystems within Brazil - and has seven paintings in the exhibition.

Custard Apple Annona crassiflora 2003 The Art of Plant Evolution page 72 and 73
Cybistax antisyphilitica 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 134 It's a popular Brazilian tonic in the treatment of syphilis and in yaws and its leaves are used to dye cloth blue.
Kapok Tree Ceiba speciosa 2003 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 126
Dioclea violacea 2009 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 135
Fruits of Savannah A Passion for Plants page 156 This might be described as a symphony in browns, the painting displays exquisite tonal control.
"Monkey Pot" Lecythis pisonis This plant is a tropical tree in the Brazil nut family and the fruit has a tight fitting lid which burst open when ready. The common name comes from the fact Monkeys put their hand into to retrieve the nuts. Adults learn that they need to be sparing in how many they take out at one time.
Zeyheria montana 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 132

Exhibiting artists at RHS Botanical Art Show 2018

28/2/2018

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These are the names of the exhibiting artists at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2018. This year the show has changed dates and instead of February is now one between 10th and 12th July 2018 - at the RHS London Plant and Art Fair at the RHS Lindley Hall, SW1P 2QW and the RHS Lawrence Hall SW1P 2QD

Tickets are on sale now - I've already got mine!

View of the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017

RHS Botanical Art Show Exhibitors July 2018

There are 44 exhibitors in total which (I think) is a lot more than in previous years. There is going to be some serious competition - there are a number of former Gold Medal Winners (former RHS Gold Medal Winners have GM after their name).

In addition, so far I've counted at least two former winners of Best Painting (Bridget Gillespie in 2017 and Hideo Hirokoshi in 2015) and one artist who has won best exhibit twice (Hye Woo shin in )

I'm listing the exhibiting artists by country of origin to demonstrate the worldwide appeal of this very prestigious exhibition. Nobody else requires exhibitors to produce six high quality artworks on a theme. I highly recommend that those wanting to exhibit with the RHS in future visit the exhibition if they can - and if they can't take a look at my blog posts about previous exhibitions. (see the end of this blog post for more information)

The number per country is as follows:

19 x UK + 1 group
7 x Japan
4 x Korea
2 x Italy
2 x New Zealand
2 x Turkey
1 x Australia
1 x Austria
1 x Brazil
1 x Hong Kong
1 x Thailand
1 x USA

UK (19 artists and 1 group)

Sarah Howard at the 2016 Show with three of her six Horn of Africa Aloes which won her a Gold Medal

Vanda Adamson - exhibited French hedgerow flowers and fruit in 2015 and won a Silver Bedal
Margaret Bickerton - Won a bronze medal in 2016 for Artichokes
Christina Hart-Davies GM - I have one of her paintings hanging in my home! She has three previous Gold Medals for paintings of mosses and lichens plus an RHS Gold Medal and a World Orchid Conference Bronze for paintings of European and Australian Terrestrial orchids
Bridget Gillespie GM (Best painting RHS 2017) - Bridget has been a botanical artist since 1992 Last year she won a Gold for her exhibit Root Vegetables Life Cycle and won the Best Painting in Show award for her beetroot. She has two previous Gold Medals for plums and pears. She's currently featured on the RHS page about this year's show. Bridget teaches botanical art at the Helmsley Walled Garden in Yorkshire
Maureen Hallahan - (Note: I'd ignore the reference to membership of the RHS on the first page. I'm a member of the RHS because I pay my subscription. I suspect she means working towards a place in the exhibition.)
Pam Hargreaves - Note: website seems to be dead
Sarah Howard GM (2017- Sarah was the illustrator for the Flora of Ethiopia & Eritrea 1997-2000. She completed the RBGE Diploma in botanical illustration in 2014. In 2015 she won a a Silver Gilt at BISCOT and in 2016, she won an RHS GM for her Horn of Africa Aloes. (see my interview with her)
Sarah Jane Humphrey - Has a degree in BA(Hons) Scientific and Natural History Illustration and success in translating her paintings in commercial products. Published her fist book age 21 and has a track record of a steady commissions. She's represented by the Wildlife Art Company. She won a Silver Gilt Medal in 2017
Catherine Kellie - Commended at BISCOT for an exhibit of Spring flowers
Michael Lakin - Has been teaching botanical art for over 12 years. Author of a number of "how to" botanical painting books
Christianne Lim - no website
Nicola Macartney - In 2012 Nicola graduated with distinction from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Diploma in Botanical Illustration
Maggie Niagassas - Graduated from the SBA Diploma in 20108. Awarded an RHS Silver Medal for six watercolours of Streliztia Reginae in 2016.
Janne Richardson - Graduating with a BA Honours Graphic Design in 1980, she specialised in Medical & Scientific Illustration. In 2014 she graduated with Distinction from the RBGE Diploma Course
Surjit Riyait - no website
Laura Silburn GM (2013, 2014) - Laura is a Fellow of the Eden Project Florilegium Society. She won a gold medal Varieties of Hardy Geranium that have received the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2013 and in Oct. 2014 won a Gold Medal and the Best in Show Exhibit for Aristolochia species from botanic gardens in England. Read her interview with me in 2014 which includes a link to her interview in The Plantsman about painting the hardy geraniums which he a Gold Medal in 2013.
Sylvia Sroka - member of the South West Society of Botanical Artists
Fran Thomas - Fran won a Gold Medal and the for best exhibit at BISCOT 2017
Simon Williams - Simon is the Director of the Society of Botanical Artists's Distance Learning Diploma Course
South West Society of Botanical Artists (SWSBA) - formed in 2006 to promote and encourage a high standard in botanical art throughout the South West of England. We had an excellent group exhibit that won a Gold Medal last year. Can SWSBA equal this performance?

Laura Silburn GM with three of her watercolour paintings of Aristolochias of British Botanic Gardens Laura is viewing her two paintings which were purchased by Dr Shirley Sherwood

Americas (2 artists)

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