NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

VIDEO: Lara Call Gastinger and how to keep a perpetual journal of botanical illustrations

3/7/2020

This is about a recently published video of American botanical illustrator Lara Call Gastinger talking about how her botanical sketching and illustration work is produced.

Plus an opportunity to see more videos of Lara working on her perpetual journal and botanical art

I last saw Lara Call Gastinger with her Gold Medal winning exhibit of plants across the months at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2018

ABOUT LARA CALL GASTINGER (GM 2007, 2018)

graduated from the University of Virginia in 1998 with a degree in Biology. She subsequently achieved a Masters in Plant Biology.
she was the Chief Botanical Illustrator for the Flora of Virginia Project - which involved drawing some 1300 illustrations (about 90% of the illustrations in the Flora of Virginia book)
RHS Gold Medal winner in 2007 for a very impressive series on Plants of Virginia - 10 Walks in Virginia which is one of my 'all time favourite' exhibits.
She won a second RHS Gold Medal for Seeing Plants; a year in Virginia" - her suite of 12 sepia watercolour paintings of plants she has found on her walks in different months of the year.
She frequently draws and paints a compendium of plants with a particular connection eg habitat or season.
She keeps a Perpetual Sketchbook Journal

ABOUT THE VIDEO: In the Studio with Lara Call Gastinger

This video - which you can see below - has two parts

The first part is a video record of her work. It covers and focuses on

her seasonal sketchbook journal which has a double page spread for each week of the year - and new sketches are added year by year. This then illustrates the changes in seasonality across the year and from year to year
how the dating system works - and how she adds sketches and observations every week
her art materials and supplies for creating entries in the perpetual journal -
- her sketchbooks,
- micron pens - in black or sepia. She prefers 003
- her paints and palettes and containers and brushes,
- a magnifying lens to help you see plant features
- a field guide to help identify plants
her own more developed artwork - created using watercolour paints
the benefits of keeping a perpetual journal
- become more skilled at observation
- improve your drawing skills and techniques
- note the changes in plants due to changes in season and the changes in climate
- use your perpetual journal as a resource to develop your own botanical art and illustrations (and win an RHS Gold Medal!)

Pay attention, be astonished and tell about it.
a quotation which has influenced Lara

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Plantae 2020: Selected Artists

9/6/2020

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These are the 221 botanical artists - mainly from the UK but also from countries all over the world - whose work has been selected for the Plantae 2020 annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists - which this year is being held as a VIRTUAL exhibition online.

Names are ordered by
- country and
- then alphabetically by the surname
If you click their name you can see their artwork. (link now removed as the exhibition closed at the end of June 2020)
â€‹â€‹The number after their name is the number of artworks they have in the exhibition.
Also listed are websites and social media sites where you can see other artwork by the artist. I do this because in these challenging times, artists need support to get their artwork seen. (If I've missed any and you'd like yours added in please leave a comment or contact me)
I'm also embedding images from Instagram where available.

As you can probably guess from my website I like to know something about the artist and what they are interested in - the stories behind the art. Hence, where I can, I've also provided a brief profile although this is often inadequate.
[TIP FOR ARTISTS: Review your online sites and check whether it's possible for you to be be summed up easily in two sentences!]

A very international exhibition!

I'll be commenting on numbers in my review in the near future - but as you can see from the listing below around 20% of the artists came from countries outside the UK - with a number of countries being represented for the first time - which is good news.

I'm sure very many artists would be very pleased if you visited their websites or social media accounts as well as looking at the art in the exhibition.

PS Sorry this has taken so very long to do - I've been working on it every day since Thursday - but there's only so much I can do while searching for profile info and associated sites before I go cross-eyed!!â€‹

United Kingdom

Jacqueline Allwood (1) - a glass artist who produces engraved glass Website: www.jacqueline-allwood.com
Charlotte Ambler (1) - a self-taught floral artist from Derbyshire Website: www.charlotteamblerart.co.uk | Instagram: @charlotteamblerart | Facebook: @charlotteamblerartâ€‹

Karen Bailey (2) SBA Fellow who at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019 was awarded a Silver-Gilt for her Gentian paintings. She's displaying a Gentian on vellum and an Acanthus
â€‹Sonja Beer (1) - Has lived and worked in Wales for the last 20 years. She works from life in natural light only using in watercolour and graphite | website https://www.sonjabeer.com/ | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sonjabeer.art
Sophie Bigmore (2) Based in London and currently studying at Central St Martin's. Produces complex hand-cut linocuts with botanical subjects using oil based ink. I'm definitely interested! Where's the prices? - Instagram @sophiebprints/

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sophie Bigmore (@sophiebprints) on Nov 4, 2019 at 5:10am PST

View this post on Instagram

These two paintings were selected for this yearâ€™s upcoming Society of Botanical Artists exhibition, which will happily now be going ahead online from Wednesday (3rd June). Always an honour to have work in this renowned show. www.soc-botanical-artists.org

A post shared by Victoria Braithwaite (@victotororex) on Jun 1, 2020 at 9:57am PDT

Victoria Braithwaite (2) - Scottish botanical artist who exhibits with the SBA and the SSBA. Has also been selected to exhibit in the Royal Scottish Academy Open Exhibition, Edinburgh and the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition. Has a painting in the Shirley Sherwood collection. | Website https://victoriabraithwaite.co.uk/ | Facebook originalbotanicals/ | Instagram @victotororex/ (see above)
Sandra Fernandez Boys (1) - A professional natural history illustrator who includes botanical in her portfolio. Attended Royal College of Art, 1983-86 obtaining an MA in Natural History Illustration. Her painting is more of a still life than conventional botanical art but very attractive none the less. Website: http://www.sandrafernandez.co.uk/index.html
Marie Burke (1) - a watercolour artist living and working in Somerset. She licenses her paintings for commercial uses. Her peony painting is large and has some sculptural qualities | website https://www.marieburke-art.com

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A new book from Işık Güner

12/5/2020

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Little blue book - Omphalodes cappodoci - by IÅŸÄ±k GÃ¼ner

Isik Guner has created a new book - of her little series of paintings of Omphalodes cappodoci (the Cappadocian navelwort) which grows in a forest near her home in Turkey.

Follow this link to download the book as a pdf file from wetransfer. It's available as a free download for the next seven days. You can also print it. (see her Instagram post below)
View a small video of her painting the plant below

View this post on Instagram

Hello everyone. I have a present for you â–¡ I finally completed the little series of Omphalodes cappodocia, and prepared â€˜LITTLE BLUE BOOKâ€™ which is simply can be dowloaded, and printed. This little book is including high-res images can be printed large scales to bring some magic into your houses. All you have to do follow the link in my profile, and click! If you like it, spread the flowers for the loved ones âœ¨âœ¨ It is only in this link for 7 days . . . FÄ±rtÄ±na Vadisiâ€™nden sizlere Ã§iÃ§ekler gÃ¶nderiyorum. Bir minik hediye hazÄ±rladÄ±m - Omphalodes cappadocica serisinden oluÅŸan kÃ¼Ã§Ã¼k mavi bir kitap yaptÄ±m - dilediÄŸiniz gibi indirebilir, bastÄ±rabilirsiniz. BeÄŸendiyseniz, sevdiklerinize mavi Ã§iÃ§ekler gÃ¶nderebilirsiniz. Åžu acaip gÃ¼nlerde evlerinize biraz renk katmasÄ± dileÄŸi ile.. gerekli linke profilimden ulaÅŸabilirsiniz â–¡â–¡ 7 gÃ¼n boyunca kitap bu linkte olacak #omphalodescappadocica #littlebluebook #botanicalartist #botanicalillustration

A post shared by IsÌ§Ä±k GuÌˆner (@benyesil) on May 12, 2020 at 3:46am PDT

View this post on Instagram

Still on this piece - Omphalodes cappadocicus. . . . Devam #Omphalodescappadocicus

A post shared by IsÌ§Ä±k GuÌˆner (@benyesil) on May 2, 2020 at 11:51pm PDT

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ABOUT Isik Guner (GM 2014) (BISCOT GM 2011)

Isik Guner has worked full time as a botanical artist for the last 10 years. Latterly she has also been an active teacher of botanical art using watercolour.

she is visiting botanical illustrator at RGBE (Facebook Page)
she was one of the botanical artists who worked on "Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile".
IÅŸÄ±k's painting of Gunnera Tinctoria won the RHS Best Painting in Show in Spring 2014. (see below)
She has worked on a number of projects in the last 10 years and travelled very widely
She has exhibited widely and internationally including at the 19th International Botanical Congress (2017) and the 16th International Exhibition of Botanical Art at the Hunt Institute (2019)
She teaches workshops internationally
Her book Botanical Illustration from Life was published in English in 2019 - which is one of my best instruction books about botanical illustration.
She is currently working as the Art Editor on an Illustrated Flora of Turkey (a "lifetime project"). The aim is to illustrate all the species native to Turkey. It will comprise 28 volumes and will be published in 2023.

Isik Guner with her Best Painting Award - and her Gold Medal winning exhibit at RHS Botanical Art Show in 2014. (Photograph: Katherine Tyrrell)

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Deborah Lambkin wins Margaret Flockton Award 2020

8/5/2020

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Irish botanical illustrator Deborah Lambkin, who works in the UK as the RHS Orchid Artist, has won the Margaret Flockton Award 2020 for the scientific botanical illustration of a new orchid.

Unusually this year the announcement of the prizewinners was made by Denise Ora, the Executive Director of the Royal Botanic Sydney via video (see below).

Below the video is:

a short narrative about the purpose of the award and how it works
an explanation of why the first two exhibitions have cancelled and details of the third which may still go ahead
narratives about the first and second prizewinners
then details of the four botanical illustrators who have been highly commended

I'll also be doing another blog post (shortly) about the botanical illustrators who had work selected for this (online) exhibition in 2020.

IMAGES
Crops of the images are included in this post. You can see much better images in the Flickr Album Margaret Flockton Award 2020 - which also contains all 63 artworks selected "for exhibition"

Margaret Flockton Award 2020
for Scientific Botanical Illustration Prizewinners

â€‹The Margaret Flockton Award is specifically about scientific botanical illustration.
Entries are typically:

submitted by professional botanical illustrators
related to plates produced for the record and for scientific botanical publications.

Scientific botanical illustrators from around the world are invited by the curators of the exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney to:

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 (on the Margaret Flockton Award page on the RBG website - at the bottom) for more information on judging criteria.

The Judges for the 2020 Award were all from the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney.

Catherine Wardrop - RBG&CP Botanical Illustrator and Margaret Flockton Award Curator
Lesley Elkan - Botanical Illustrator
Karen Wilson, Honorary Research Associate.â€‹

You can see what they were faced with below.........

View this post on Instagram

The entries are in! Thanks to the amazing artists who have entered the 2020 Flockton Award. 63 entries from 46 artists from every corner of the globe! Good luck to all. #penandink #blackandwhiteinkdrawing #botanicalillustrationpenandink #scientificillustration #botanicalillustration #botanyart

A post shared by Catherine W & Lesley E (@rbg_illustration) on Mar 9, 2020 at 11:59pm PDT

PRIZEWINNERS

I think I'm right in saying all six botanical illustrators have been honoured with prizes or commendations by the Margaret Flockton Award for the first time (I'll be checking!)
â€‹
1st Prize ($5,000 AUS): Deborah Lambkin

Crop of part of the illustrationof crop of Gastrodia sp. nov. by Deborah Lambkin - view the full image by clicking the pic

Deborah Lambkin (Ireland / United Kingdom) has won the First Prize of AUS$5,000 for her depiction of Gastrodia sp. nov. - a new orchid species from Madagascar.

Deborah has been a Scientific Botanical illustrator over 30 years. Currently she is the RHS Orchid Artist working for the Royal Horticultural Society and the Eric Young Orchid Foundation, She also creates scientific botanical illustrations for botanists working at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew.

Deborah was born in Ireland and lives in London. She trained at the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin.

In 1999, she won an RHS Gold Medal for her collection of eight paintings of Nerines
In 2001, she exhibited at the 10th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, USA
In 2005, she was appointed as the official 'Orchid Artist' to the Royal Horticultural Society Orchid Committee. To date she has contributed nearly 500 orchid paintings to the Royal Horticultural Society's Orchid Painting Collection.
In 2014 she joined RHS Picture Advisory Panel and is involved with judging at the RHS Botanical Art shows. She also exhibited at the World Orchid Conference Botanical Art Exhibition 2014.
In 2019 she was awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in published botanical illustrations.
Her scientific illustrations have been published in Curtis Botanical Magazine and she has work in the collection of the Botanic Gardens at Glasnevin in Dublin, Ireland.

Deborah is a member of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists and the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. "Beauty at a brush stroke" (Twitter) is an Irish Times article about Deborah and her work.

All in all, Deborah is a professional botanical illustrator who both draws and paints and has now had her work recognised by all the top exhibitions, competitions, awards and prizes for botanical art and Illustration. The Margaret Flockton Award now gives her "the full set" and she now moves into the illustrious company of those very few botanical illustrators who have achieved the same. (I'm off to count them - I know there's not a lot!)

You can follow Deborah Lambkin on Twitter and Instagram

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Call for Entries - Margaret Flockton Award 2020

19/2/2020

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Entries are now being accepted for the Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Illustration 2020.

Illustrators from around the world are asked to submit:

original scientifically accurate taxonomic illustrations completed since March 2018
These are highly detailed monochrome (black and white) drawings primarily undertaken in pen and ink, pencil or rendered using digital software.
They must clearly highlight all of the distinctive features of the species - as highlighted in the published taxonomic description of the plant .

All submissions must be in a digital format.
The deadline for digital online entry is Monday 2nd March 2020 (EST)

You can read more about it on:

the Margaret Flockton Award page on the RBGS website
the page about The Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Illustration on this website - where I break out and summarise all the important things you need to know if you want to enter - on one page

Crop of one small part (less than 25%) of the scientific botanical illustration which won first prize in 2019

The Margaret Flockton Award is unique amongst international art awards. This is because it

focuses exclusively on contemporary scientific botanical illustration (as distinct from botanical art) - which must be monochrome and 2D
commemorates the contribution Margaret Flockton made to Australian scientific botanical illustration.

The award is sponsored by The Maple Brown Family and the Foundation & Friends of the Botanic Gardens.
â€‹

Margaret Flockton Award Prizes 2020

Most taxonomic botanical illustrators enter this award competition because of the credibility "awarded" to those selected for the exhibition. This is, of course, enhanced for all those who win the award or come second or get a "highly commended"

However the cash award for this international botanical illustration competition are significant.

First prize: AU$5,000;
Second prize: AU$2,000;
3 x Highly Commended.

In addition this Award brings additional benefits. First it is low cost

entry is free and
there are no costs involved in submitting your illustrations because it is all digital!

Plus you can also sell a print of your illustration direct to interested parties with no commission deducted. Those selected for the exhibition can sell prints of their work direct from their websites or email addresses to the public and collectors (meaning no commission is deducted by RBGS).

Overall it's a "win win" award for all concerned!

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Margaret Flockton Award 2020 - Exhibitions

The exhibition will be held in the three different gardens which make up the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney - Joseph Maiden Theatre (Saturday 9 May - Sunday 24 May 2020, daily 10am - 4pm) enter via Woolloomooloo Gate on Mrs Macquaries Road
The Australian Botanic Garden Mount Annan - The Australian PlantBank (Tuesday 2 June - Friday 31 July 2020, weekdays 10am - 4pm)
The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah - Visitor Centre (Tuesday 3 November - Sunday 13 December 2020, daily 10am - 4pm)

I'll be doing further blog posts about the artists selected for the exhibition and the prizewinners.

You can follow the two botanical illustrators who administer this Award on their Instagram Page https://www.instagram.com/rbg_illustration/

View this post on Instagram

Last stop for the 2019 Margaret Flockton Award Exhibition @bluemountainsbotanicgarden, Mount Tomah. 9 August to 15 September. Enjoying the view whilst bumping in, but not the tangled nylon cords!! #scientificillustration #bluemountainsbotanicgarden #margaretflocktonaward #botanicalillustrationpenandink #botanicalillustration

A post shared by Catherine W & Lesley E (@rbg_illustration) on Aug 7, 2019 at 9:03pm PDT

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Denver Botanic Gardens: Illustrator in Residence 2020 - applications invited

30/1/2020

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Applications are invited from experienced botanical illustrators for the School of Botanical Illustration 2020 Residency Programme at the Denver Botanic Gardens.

It will interest all botanical illustrators who have completed a certificate in botanical illustration, like to travel to draw and paint new plants and are capable of teaching a workshop. The Residency offers a stipend of $4,000 to cover the essential costs (offset costs of travel and transportation, art supplies, and living expenses.) of the six week residency between June and October 2020.

The Illustrator in Residence Program is an exciting opportunity for illustrators to find inspiration in the natural beauty of Denver Botanic Gardens and further their practice with in-depth access to the Gardens’ extensive scientific collections. Residents will illustrate the Garden’s collections and landscapes with a focus on documenting plants native to the Rocky Mountain region, supporting the
Gardens’ dedication to preservation, conservation, education and biodiversity.

This file provides all the details of the Residency - which I also summarise below.

sbai_illustrator_residency_2020.pdf
File Size:	270 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 29, 2020 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time)

VENUE
Denver Botanic Gardens 1007 York Street, Denver, CO 80206

This page provides an overview of the Gardens
This is a link to a map of the York Street Gardens and facilities

Denver Botanic Garden from above

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
In recent years, the SBAI at Denver Botanic Gardens has had a number of botanical artists participate in their Residency Programme including:

2015: Ikumi Kayama (USA) and Benjamin Cardenas Valderrama (Colombia)
2016: Lauren Bassing (USA) and John Pastoriza-Piñol
2017: Katherine Rudebusch (USA) and Isik Guner
2018: Asuka Hishiki

READ about Isik Guner's experience during her residency in 2017 - Artist Residency in Denver Botanic Gardens

SEE EXAMPLES of the artwork produced in the blog posts by the School of Botanical Illustration a Denver Botanical Gardens.

2018 Residency Artwork for the Denver Collection by Asuka Hishiki

SCOPE OF THE RESIDENCY
The scope of this residency features two key elements:

Creation of a body of work supporting the mission of Denver Botanic Gardens, particularly focused on plants native to Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.
Leading one 3-day workshop for 12 students in the Gardens’ School of Botanical Art and Illustration. This workshop will focus on a technique or media that the resident specializes in, subject to the approval of the Gardens. Dates of the workshop will be determined based on the residency timeframe. PLUS interaction with visitors is optional though highly encouraged, promoting public understanding and appreciation of the natural world and offering an opportunity for visitors to see the Gardens through the eyes of an artist.

Opportunities could include:

Offering an open studio to share works in progress
Conducting demonstrations for the public
Writing blog posts for the Gardens’ website

DURATION OF THE 2020 RESIDENCY

six weeks between June 9 and October 9, 2020.
40 hours a week engaged in residency activities, ideally Monday through Friday although some flexibility is possible.
Optional professional development opportunities like lectures or programs may also be available to the resident during evenings and weekends.

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Four botanical artists selected for residency at Oak Spring Garden

28/1/2020

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Last August I wrote about the call for entries for the inaugural Botanical Artists in Residence Program (BAiR) offered by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (see Call for Entries: Botanical Artists in Residence Program at the Oak Spring Foundation).

On Friday the Oak Spring Foundation announced that not one but FOUR botanical artists had been selected for their inaugural 2020 Botanical Artists in Residence (BAiR) program.

The botanical artists are:

Keiko Nibu Tarver (Japan/USA)
John Pastoriza-Piñol (Australia)
Maria Alice de Rezende (Brazil)
Fátima Zagonel (Brazil)

They were chosen through a competitive selection process in partnership with the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Below there's a brief bio of each of them and then an explanation of what happens during their residencies.

Four botanical artists in residence

Interestingly all but Keiko Nibu Tarver already appear in my listings of leading botanical artists on this website. (I plead the fact, as indicated, that the USA listing is still a work in progress and incomplete).

Links in their names go to either their websites or another web page about their work.

John Pastoriza-Piñol (Australia)

contemporary botanical artist based in Melbourne, Australia
completed his docturmiento in Botany at University of Vigo, Galicia, in Spain
Awards: Won an RHS Gold Medal (2005); received the ASBA Dianne Bouchier Award for Excellence in Botanical Art (2013) and a grant from The Australia Council for the Arts (2016) which enabled him to spend a 3 month residency in New York.
Collections: his work is held in numerous public and private collections around the world and is included in several major Florilgium projects including the Highgrove and Transylvanian Florilegia.
Currently represented by Scott Livesey Galleries, Australia.
Teaching: teaches intermediate/advanced classes at the Geelong Botanic Gardens and workshops around the world

Magnolia x soulangeana by John Pastoriza-Piñol

Maria Alice de Rezende (Brazil)

currently based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Graduated from the National School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Works as an art teacher as well as a botanical illustrator on projects with researchers at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden. Her current project is involves illustrating the biodiversity of the South Atlantic Islands.
Her main creative practice is her personal work of illustration of native species of Brazilian flora.
Awards: Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme Artist Scholar (2004) at the Royal Botanic Gardens in 2004
Exhibitions: her work has been exhibited in Japan, Brazil, the UK, and the US - including the 16th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute in 2019.

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