NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019 - Awards and Medal Winners

24/7/2019

This post is about who won which award and which colour of medal at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019.

Below you can read about

which artists won Awards for outstanding botanical artwork
the names of artists and exhibits which won different colour medals - and some images of the Gold Medal winners

There are:

10 Gold Medals ( UK x 5; Japan x 4; Russia x 1;)
8 Silver Gilt Medals
10 Silver Medals
2 Bronze Medals

Links in the names of artists are generally to their websites where you can see more about their botanical artwork.

If you'd like to read more bout the individual artists, please refer to Exhibiting artists at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019

Awards for outstanding botanical artwork

There are three Awards this year - which were awarded as follows:

Best Botanical Painting 2019: Mariko Ikeda GM (2017-2019): P.Tectorius ‘En Khelen’ - Mariko is developing an excellent track record. She won Best Exhibit in her first exhibit and Best Painting this time.
Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2019: Naomi Gumma GM (2019): The Lifecycle of the Shimonita Welsh Onion Naomi's art extends well beyond her botanical painting - see the video below (in the Gold Medal section) of her dance associated with her exhibit.
Judges’ Special Award 2019: Betsy Rogers-Knox: Exploring the Seasons at Beckley Bog - This was awarded because of the significant educational value about plants growing in a specific environment of Betsy's images.

Best Botanical Painting 2019: Mariko Ikeda GM (2017-2019)

Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2019: Naomi Gumma GM (2019): The Lifecycle of the Shimonita Welsh Onion

Judges’ Special Award 2019: Betsy Rogers-Knox

RHS Gold Medals 2019

There are ten Gold Medals. It's important to also note that

Four previous GM winners repeated their GM from their last exhibition and
Four previous GM winners did not win a GM this time.

Just because you have won a GM before there is no guarantee you can repeat this. The medal is awarded for a specific exhibit not the botanical Artist per se.

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Exhibiting artists at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019

14/7/2019

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Below you an find a list of the 30 artists exhibiting at least 180 botanical paintings and/or botanical illustrations at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019 at the RHS London Art & Photography Show at the Lindley Hall in London later this month.

There has been an ever-increasing number of artists applying to exhibit. This year the artists are sharing the Lindley Hall with the Portfolio Photographers also competing for medals. It appears to me that an informed but arbitrary limit has been determined with 30 stands going to the artists and 10 to the photographers.

In reviewing the list of exhibitors I noted in particular that apart from those artists who have never exhibited before, the remainder of the artists exhibiting are those who have previously won either a Gold or a Silver Gilt Medal.

I wonder if this is the new standard for returning artists? If it is I'm not surprised - I've been expecting it for some time given that the walls of the Hall are not going to expand to fit all those who want to exhibit! (I found the relevant text in the Fact Sheet)

It may not be possible to accommodate all of the artists who apply for space. If this is the case a selection criteria will be employed taking into consideration previous exhibition and medal history.
Botanical Illustration 2019: Exhibitor Fact Sheet

View of the RHS Botanical Art Show in July 2018

All exhibitors have applied to exhibit after

either a selection process to get approval to exhibit
or previously winning a medal in an exhibition.

Both then have a period of five years to submit their artwork after gaining approval or a medal. Interestingly we have two Gold Medal Winners from the 2014 exhibiting this year.

The list of selected/invited artists is organised by the continent/country where they live.
In total there are

30 artists (35 in 2016, 29 in 217 and 37 in 2018) )
from 10+ different countries (10 in 2016 and 12 in 2018).

The number per country is as follows:

14 x UK (England)
3 x Japan
2 x South Korea
1 x Australia
1 x Italy
1 x Hong Kong (China)
1 x New Zealand
1 x Switzerland
1 x UK (Scotland)
1 x USA
4 x Other

The link in the name of the artist is to their own website or a website which is representative of their work.

I've highlighted previous Gold Medal Winners by 'GM' after their names. The number relates to the year they won it. I've also commented on those I know and those where I was able to find some information about them. Help would be appreciated with respect to anybody who knows those listed at the end under "other".

DETAILS OF THE RHS LONDON ART & PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW

The RHS London Art and Photography Show includes 30 artists and 10 photographers.
Venue: RHS Lindley Hall Elverton St, London SW1P 2PB
Dates:

opens with a Preview Evening on Tuesday 23rd July 6-9pm. All tickets £5. Note medal certificates may not be published until the Wednesday morning - as happened last year.
Two full days on Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th (10am-5pm).

Tickets: This is the link to buy tickets in advance: £5 to the public for each day if purchased in advance and £8 on the day. FREE ENTRY to all RHS Members producing their membership cards and ID (No ticket required)

MY RECOMMENDATIONS:

VISIT THIS EXHIBITION if you are at all serious about botanical art as a botanical artist or botanical art collector. It will include some of the best botanical art exhibited anywhere in the world this year.

My strong recommendation to Artists planning to apply to the RHS to exhibit in the future has always been to

Ideally visit the exhibition to get a proper sense of the standard and what's involved in putting together an exhibit
If you can't visit (because you live outside the UK) review my archive of blog posts and videos about previous shows to get a sense of the standard and presentation
Study the exhibits and think about why some work better than others as exhibits. Think long and hard about your exhibit theme. Avoid popular / much repeated themes and remember this is a Horticultural Society which values botanical accuracy!
study the background and paintings of those selected for this exhibition - in particular those who have previously been awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS. Note the length of time it takes to prepare before starting to paint.
Make the most of the tips offered by previous Gold Medal Winners
Delay exhibiting until you have the very best exhibit you can possibly produce. I've known people very much regret they rushed an exhibit.
ALWAYS bear in mind that the weakest element/painting is very influential in determining the medal awarded. Eliminate all weaknesses!
Aim for Silver Gilt or better - to stand a better chance of being able to exhibit more than once.

EUROPE (17 exhibitors)

United Kingdom - England (14)

This year's exhibitors include 5 Gold Medallists, 2 Silver Gilt Medallists and 7 artists who are NEW to exhibiting at the RHS (as an individual).

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Ask an Expert - the next 3 Botanical Art Surgeries at Kew Gardens

11/7/2019

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The dates of the next "Ask an Expert - Botanical Art Surgeries" with botanical illustrators who work with the botanists at Kew Gardens (and other clients) in the Art Galleries at Kew are as follows:

Venue: Marianne North Gallery

Venue: Shirley Sherwood Gallery

19th January 2020 - Lucy Smith and Hazel Wilks (link to the website for more info will be available nearer the date)

The botanical art surgeries are FREE with admission to Kew Gardens.
Each workshop will last from 11am to 3pm.

About Christobel King

Christobel King - pictured with some of her artwork at the "Brazil - A Powerhouse of Plants" exhibition at Kew in 2016

Christabel King graduated in botany and then studied scientific illustration, before she began working as a botanical illustrator with the botanists at Kew Gardens and became one of the world’s top botanical illustrators. She started producing plates for Kew's Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1975 and has now spent over 40 years working at Kew (although I gather this is part-time these days as she has now officially retired!)

In 1989 she was awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in botanical illustration by the Linnean Society. She also has the RHS Grenfell Gold Medal,

Christabel is the author of The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration - the first art instruction book by the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew - which also shares some of her wealth of experience, expertise and tips.

You can read an interview with her In the Studio: Christabel King about her techniques and art materials -

About Rachel Pedder Smith

Home Page graphic for Rache Pedder Smith's website

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Book Review: RHS Botanical Illustration - The Gold Medal Winners

26/6/2019

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: For all botanical artists aspiring to enter the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition and win a Gold Medal - and for all botanical art lovers everywhere. This book makes a major contribution to both

the recording of contemporary botanical art
learning about how to produce top quality botanical art.

RHS Botanical Illustration - The Gold Medal Winners is a book I've been waiting for, for a long time - not least because I proposed to the RHS Publications a while back that there really should be a book about the RHS Gold Medal Winners for Botanical Art.

I think the difference between the book I had in mind and that which has been produced is that this one largely

provides a historical account of the RHS Art Collection and how it developed over time
celebrates a selection of the artists who have worked in the latter half of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century
highlights some 60 of those whose artwork is in the RHS Lindley Library Collection of Botanical Art and Illustrations

Hence no Pandora Sellars (whose career took off after being seen at the RHS Botanical Art Shows in 1977) - although the book does include Mary Grierson.

I'm especially pleased we now have a list of all those who have won an RHS Gold Medal in the past - going all the way back to 1930! This was, as I anticipated it might be, a MAJOR exercise in terms of compiling a list from various Minutes of Committee meetings and other records of medals awarded. I know this is the first time ever a complete list has been published! As a result I now have a list of artists whose names need adding into my lists of top botanical artists in the world. That's because any artist who creates a suite of 6 or 9 botanical paintings or illustrations and wins an RHS Gold Medal has always been right up there for me in terms of determining what makes a good artist excellent.

Below is my review of the book - and at the end I tell you the techie details and how to get a copy.

It's also a bit of a "pat on the back" to those artists whose work made it into the book. Hence my photographs of artists are my own taken at the various RHS Botanical Art Shows - as the book very much focuses on the paintings and there are no photos of the artists. Personally I like to see both - not least for scale purposes!

Annie Hughes - who created the painting on the cover - with her Best Painting in Show of an Astrophytum in 2012.

About the book

The book comprises:

an introduction covering (1) the Lindley Library Collection of Botanical Art; and (2) the development of medals for botanical art - and notable awards made by the RHS
commentary by the Chair of the RHS Picture Panel on the current process for aspiring botanical artists to achieve medals at the show
profiles of a selection of 60 RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Artists, from all over the world who ALSO have work in the Lindley Library Collection - because it was purchased or commissioned by the Lindley Library Collection or because it was donated to the Library by a Gold Medallist. These profiles include accounts of how some of them approached their work.
the Historical List of ALL the RHS Gold Medal Winners (who total a lot more than the 60 in the book) - which runs to six pages and 168 RHS Shows!
a detailed list of all the illustrations in the book - by their botanical latin name

The introduction to the book documents the history of botanical illustration for the RHS, including the commissioning process and the collection developed by the RHS Lindley Library - some of which I knew but some of which came as a complete surprise.

More interesting, for me, was the notion of how botanical art should also be recognised in terms of medals awarded and how this has developed over time.

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Certificates - Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2019

8/6/2019

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This is about all the botanical artwork and botanical artists and illustrators who received on of the two types of Certificates awarded at Plantae, the 2019 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists 2019. These were:

a Certificate of Botanical Merit
a Certificate of Exhibiting Excellence

This is the third of four posts about the Plantae exhibition - see the end for more details of the exhibiting artists and who won the main awards and prizes.

About the Certificates of Botanical Merit

Ficus carica ‘White Marseilles’ – Cardinal Pole’s White Fig by Sandra Doyle (watercolour on vellum £900)

The annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists is not a "strictly botanical" show in the same way that the RHS botanical art shows are.

This is because the SBA's founder Suzanne Lucas MBE FLS HPRMS PPRMS FPSBA HonSWA HSF BMS (1915-2008) believed very strongly that the portrayal of plants need not always be highly scientific and illustrative.

“To incorporate more recent techniques and styles in a broader interpretation; combining the scientific and representational, giving a rich and varied view of the wonderful world of plants.”

Consequently the SBA created the award of a Certificate of Botanical Merit in order to:

highlight the importance of drawings and paintings which are created in a botanical style - including some which observe the very precise niceties of scientific botanical illustration
for those botanical artworks in the exhibition which are particularly noteworthy in this respect.

The recipients of a Certificate of Botanical Merit are also chosen every year by a wholly independent Judge who is well qualified in terms of their botanical / horticultural knowledge.
were selected by Kew Gardens' botanical illustrator Lucy T Smith - twice winner of the Margaret Flockton Award

In recent years that person has been Lucy T. Smith GM BVA MVA . Lucy is a very experienced and multi award-winning professional botanical illustrator who produces botanical illustrations for publication by the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. She won the very prestigious Margaret Flockton Award in 2014 and 2017 (see Second Margaret Flockton Award win for Lucy T. Smith) and the Jill Smythies Award for Botanical Illustration, awarded by the Linnean Society of London in 2004 . Her work has been published in numerous scientific publications. She also works as a botanical art tutor at Kew (including the Certificate of Botanical Illustration at Kew) and the Chelsea School of Botanical Art.

When judging the artwork for CBMs, Lucy is not looking for a presentation along the lines of a strict scientific botanical illustration brief - but rather one she is looking for whether an image fulfils the brief of describing the plant accurately and well.

The CBMs in 2019

The artworks and their artists receiving CBMs in 2017 are listed below - followed by images of their work. The artworks also list the media and the price of the work in the image caption.

The name of the work is listed first followed by an alphabetical listing by surname of the artist - with a link to their website embedded in their name if they have one.

Ficus carica’ White Marseilles by Sandra Doyle - this is Cardinal Pole’s White Fig, which grows in the garden of Lambeth Palace. Originally planted by the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Reginald Pole, in 1556 and still thriving today. (for image see the top of this post)
Aloe arborescent by Angie Gray SBA Fellow
Horned Melon by Agita Keiri
Winter Cardoons by Maryna Kyselyova
Iris pseudacorus by Nina Mayes
Monkey Puzzle by Michelle Eun Young Song SBA Fellow
Calypso bulbosa by Anna Suprunenko
The Hawthorn at Gilfach by Claire Ward SBA Fellow

Now for the images of the artwork which merited a CBM.....

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Bloom 2019: Selected Botanical Artists and exhibit titles

31/5/2019

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The 7th Annual Exhibition of Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom is at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre in Phoenix Park, Dublin until the end of June 2019. It's part of the annual festival of Bloom in the Park (which is the Irish version of the Chelsea Flower Show).

All artwork and a selection of cards, prints and other items by the participating artists are available to buy.

It opened yesterday and this post is about those artists selected for the exhibition. For more information about how to enter the Bloom exhibition see my blog post about the Call for Entries: 7th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition - Bloom in the Park 2019

The next post will be about the prizewinners.

Drosera rotundifolia, D. anglica, D. intermedia Sundews by Jane Stark

Selected Artists

Selected artists are listed below in alphabetical order of their surnames.
Links to the artist's website is embedded in their name

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The Linnean Society presents The Jill Smythies Award 2019 to Deborah Lambkin

29/5/2019

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Deborah Lambkin after being presented with the Jill Smythies Award 2019 | Permission of The Linnean Society of London

Every year The Linnean Society of London has a ceremony to present various Medals and Prizes in recognition and celebration of the achievements of various individuals and academics in relation to the natural sciences.

This is about the winner of The Jill Smythies Award in 2019 - Deborah Lambkin.

Thrilled to announce that I am the recipient of the 2019 @LinneanSociety #JillSmythiesAward for Botanical Illustration. Here I am with previous winners Niki Simpson and Christabel King. I may be tweeting about this forever, sorry! pic.twitter.com/mZfl7PU782
— Deborah Lambkin (@DeborahLambkin) 25 May 2019

The Linnean Society of London is the world’s oldest active biological society. Founded in 1788 by Sir James Edward Smith (1759–1828), who was its first President. The Society takes its name from the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) whose botanical, zoological and library collections have been in its keeping since 1829.

The Society aims to promote the study of all aspects of the biological sciences. Through awarding medals and grants, the Society acknowledges and encourages excellence in all of these fields.

About The Jill Smythies Award

The Jill Smythies Award is made annually to a botanical illustrator - for excellence in published botanical illustrations which contribute to plant identification.

The award comprises a silver medal and a prize of £1,000.

I have a complete page about this very prestigious award for botanical illustration on my website - and this

explains more about the award
how the nomination and award process works
highlights previous winners.

‘Established in 1986 by the late Mr B E Smythies FLS, in honour of his wife, the late Florence Mary Smythies ("Jill"), whose career as a botanical artist was cut short by an accident to her right hand. Awarded to a botanical artist in recognition of excellence in published illustrations, such as drawings or paintings, in aid of plant identification, with the emphasis on botanical accuracy and the accurate portrayal of diagnostic characteristics.’

I was expecting that the work was in recognition of Deborah's work as the official RHS Orchid Artist - she records all new orchids which are either bred or found in order to provide a record of that orchid's characteristics for future identification and assessment.

However I'd forgotten that illustrations of cultivars of garden origin are not eligible.

Instead, the key component of the assessment of her contribution to botanical illustration focused on her paintings of Australian Nicotiana for RBG Kew - see below.

Some of Deborah's work on Australian Nicotiana species from @RBGKew that was examined by the Linnean Society for consideration for the Jill Smythies prize.

About Deborah Lambkin

Deborah Lambkin was born and brought up in Ireland. She studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland prior to coming to live in London

She has been a professional botanical artist for more than 20 years. She works as/for:

the Official Orchid Artist for the Royal Horticultural Society Orchid Committee (since 2005). She has contributed more than 400 orchid paintings to the Royal Horticultural Society’s Orchid Painting Collection.
She undertakes freelance botanical illustration work for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and The Eric Young Orchid Foundation, Jersey, UK.
She is a regular contributor of paintings to Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Kew.
In 2014, she joined the RHS Picture Advisory Panel. Membership of this committee involves judging the botanical art and illustrations at the RHS Botanical Art shows.

You can find Deborah on Instagram and Twitter - and she's very definitely worth following.

This is a very useful article she wrote about Dealing with plant specimens.

Below Deborah is pictured this week with the other winners of awards and medals in 2019

Congratulations to our 2019 medal □ winners! The full list can be found here! https://t.co/9ODvB3tayo If you know someone who you believe deserves an award why not nominate them for next year? pic.twitter.com/X2UuGqwrHv
— The Linnean Society (@LinneanSociety) 29 May 2019

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The Jill Smythies Award: Previous Winners

The previous winners of The Jill Smythies Award are a very elite club!

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