NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

The SBA Distance Learning Diploma - DEADLINE tomorrow!

29/9/2023

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.

Who can do it? The SBA's Distance LearningDiploma Course (DDLC) is open to students anywhere in the world and there are currently students from Australia, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, France, Germany, Republic of Ireland, India, Israel, Italy, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the USA.
What are the dates? The Course lasts for 27 months and the fee includes a student subscription to the Society for the duration of the Course and Foundation membership of the Society for the year after Graduation. It starts in January each year.
Where can I find out more?
- This is the page dedicated to the DDLC https://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/education/distance-learning-diploma-course/
- An example of the prospectus, list of assignments, application form, fees and payment arrangements is available to download as a PDF here
How much does it cost? The cost of the entire course from January 2023 to June 2025 to be
- £4,155 for those living in the UK,
- £4,285 for those living in the EU and
- £4,430 for those living in the rest of the world (because of the different postage and courier rates).
Additional Notes:
- coursework has been updated and improved
- there are a number of new tutors starting in 2024. (I am still very much of the mind that ALL Diploma Courses should state the names of all the teachers - and provide some info about them - on their website)

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:

updated details
details of new courses]

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SBA's Plantae 2023: Certificates of Botanical Merit

20/5/2023

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This is about the Certificates of Botanical Merit awarded to artists exhibiting at the Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition - Plantae 2023 - at the Mall Galleries this week

Below you can find:

why the Society of Botanical Artists awards Certificates of Botanical Excellence.
how artworks are selected
the list of those receiving a Certificate of Botanical Art in 2023 in alphabetical order of the artists' surnames plus:
- an image of the artwork and
- a brief profile of the artist who produced it
- links to websites or other related sites are embedded in the name

One of two Certificates of Botanical Merit awarded to Eunhee Park SBA Fellow at Plantae 2023 - this one is for her Artichoke

The SBA Certificates of Botanical Merit

Unlike some other botanical art exhibitions such as the RHS botanical art shows, the Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition has traditionally not been a "strictly botanical" show.

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 - as many flower painters would agree.

“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.”
Suzanne Lucas, Founder President 1915 – 2008

However, since the SBA was founded, there has been a gradual move towards a much greater emphasis on 'botanical art' and the current exhibition is less about 'flower painting'. This has no doubt been influenced by the development and promotion of the knowledge and skills imparted via the SBA's very popular Distance Learning Diploma Course in Botanical Art which a major innovation in botanical art education when it started.

As a result, 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.

Examples of the coursework by recent graduates of the SBA Distance Learning Diploma Course are on display within Plantae 2023

The selection process

Recipients of a Certificate of Botanical Merit are ALWAYS selected every year by a wholly independent Judge who is well qualified in terms of their botanical / horticultural knowledge.

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. Her work has been published in numerous scientific publications.
She has won BOTH
- 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 .
She also works as a botanical art tutor at Kew and elsewhere.

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

Lucy T. Smith with her painting of the Victoria amazonica leaf - photographed at "The Wonderful World of Water Plants" Exhibition at Kew (2023)

The Certificates of Botanical Merit in 2023

Below artists are listed in alphabetical order of their surname - with the image of the artwork getting a Certificate of Botanical Art above and a profile of the artist below. Links in the artist's name go to their website.

Autumn Hedgerow by Christina Hart-Davies GM (1984, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2018) SBAF

Autumn Hedgerow (51) by Christina Hart Davies

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SBA Plantae 2022: Certificates of Botanical Merit

22/6/2022

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This is about the Certificates of Botanical Merit awarded to artists exhibiting at the Plantae Annual Exhibition held last week by the Society of Botanical Artists

First the story of why the Society of Botanical Artists awards Certificates of Botanical Excellence.
Then how artworks are selected
Followed by the list of artwork and artists - and images - who received a Certificate in 2022. Links to websites or other related sites are embedded in the name

Two of the artworks awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit at Plantae 2022

The SBA Certificates of Botanical Merit

The annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists is not a "strictly botanical" show in the same way that, for example, 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 selection process

Recipients of a Certificate of Botanical Merit are selected every year by a wholly independent Judge who is well qualified in terms of their botanical / horticultural knowledge.

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. Her work has been published in numerous scientific publications.
She has won BOTH
- 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 .
She also works as a botanical art tutor at Kew and elsewhere.

When judging the artwork for CBMs, Lucy is

not looking for a presentation along the lines of a strict scientific botanical illustration brief
rather she's looking for whether an image fulfils the brief of describing the plant accurately and well.

The Certificates of Botanical Merit in 2022

Romanesco (16) by Katy Bennett

Romanesco (16) by Katy Bennett (Graphite)

Katy Bennett graduated with a distinction from the DLDC in June 2022. She began to develop an interested in botanical art after the birth of her three children when she was seeking to rebalance her life. The precise realism she prefers fitted well with the scientific dimension to botanical art. She is adept in both graphite and watercolour and has been commissioned to provide the cover for the Autumn 2022 catalogue of the de Jager fine bulb company.

Rosa canina (no 21) by Pauline Brown (Watercolour)

Pauline was brought up on a farm and then married a farmer before becoming an audiologist. She started painting plants in 2012 and joined her village art group. She was taught by the late Jenny Jowett GM who was a founder member of SBA and a well regarded professional botanical artists

Pinguicula grandiflora, Large Flowered Butterwort by Shevaun Doherty

Pinguicula grandiflora, Large Flowered Butterwort by Shevaun Doherty PSBA, SBAF (watercolour on vellum)

Shevaun Doherty is Irish, one of the three SBA Co-Presidents, an SBA Fellow and a member of the Irish and American Societies of Botanical Artists. Based in Kildare. She has been painting in vellum for sometime. She has exhibited extensively in the UK and Ireland since 2014 and has won numerous prestigious awards. She's been using vellum for her artwork for some years and has been the Vellum Tutor for the SBA Diploma Distance Learning Course since 2015.

It's worth making a couple of points about the presentation of her artwork:

Unlike at the RHS (which likes plain white backgrounds), in this exhibition, gentle veining of the vellum is not a reason to downgrade a botanical painting from a botanical Illustration perspective.
Her artwork greatly benefits from being glazed with museum glass. If thinking about pricing above a £1,000 for a painting, serious consideration needs to be given to the implications of the quality of the materials used for both framing and glazing.

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Remembering Janet Pope

20/11/2020

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Janet Pope with her medal winning exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2019.

I learned last night that Janet Pope MA (RCA), DipAD, FLS, FSBA, CPFGS, IAPI has passed away.

Janet has been very seriously ill in recent years. When I met her with her Potatoes exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2019 we had a very long chat. She knew full well that her condition was terminal and that she had limited time left - and she was VERY determined to make the most of it!

I remember being so very pleased for her that she could get to exhibit one of her favourite subjects at the prestigious RHS Botanical Art Show show - and win a medal. I took a photo of her to record the event - and I think both she and I knew I was very likely to use it in this sort of post.

Her extremely unusual and refreshing exhibit of Potatoes - shoots, roots, skin, flesh - Solanum tuberosum ( ‘Red Emmalie’, ‘Highland Burgundy Red’, ‘Pink Fir Apple’, ‘Violetta’, ‘Shetland Black’ and Salad Blue’. ) can be seen below - and on her website. She won an RHS Silver Medal for her exhibit

Potatoes - shoots, roots, skin, flesh - Solanum tuberosum - by Janet Pope (RHS Silver Medal 2019)

About Janet Pope

I know relatively little about Janet beyond her SBA biography, her website and what I've written about her in the past. She always seemed a very private person to me - but she was also a lovely person to get to know and talk to in the last few years.

Education and Work

Janet graduated from the Royal College of Art London in 1973, followed by a British Council Scholarship for 18 months to study traditional textile arts and crafts in Romania. Returning to England, she started a knitwear company, then a special-interest tour company, followed by a womens’ tailoring business. In 2009 Janet joined a local botanical painting class, which led to the SBA Distance Learning Diploma Course graduating in 2012, and her current interest in botanical painting.

Botanical Art and Illustration

Janet was an extremely skilled botanical artist. She had studied initially for a Diploma in Art and Design and then graduated from the Royal College of Art, London with an MA in 29173. She had also been awarded a British Council arts scholarship to to study traditional textile arts and crafts in Romania. On her return she demonstrated her entrepreneurial flair by establishing first a knitwear company, then a special-interest tour company, followed by a womens’ tailoring business.

Her interest in botanical art was stimulated by a local botanical painting class followed by the SBA's Distance Learning Diploma Course. She graduated from that in 2012

She lived and worked in rural Herefordshire where gardens, orchards and hedgerows provided her with an endless supply of plant material. Her botanical art was painted - with great attention to detail and growth habit - in watercolour.

She was also a

Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists;
an Artist Member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society - which is where I saw her last
a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London (elected 2015) and
a member of the Institute for Analytical Plant Illustration.

Below I'm going to record Janet's achievements in the world of botanical art beyond her RHS Medal - and my photos of her exhibits. Janet was never ever one to boast - but I think she was secretly delighted when others recognised and publicly acknowledged her artwork and achievements - and it's in that spirit that I write this post.

Society of Botanical Art Awards and Certificates

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40th Anniversary of the School of Botanical Art & Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens

9/11/2020

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This is a lovely video about the activities of the School of Botanical Art & Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens. It was made to celebrate:

its 40th anniversary
the 30th anniversary of its certificate program.

I think it must be the oldest botanical art school in the world. I'm hard put to think of one which is older. (Any suggestions?)

Below is the video on the (public) Facebook Page for the SBAI but if you prefer to view on YouTube this is the link

The video highlights how the School is only the third group to win an RHS Gold Medal (in 2017) in the history of the Royal Horticultural Society - and I was extremely pleased to be able to photograph Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Ph.D., D.Sc. at the time. Mervi led the School as Manager for the last 13 years until her retirement earlier this year. Much of what I have admired about the School has been down to initiatives by Mervi.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with her again when Covid lets her husband and her embark on their retirement tour of Europe!

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Ph.D., D.Sc. with the RHS Gold Medal winning exhibit

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REFERENCE LINKS: The School of Botanical Art & Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens

If you'd like to know more about the School these links tell you a lot.

WEBSITE: https://www.botanicgardens.org/education/school-botanical-art-illustration
FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/SchoolOfBotanicalArtAndIllustration/
BLOG: Botanical Illustration - which has always been open access in the past but now seems to be open to invited people only. (I'm rather surprised as I always thought his blog did the most amazing job of marketing both the school and its Diploma in Botanical Illustration and Foundation Certificate.

For educational organisations interested in submitting an exhibit to the RHS Botanical Art Show as a Group, can I refer you to:

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Botanical Art Diploma Course Announcements

9/11/2018

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Below are a couple of announcements about the Botanical Art Diploma Courses run by the Society of Botanical Artists and the Chelsea School of Botanical Art.

SBA Distance Learning Diploma Course

Simon Williams, Director of the Distance Learning Diploma Course run by the Society of Botanical Artists has asked me to remind those interested in the course that the application deadline for the SBA/DLDC Course 16 is 30 November 2018

Work by the Final Year Diploma students is exhibited every year at the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists

The application date for the Distance Learning Diploma Course is fast approaching.

If you are inspired by botanical painting and would like the opportunity to learn the disciplines of botanical art through a wide range of course assignments, download and send in your application now.

The Course covers many exciting aspects of botanical painting from initial graphite drawing, line and wash (new to Course 16), botany, plant portraits and fruit studies. It also includes assignments on working from photographs and mixed studies to open up a learner’s skill set into the commercial avenue of botanical art.

Please make your application to the Course Director - details on the application form

Course 16 commences on 1 January 2019

The Course is open to students anywhere in the world and there are currently students from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, Brazil, Canada and the USA as well as Europe and the UK. The Course lasts for 27 months and the fee includes a student subscription to the Society for the duration of the Course.

CSBA: Botanical Illustration and Painting Diploma 2019

The Botanical Illustration and Painting Diploma run by The Chelsea School of Botanical Art is currently being overhauled (the page is currently offline) and rescheduled.

It will restart in September 2019 (in line with the academic year) and is based at the Chelsea Physic Garden

More about Diploma & Certificate Courses in Botanical Art & Illustration

The Diploma & Certificate Page on this website contains:

Guidelines on how to assess and choose a course from available options; and
Listings of Diploma and Certificate courses in Botanical Art - in the UK and USA.

The best course for YOU is the one that best meets your interests and needs. I recommend you use the Guideline checklists of questions to work out which one you want to pursue.

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RBGE Botanical Illustration Diploma Graduation Show 2018

22/9/2018

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You've got one more day to visit the botanical art exhibits at the RBGE Graduation Show at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh by the international students who have just completed their RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration this summer.

(This would have been earlier but for my recent computer woes/hard drive failure - I only got my photoshop software working again this morning!)

Fortunately Elaine Searle was visiting earlier this month for the Graduation ceremony and took photos and sent them to me - so below is a record of the graduates, what they chose to do for their portfolios and pics of their exhibit.

Constanza (Coco) Obach with her exhibit of "Plants of the Coastal Mountain Range (Chile)"

The Diploma show is a showcase of work from the RBGE Diplomas in Botanical Illustration, Herbology and Plantsmanship courses.

Graduate Show - RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration (2017/18)

Venue: Fletcher Building, Botanic Garden Edinburgh (accessed by the ramp to the right of the Cacti House.)
Dates: Saturday 22nd September 2018 - Sunday 23rd September 2018
Hours: Open daily from 10:30 - 16:00
Admission: Free

RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration:
Graduation Show

The Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is ideal for those who want to take botanical illustration to a professional level. Designed for those with a background or some experience in art, design or illustration, this three year RBGE diploma develops skills across a complete range of watercolour, pencil and pen.

The graduating students this summer come from various countries around the world - including:

Chile
France
Japan: Tokyo
Netherlands
Switzerland: Geneva
UK: The Wirral in Cheshire; Melrose in the Scotland Borders
USA: New Mexico and Southern California

Click RBGE Diploma in Botanical Illustration for more details about the three year course using online instruction.

Wren M Allen - Native Plants of the American Desert South West and their Traditional Uses

Wren lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and discovered botanical illustration while living in Brazil. Her plants are those found near her home.

Jenny Bache-Usher - Five Plants from SSSI Red Rock Marsh, Hoylake

The marsh local to her home is a site of special scientific interest and exhibits different habitats within its boundary. Her plants are the very rare Wirral Horsetail and the Sea Holly, Flag Iris, Salad Burnet and Sea Radish.

A course with headlines and tasks concentrates the mind wonderfully!

Julia Blower - Hosta Cultivars

Julia started to paint after many years of working as a lawyer and then in management roles. She had grown Hostas in her woodland garden for many years and regarded the portfolio assignment as a great excuse to buy and plant more hostas!

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