The medals have been awarded by the Judges for both the Botanical and Floral categories at Bloom 2019 in Dublin.

The 7th Annual ​​Exhibition of Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom is Ireland's premier botanical art exhibition and is at the Phoenix Park Visitor Centre in Phoenix Park, Dublin until the end of June 2019.

Below you can find the list of medal winners in the Botanical Art Category.
At the bottom of the post is the pdf file of the complete listing of all medal winners at Bloom (including the floral category).

The Judges included Deborah Lambkin who is an Irish born artist who trained in Dublin but now lives in London and is the RHS Orchid Artist. She is also a member of the Panel that judges the RHS Botanical Art Show and has just been awarded the Jill Smythson Award by the Linnean Society.

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.​

This post highlights the botanical artists who won medals at The 6th Annual Botanical Art Show at Bloom in the Park in Dublin opened yesterday and the medals were awarded. In this post you'll find a list of the botanical artists winning medals at the Botanical Art at the Bloom Show in Dublin - plus a brief profile of each artist winning a medal.

​I'll be back tomorrow to add in more award-winning images from this show. 

​The exhibition also includes paintings by floral artists which are listed at the end

Shevaun Doherty - Teloschistes chrysophthalmus, Golden Eye lichen. 

Shevaun not only won the only Gold Medal and Best in Show Award (her second Best in Show - she won in 2017 as well) - she also sold the painting to a major botanical art collector!  I can't help feeling that apart from the exquisite painting of this lichen that one of the things which appealed to the Judges was that I don't think anybody has painted a lichen before for the show - and yet lichens grow everywhere in Ireland!

I always feel some pride when Shevaun does well as it is one of my blog posts (note the first comment!)  which originally stimulated her to apply to do the SBA Diploma - for which she was awarded a Distinction. Since then she has done extremely well in terms of being awarded previous Gold Medals at Bloom (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017) and prizes elsewhere and developing workshops and tuition for aspiring botanical artists - especially those wanting to learn how to paint on vellum.

Elaine Moore Mackey - Arisarum probiscideum, Mousetail Plant
Elaine started Botanical Illustration in 2013 and she completed a course at the Burren College of Art in 2014.  She has just graduated from the Distance Learning Diploma run by the Society of Botanical Artists (UK). 
​
Holly Somerville - Iris 'Turkish Blue'
Holly Somerville was born in Dublin and now lives in Wicklow. She is a botanical artist, illustrator and teacher. Her academic accreditation as a botanical artist comes from scientific and artistic perspectives. She has an MA in Botany from Somerville College, Oxford and a BA in Visual Communication from Edinburgh College of Art, where she specialised in illustration and photography. In the past she has worked in the herbarium of the Botany Department of Trinity College, Dublin. She has produced very many botanically correct pen and ink drawings for publications about Irish Flora and researchers at Trinity College and other universities around the world. She's also exhibited regularly and extensively in both Ireland and Ulster.

​Jane Stark - Anthurium hybrid
Jane Stark is a botanical artist living in the west of Ireland. A graduate of the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Canada, she has worked in graphic design and natural history illustration in Canada, the US and Ireland, specialising in high quality publication design. She is a founding member of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists (ISBA) and is currently President of ISBA. She has also been a leading light in getting the two ISBA books published Aibítir: The Irish Alphabet in Botanical Art and Plandaí Oidhreachta, Irish Heritage Plants. She is also the curator of the annual Claregalway Botanical Art Expo, held in conjunction with the Galway Garden Festival at Claregalway Castle. ​

Lynn Stringer
- ‘Douglas Fir’- painting sold
- 'Iris "Haute les voiles"’
Lynn is Chair of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists. She lives and works in County Wicklow.  She studied Fine Art at DIT College of Marketing and Design in Dublin as a mature student and graduated with a first in painting. She regularly holds botanical art classes and exhibits her work at various plant fairs in Ireland (see website for details). She won an RHS Silver Medal in 2013 when she exhibited six paintings about Kilmacurragh and the Plant Hunters from her long term project to paint plants from Kilmacurragh (part of the National Botanic Gardens). She's a member of ISBA and ASBA. See An Interview with Lynn Stringer

The Irish Society of Botanical Artists organised the Irish exhibition Botanical Art Worldwide – Éireannach - Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland. This was held at the National Botanic Gardens, 9 Glasnevin Hill in Dublin between 6-27 May 2018.

However the exhibition lives on in its catalogue and for all of us who were unable to get to the exhibition, this is a wonderful document to have for all sorts of reasons.

This is a review of that book Éireannach – Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland in which I endeavour the count the ways in which it is VERY IMPRESSIVE!  

I don't often rave about a book - but this is one of those occasions!
​

I've been impressed with the way that the Irish Society of Botanical Artists - which was formed just over four years ago, in March 2014, has produced a book for every one of its three exhibitions to date.

Maybe that's because they have regarded each exhibition and each book as the outcome of a very specific project. What is even more laudable is that every project has focused on Irish plants 

• Aibítir: The Irish Alphabet in Botanical Art - focused on illustrating the variety of plant forms and habitats in native plants on the whole island of Ireland. The project used the Celtic uncial script as a structure on which to 'hang' the plants. The first book was small - but perfectly formed - and it sits on my bookshelves!
• Plandaí Oidhreachta - Heritage Irish Plants - the second project celebrated the the wealth of good Irish Garden Plants within the context of botanical illustration.
• Éireannach – Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland - the third project is intended as a celebration of Irish Native Plants

​ 

Every single plant in the exhibition has:

• at least a single (large) page to itself - while some enjoy a double page spread
• the latin name, the common name, the Celtic name and the Genus and family
• the name of the artist
• the story of the plant - which includes where the plant was found, what the name means - in terms for example of history or habitat or growth features. Plus a detailed description of the botanical features of importance and finally any interesting facts or stories associated with the plant
• the image of the botanical art. Some also have a photo of the plant and/or an enlargement of part of the plant of interest - such as the flowers of the Sundew.

What impresses me about the ISBA projects is that they are "rooted" literally and metaphorically in the plants and the botany and getting to know the plant each artist is painting. It's a marvellous practice and an excellent standard for a botanical art society to set as a challenge to members wanting to participate in its projects.

I'd go so far as to say it is a practice I'd commend to other botanical art societies.  From a standing start in 2014 ISBA have well and truly demonstrated what can be accomplished - and this book is the evidence of that.

In terms of the botanical art - the standard is excellent and I think some excellent decisions were made as to which merited a double page spread.  
​

This is a summary of the various exhibitions, educational events and activities around the UK and Ireland for the Worldwide Day of Botanical Art on Friday 18 May at:

• Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens
• The Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University
• RHS Lindley Library
• Chelsea Physic Garden
• The Art Workers' Guild
  
• John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh​
• National Botanic Garden, Dublin.

You'll find more information about events and personnel involved in the links.

Worldwide Day of Botanical Art - Events on 18th May at Kew
​
Venue: Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Time: 11am - 4pm - To be opened by Shirley Sherwood at 11am.
Admission: FREE - but normal admission charges to the garden apply
Activities: 

• Digital slideshow of the artwork in the UK exhibition at Lancaster and in botanical art worldwide exhibitions around the world
• Botanical artists currently commissioned by Kew will present their work in a series of informal talks and demonstrations

Talks are as follows

• 11:30 – 12pm – Dr Andrew Brown - From Plant to Plate – how to prepare a complete scientific illustration through meticulous observation, planning and execution.  
• 12:15 – 12:45pm – Lucy T Smith - Largest, Smallest, Oldest – the challenges of working with Kew’s greenhouse collections of giant waterlilies and rare cycads including Encephalartos woodii, one of the Temperate House’s rarest plants.   
• 1:30 – 2:00pm – Hazel Wilks - Dogwoods to Dandelions – the range of work a Kew illustrator undertakes: depicting new plant species, explaining plant anatomy and drawing world floras 
• 2:15 – 2:45pm – Georita Harriot - For the Love of Lavender – the work behind illustrating  a botanical monograph in colour,  including research into how to mix 1000 different shades of Green.

Work and demonstrations will also be shown by Christabel King GM FSBA, FLS, Anita Barley Recipient of the 2016 Jill Smythies Award for Botanical Illustration from the Linnaean Society Penny Price and Dr Judi Stone. ​

​Sarah Oldridge, Adult Education Co-ordinator, will provide information about courses at Kew.

Worldwide Day of Botanical Art - Events on 18th May at Lancaster 

Title: In Ruskin's Footsteps
Venue: The Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University
Time: 12.00pm - 5.00pm
Admission: FREE 

• Exhibition opens on 18th May 
• You can see the digital gallery of artwork now on the ABBA website
• a slideshow of 1,000 images from Botanical Art Worldwide, including the 40 images from In Ruskin’s Footsteps.​

Special Event Open Days on 19th May and 9th June 2018

Venue: Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University

• 19th May and 9th June: Exhibition Tours by Martin Allen. His main role in supporting the exhibition has been to check botanical accuracy in terms of depiction of plants and the nomenclature of the plant species.  He is an expert botanist, who regularly works in the field completing botanical surveys and habitat assessments.  As well as this he is also a highly skilled botanical artist and tutor, having won many awards. including three RHS Gold Medals (1995, 97, 99)
• 19th May: Mally Francis, ( see her o=image below) Sandra Doyle and Jackie Copeman will be demonstrating in the exhibition space.  
• 9th June (2pm – 3pm) Talk on ‘Fieldwork and Research Techniques for Botanical Art by Sarah Morrish who has a working background in ecology and conservation and is an experienced botanical and natural science artist and tutor. This will give an overview of how best work to in the field and how you can then research your subject further, through direct investigation of the subject and additional research techniques - from botany to paper.

Slideshow and Tours: Botanical Art Worldwide
​
Venue: RHS Lindley Library, 80 Vincent Square, LONDON SW1P 2PE
Time: 

• Slideshow: 10am - 5pm; 
• Tours: 11am and 2pm

Admission: FREE
Activities:

• a slideshow of 1,000 images from Botanical Art Worldwide, including the 40 images from In Ruskin’s Footsteps.
• a curated tour of artworks from the RHS Lindley Library Art Collection on this day. Tour places are limited - please call the library on 020 7821 3050 or email library.london@rhs.org.uk to reserve a place.
• View the Lindley Library’s most recent acquisition, Dahlia Twynings After Eight.. a watercolour painting by Heidi Venamore. This will be on display alongside the preliminary sketches for this piece.​ ​

‘Botany and Painting techniques: a day of talks and demonstrations by SBA artists on painting some of Britain’s indigenous species’.

The Society of Botanical Artists is supporting the Worldwide Day of Botanical Art with two half day events 

Venue: The Art Workers' Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT
Time:

• 10:45 -13:00 - Morning event is 2 hours, with refreshments
• 14:15 -16:30 - Afternoon event is 2 hours with refreshments

Admission: PRICED ticketed events - tickets from this site
Activities: talks and demonstrations by:

• Morning event: Gael Sellwood GM, SBA, Angeline de MeesterBA(Hons), GM, FLS, SBA, Jarnie Godwin MTcg, BSc(Hons), DipSBA(Dist) SBA and Pamela Taylor PhD, BSc, SBA
• Afternoon Event: Sue J Williams SBA FCPFS, Dianne Sutherland Ball SBA BSc Hons (Biology), Jennifer Jenkins SBA, Billy Showell BA PSBA

​​Here's what's happening in Scotland 

Worldwide Day of Botanical Art in Dublin and ISBA Open Day

Venue: Visitors’ Centre at the National Botanic Gardens
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Admission: FREE (entry to the garden is free also)
Activities:

• Exhibition: Éireannach – Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland  - continues until 27th May. See also my blog post Selected Irish Artists for Éireannach Exhibition  (Botanical Art Worldwide #7)
• digital slideshow of images from 24 other Botanical Art Worldwide exhibitions plus images from Éireannach – Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland 
• tour of the exhibition by Zoe Devlin wildflower expert and mentor to the Irish project
• botanical painting demonstrations by members of ISBA
• cards, prints and merchandise by ISBA artists

The book Éireannach – Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland  will also be for sale (I've now my copy and it's STUNNING! Review coming up later this week)

 The judges have chosen paintings of 48 native plants - indigenous to Ireland - painted by 43 artists for the upcoming Éireannach exhibition organised by the Irish Society of Botanical Artists - and part of the Botanical Art Worldwide initiative taking place in May 2018. (For more details of this initiative see the note at the end of this post)

The names of artists whose work has been selected are listed below along with the names of the plant they have illustrated in terms of:

• the English common name
• the Latin name
• the Gaeilge Planda

The images included are scanned and cropped from the artists' paintings and are provided with their permission. Many thanks to the ISBA for their co-operation with this blog post.  

In addition

• the website of the artist is embedded in the name (if available)
• a short profile is provided (if available online). 
• Botanical artists who also contributed to the 'The Heritage Irish Plants – Plandaí Oidhreachta Exhibition are indicated by an asterisk *

Exhibition details are as follows:

• Venue: National Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland 
• Dates: May 5 @ 10:00 am - May 27 @ 5:00 pm
• Admission: Free

An open day is being held on the 18th May which will feature painting demos, a ‘tour’ of the wildflower paintings by Zoe Devlin, renowned wildflower expert and the mentor for the Irish project, and a chance to meet the participating artists.

The Steering Committee for the exhibition comprise: Zoë Devlin, Yanny Petters, Jane Stark and Lynn Stringer. They have received assistance from a number of the other participating artists.

Hazel Beehan

• Marsh Thistle, Cirsium palustre, Feochadán corraigh

Janet Bockett *

• Marsh-marigold, Caltha palustris Lus Buí Bealtaine

Developed a strong appreciation of the natural world as a child and was encouraged to paint plants. More recently and since retirement, has been inspired by the botanical art of Patricia Jorgensen and has pursued her studies with her. Contributed to the 'The Heritage Irish Plants – Plandaí Oidhreachta Exhibition.

Fionnuala Broughan *

• Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna, Sceach gheal

Background in botany and geology and writing about nature. Fionnuala began drawing plants, trees in recent times.

Ann Burn

• Wood Anemone, Anemone nemorosa, Lus na gaoithe

Heather Byers

• Cowslip, Primula veris, Bainne bó bleachtáin

Contributed to the 'The Heritage Irish Plants – Plandaí Oidhreachta Exhibition.

Marcella Campbell

• Great Willowherb, Epilobium hirsutum, Lus na Tríonóide

Michael Campbell *

• Bloody Crane's-bill Geranium versicolor Crobh stríocach

BFA (1976) Southern Illinois University. Certificate and Diploma in Botanical Art from the School of Botanical Art at Denver Botanic Garden. Participated in a number of botanical exhibitions in the USA. Member of the Irish Watercolour Society and the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society

Giulia Canevari (Facebook)

• Hazel Corylus avellana Coll

Born in 1986 in Milan. Diploma in Illustration and Multimedia Animation, IED Milano and subsequently worked as a graphic designer. Came to Ireland in 2012; based in Dublin and inspired by nature, environment and ecology. Studied botanical art with leading Irish botanical artists in recent years. Involved with NCAD Community Garden in Dublin 8 

Grainne Carr

• Elder Sambucus nigra Trom

Betty Christie *

• Wild Carrot Daucus carota Mealbhacán

Graduated with First Class Honours from the Belfast College of Art and Design in 1975, followed by an Art Teachers’ Diploma in 1976. Taught art. Lived in Belfast for over 40 years, but her work is still influenced by her rural upbringing, in Limavady, Co Derry. Also a member of the Arts’ Society of Ulster, the Pastel Society of Ireland, the Water Colour Society of Ireland, the Dublin Painting and Sketching Club. Exhibited extensively and internationally and won many awards for her art.

Janet Colgan *

• Creeping Jenny Lysimachia nummularia Lus an dá phingin
• Navelwort Umbilicus rupestris Cornán caisil

Jo Cummins (Facebook)

• Shepherd's Purse Capsella bursa-pastoris Lus an sparáin

Diane Davison

• Ash Fraxinus excelsior Fuinseog

Sally de Bromhead

• Red Clover Trifolium pratense Seamair dhearg

Marie de Lacy Clancy

• Crab Apple Malus sylvestris Crann fia-úll

Mary Dillon *

• Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum Féithleann

Diploma with Distinction, Society of Botanical Artists, 2014. Founding Chairperson of the Irish Society of Botanical Artists 2014. Elected member of the Watercolour Society of Ireland. Elected Associate Member of the Society of Botanical Artists, UK. Has exhibited her botanical art internationally, most recently in San Francisco, Madrid, Frankfurt and London. Teaches botanical art. Awarded Gold Medal and Best in Show in Botanical and Floral Art at Bloom, Dublin, 2016, and a Gold at Bloom, 2017.

Shevaun Doherty * (Facebook)

• Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra Mínscoth

Diploma with Distinction, Society of Botanical Artists 2012. Works as a Botanical Artist, Natural History Illustrator and Art Tutor. Founder member of ‘The Irish Society of Botanical Artists. Also a full member of the Society of Botanical Artists and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Has exhibited her botanical art in Ireland UK, Egypt and at the Botanic Gardens in Frankfurt and Madrid. Taught internationally including a workshop at the American Society of Botanical Artists National Conference. Designed the cover image and logo for The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. Won Gold Medals for her botanical artwork on vellum in the Botanical category at Bloom Botanical Art in Dublin (2014, 2015, 2016). Won Gold Medal and Best Painting in Show (Botanical category) at Bloom 2017.

Noeleen Frain *

• Ragged Robin Silene flos-cuculi Lus síoda
• Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis Magairlín na stuaice

An Irish artist and Calligrapher based in Dublin covering a wide variety of subject matter.