NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Botalia - botanical painting exhibition by Mary Ann Scott in Lucca

1/9/2017

Mary Ann Scott, author - with Margaret Stevens - of Botanical Sketchbook, has a solo exhibition in Lucca in Italy which opens today for three days.

Botalia - Living Art Incontri nel Giardino di Mary Ann Scott
Encounters in the Garden of Mary Ann Scott
Murabilia XVII Edizione
Dates: 1-3 September 2017
Venue: In the greenhouse at the Botanical Gardens in Lucca -
Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca, Via del Giardino Botanico, 14, 55100 Lucca LU, Italy.
Hours: The hours for the exhibition are:

Venerdi 1 Settembre 12:00 - 19:30
Sabato 2 Settembre 9:30 - 19:30
Domenica 3 Settembre 9:30 - 19:30

Part of the exhibition - Botalia - Living Art Incontri nel Giardino di Mary Ann Scott (Encounters in the Garden of Mary Ann Scott)

It's part of Murabilia which is a major horticultural and gardening market and festival event in Lucca this weekend.

Mary Ann Scott botancal art exhibition in Lucca

Botalia - Mary Ann Scott's botanical art exhibition at the Botanic Garden in Lucca

All paintings are watercolours of botanical subjects and birds of Northern Italy by Mary Ann Scott.

Mary Ann is the author of one of the most popular books produced by the SBA for their Distance Learning Diploma Course.

Mary Ann started the Diploma Course course in January 2006 and graduated with a Diploma with Distinction in April 2008 which fast tracked her into membership of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK.

Note: You can read my review of her book Botanical Sketchbook on this website.

Mary Ann Scott presenting one of her paintings to the Mayor of Lucca at the Preview last night. This is a painting she is donating to the Botanic Gardens in Lucca.

This is a translation of the commentary for the catalogue for Mary Ann's exhibition by Professor Bogliani, a zoologist at the university of Pavia, who’s very active in environmental issues and particularly biodiversity.

Imagine a meeting between an artist from one of the countries with the greatest sensitivity towards the natural world, and an environment providing some of the the richest biodiversity in Europe.

This is what happened when Mary Ann arrived in Italy, the country with the highest number of plant and animal species in the European Union, and began painting the nature around her.

Well known in the UK as a botanical artist, Mary Ann is the author, with Margaret Stevens, of Botanical Sketchbook. Now, in Italy, she is taking on the numerous plant and animal species that surround her. Certainly, in the UK there are no lack of opportunities, but to be able to observe a Night Heron in detail, it is to Italy, and especially to the rice fields around Novara that one must come. And in the same way, if one wants to see a Scops Owl, the smallest of the European owls, it is the Mediterranean area which provides the most opportunities. For the exhibition, “Living Art, nelgiardino di Mary Ann” watercolours have been painted in which observable plants and animals have been described in a very precise and naturalistic way without, however, creating cold, impersonal images that are perhaps more suited to a textbook for the systematic identification of species. Here, on the other hand, every species retains its personality. At times, the subjects are isolated on a white background to emphasise form and colour; at other times a simple setting is provided, taking into account the preferred habitat of each species.

Although some of the watercolours may be seen as “still lives”, life’s movement is more than hinted at.

The nest, discovered on the ground, is described in detail with the elements which compose it; moss, pieces of bark, feathers, down, tell or suggest a story about a pair of small birds which, instinctively or perhaps from experience, have built a structure necessary for their reproduction. Then, who knows what may have happened? Perhaps the young birds had already flown away or perhaps the nest was torn from the branch by a strong gust of wind. We don’t know the rest of the story and therefore we must imagine it. Whatever our reconstruction of events, the fact remains that as an object this nest is beautiful.

We can make similar considerations for all the other subjects depicted in the exhibition. The watercolours give us suggestions without completing the story, leaving it up to us to contextualise according to our personal sensitivities.

All the works, however, emphasise the great beauty of nature. We know that biodiversity is in danger in most of the world. Many of us are using rational
arguments to try and convince those in power to intervene effectively. We know, however, that rational debate frequently fails. Works, such as those presented in the exhibition, might strike other chords; touch, enchant, even trigger irrational mechanisms of fascination in the mind . If such were the case, art would give no less a contribution to the battle for conservation than the most meticulous scientific research. And I write this as a researcher. It may not be impossible that in Italy, thanks to the work of artists like Mary Ann Scott, awareness may grow of the immeasurable
value of our natural heritage.

More of Mary Ann Scott's exhibition at the Botanic Gardens in Lucca

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SOLD! One very pink peony!

22/8/2017

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Some of you will recall my earlier posts about a buyer who wanted to purchase a botanical painting of either a peony or cherry blossom.

Rather than limiting any recommendations to people I knew I opened it up and published the requirements in

This met with a very quiet response and I have to say I was somewhat surprised.

I'm guessing that a number of you may have thought that it was the usual scam and/or are not used to selling your paintings via an approach online. However, I was convinced it was NOT a scam. Also, since I've been paid significant sums in the past for approaches by people who I very nearly ignored, I've learned that it pays to look very seriously at people who write to you!

Peony, watercolor on paper, 35x50cm by Claudine Pasquin

I only had one response - but it only takes one response of the right quality.

Claudine Pasquin, who lives in near Lake Como, approached me about her painting of a peony. I had met Claudine at the RHS Botanical Art Show in February and seen her exhibit (which won a Silver Gilt Medal) and her painting on the web and consequently I had no hesitation in recommending her to my gentleman enquirer (who will remain anonymous).

Claudine has now sold her lovely sensitive painting of a peony and I anticipate that his extremely thoughtful present will be much appreciated in due course.

The moral of the story is that:

while we always need to be very alert to a potential scam, there are also a lot of very genuine purchasers who will approach you via email or a contact form on your website
we need to recognise that for many people it's also becoming more and more normal to buy art online.
selling art online is a great way for botanical artists to connect with potential botanical art collectors all over the world

If you're ever concerned about an email you have received you can always share the text with me and I'll give you my opinion of whether it is genuine or fake. It will only be an opinion - but that's what it was in this instance....

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RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017 - Medal Winners

26/2/2017

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This post is about who won which medal at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017. I've previously covered the Best Exhibit and Best Painting in RHS Botanical Art 2017 in my last post.

View over the RHS Botanical Art Show in the Lindley Hall in Westminster

I'll also be writing posts in the coming days for:

TIPS from the RHS Gold Medal Winners - a very popular perennial!
Interview with the RHS Gold Medal Winners - one for the winners from Asia and another for the winners from Australia and the UK.
The challenge of an RHS Botanical Art Group Exhibit (based on my interview with Denver Botanical Garden School of Botanical Art and Illustration)

How medals are assessed

The RHS included a useful exhibit of how the artwork for the exhibition is assessed. You can find a more detailed explanation in the Guidelines for the exhibition.

Candidates who have been approved to exhibit must submit at least six works - preferably on a theme. You get extra marks if you illustrate a plant family.

Key points are:

very high standards are essential
emphasis on botanical accuracy
assessed as botanical illustration
marks are awarded for presentation as well as accuracy and quality of the artwork

Judges want to see

botanical accuracy (measure your plant);
exact colour reproduction (don't paint from photos and make sure you do lots of colour swatches before you start); and
artists who have paid attention to detail - particularly that which differentiates one plant from another

RHS Gold Medal

This is probably the biggest challenge and the most difficult award to win for any botanical painter.

There were nine Gold Medals in total. There may well have been more but unfortunately two previous Gold Medal winners had to pull out very late due to the serious ill-health of close family members. I'm sure that both Sansanee and Sue will be back next year and I send my very best wishes to both them and their families.

Below are the botanical artists who won Gold Medals for their botanical art exhibits. It's worth remembering that assessment is based on the weakest painting on show so the entire exhibit of a minimum of six drawings or paintings has to be top-notch to get a Gold Medal.

Some however have a talent for winning Gold Medals - and watch out for my comments below.

Eucalyptus of Western Australia by Annie Hughes copyright Katherine Tyrrell

A fourth Gold Medal for Annie Hughes for 'Eucalyptus of Western Australia'

Denver School of Botanical Art & Illustration (USA - Colorado) - an exhibition by the instructors of Rocky Mountains: Plants and Funghi with Altitude
Keiko Fujita (Japan - Tokyo) - Growth of Bamboo in Japan
Bridget Gillespie GM (UK - North Yorkshire) Root Vegetables Life Cycle - Bridget has been a botanical artist since 1992, She won the Best Painting in Show this year and has won two previous Gold Medals for plums and pears.
Annie Hughes GM (2011, 2012, 2013, 2017 + BISCOT) (Australia - Sydney) Eucalyptus of Western Australia - Annie is a phenomenon. She's exhibited four times and won a Gold Medal each time
Suyeon Kim (South Korea - Seoul) - An exhibit of Endemic Plants of Korea
Mariko Ikeda (Japan - Tochigi) - Her exhibit of Pandanus won Best in Show
Mayumi Ishii (Japan - Tokyo) - An exhibit of ten different Roses
Kathy Pickles GM (UK - Orkney) - This is Kathy's 7th Gold Medal and this one is for Clematis. Rachel de Thame purchased one of her paintings!
Shirley Slocock (UK - Surrey) - drawings in graphite of plants found in Wayside Tracks and Verges

Clematis by Kathy Pickles copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Clematis by Kathy Pickles - her 7th gold medal

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RHS Silver Gilt Medal

These are people who have missed out on a Gold Medal for a particular reason.

This can be to do with presentation - including labelling (eg one year it was getting the latin name wrong), botany, accuracy, content of exhibit, colours and the general avoidance of any areas of confusion.

The artists - and exhibits - are:

Sumiko Davies (UK - East Sussex) - Wild Orchids of Crete
Sarah Jane Humphrey (UK - Cornwall) - The Genus Lavandula
Mark Isaac-Williams (Hong Kong) - A Variety of Asian Bamboos
Bridgette James (UK - Norfolk) Allium
Hideko Kamoshita (Japan - Tokyo) - Cirsium (Asteraceae) in Japan
Asako Kuwajima (Japan - Yokoham) - Chrysanthemum
Claudine Pasquin (Italy - Como) - Plants of 'Magredi', dry grasslands of Friuli
Silvana Rava GM (Italy - Como) - Excellent Harvests of Italy
Vivienne Rew - (UK - Stoke-on-Trent) Metamorphosis - Lifecycle of Papaver orientale
Kazumi Yoshikawa - (Japan - Tokuyo) White Flowers

Two silver gilt exhibits seen from above - 'Metamorphosis - Lifecycle of Papaver orientale' by Vivienne Rew and 'White Flowers' by Kazumi Yoshikawa

RHS Silver Medal

Kate Barling - Climbers growing in a Devon Garden
Nigel Bowley (UK - Kent) - Orchid Flower Portraits
Martha G Kemp GM (USA - California) Autumn Textures, Prickly to Smooth: Nuts, Cones & Fruit
Patricia Newman - (France) - In an Irish garden
Harue Takumi (Japan - Tokyo) - Camellias of Japan

RHS Bronze Medal

Catherine Kellie - Species of flowering perennials in the Ranunculaceae family
Olivia Chalmers - Datura - This is Olivia's 5th Bronze medal

All exhibits were awarded a medal.

Posts about the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 to date are as follows:

Best Exhibit and Best Painting in RHS Botanical Art Show 2017

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RHS Botanical Art 2017 - Selected Artists

11/2/2017

Below you an find a list of the artists exhibiting RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 at the RHS Lindley Hall in London at the end of this month.

The list is organised by the country of origin and/or where they live. In total there are 29 artists (35 in 2016) from 10 different countries (10 in 2016).

The number per country is as follows:

12 x UK
7 x Japan
2 x Italy
2 x USA
1 x Australia
1 x France
1 x Hong Kong (China)
1 x South Korea
1 x New Zealand
1 x Thailand

I've highlighted previous Gold Medal Winners by 'GM' after their names. I've also commented on those I know and those where I was able to find some information about them

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

Details of the exhibition
The exhibition opens with a preview on Thursday 23 February 6-9pm. All tickets £5. There are then two full days on Friday 24 and Saturday 25 February (10am-5pm). Free Entry. No ticket required.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Visit this exhibition if you are serious about botanical art. It will include some of the best botanical art exhibited anywhere in the world this year.
Artists planning to apply to the RHS to exhibit in the future would be well advised to 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.

Australia

Anne Hughes GM with her Gold Medal winning collection of paintings of Citrus Plants at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2013

Annie Hughes GM - I seem to meet up with Annie every couple of years either at an RHS Botanical Art Show where she is winning another Gold Medal or at an exhibition related to Shirley Sherwood. Annie has contributed several very useful tips in my series of blog posts about tips from RHS Gold Medal winners

France

Patricia Newman - Exhibited at the Hunt's 12th International Exhibition. Work included in the Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton Collection of Botanical Art.

Hong Kong

Mark Isaac-Williams - you can see Mark at work as the resident artist for the Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden in the video below. Mark exhibited last year and at the 17th Annual Filoli Exhibition, USA in 2015

Italy

Claudine Pasquin - Has exhibited widely in Italy - and won awards for her botanical art in Italy.
Silvana Rava GM - Began botanical painting in 2000. Member of Floraviva Associazione Italiana Pittori Botanici. Exhibited at the Hunt's 12th International Exhibition in 2007. Awarded a Gold Medal by the RHS for 10 paintings of medicinal plants of Lake Como. Two works in the "Botanical Art in the 21st Century" at Kew in 2014. Has work in the Hunt Institute, the RHS Lindley Library in London and the Museum of Graphic in Pisa.

Japan

Keiko Fujita - Exhibited at the 15th Annual International American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York
Mariko Ikeda - Exhibited at the Hunts' 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration
Mayumi Ishii - Exhibited at the Hunt's 11th International Exhibition. Awarded a Silver Medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2015 when she displayed Contemporary Roses in Japan
Hideko Kamoshita
Asako Kuwajima - Has been a member of the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration, the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Botanical Artists. She has work in the Hunt and has participated in several group exhibitions. Currently her paintings can be seen in Flora Japonica at Kew.
Harue Takumi - Lives in Tokyo; exhibited at the Hunt in 2007; exhibited at RHS in 2014 and was awarded a Silver Medal for Endangered species of flowers in Japan
Kazumi Yoshikawa - Exhibited Eriobotya Japonica, Cornus, Florida, Japanese Cherry, Pumpkin & Japanese Rose at the RHS in 2013

New Zealand

Sue Wickison GM - I first met Sue when she was exhibiting in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew in 0213 and was very impressed with her paintings - especially the large ones! I'm very much looking forward to seeing what she's bringing to the RHS Botanical Art exhibition.

Sue Wickison with her painting of a Travellers Palm(?) in her Black and White in Colour Exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Hew in 2013

South Korea

Suyeon Kim

Thailand (but living in Scotland)

Sansanee Deekrajang GM - Exhibited at RHS won an RHS Gold Medal for her watercolour paintings of Tropical Climate Plants in 2016. Sansanee is from Bangkok but now lives in Lothian in Scotland. She has a degree of art and has specialised in fine art printmaking in the past. She taught herself how to do botanical art and has a particular talent for producing very bright paintings full of content with excellent compositions.

Sansanee Deekrajang with her very colourful and complex paintings of Tropical Climate Plants

UK

Kate Barling - Started botanical art in 2007 by taking a class with Mally Francis. Exhibited in 2015 and was awarded a silver medal for Six varieties of apples, grown in a Devon garden
Nigel Bowley - an orchid artist
Olivia Chalmers - Studied with Annie Farrar, Coral Guest, Jennie Brasier and Pandora Sellars. Previous exhibited at RHS and been awarded a medal.
Sumiko Davies - Exhibited Wildflowers of the South Downs at RHS in 2013
Bridget Gillespie - Bridget teaches botanical art at the Helmsley Walled Garden in Yorkshire
Sarah Jane Humphrey - Has a degree in BA(Hons) Scientific and Natural History Illustration and success in translating her paintings in commercial products. Published her fist book age 21 and has a track record of a steady commissions. She's represented by the Wildlife Art Company.
Bridgette James - Became a professional artist in 1987. She's particularly interested in painting wild flowers and the butterflies and dragon flies associated with them. She's provided botanical and natural history illustrations for a number of publications and books
Catherine Kellie
Kathy Pickles GM - Lives in Orkney and works a professional botanical artist. Kathy has exhibited with the RHS six times and been awarded an RHS Gold Medal on each occasion. She won her first Gold Medal in 1991. Her artwork is in the collections of The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew and Edinburgh, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh and the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
Vivienne Rew - based in Staffordshire. Her Exhibit is titled Metamorphosis - Life Cycle of Papaver Orientale. She got a Silver medal in 2008 with a painting of Gourds that was part of a group exhibit titled Spots and Stripes by The South West Society of Botanical Artists.
Shirley Slocock - Started to study botanical art in 2004 with Anne Marie Evans and Helen Allen. Exhibited at the Hunt in 2007 and has two paintings in the Hunt archive. Exhibited as an individual at the RHS in 2012 and was awarded a silver medal. She is a Fellow of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society and has paintings in their archive and also

USA

Denver School of Botanical Art & Illustration - a Botanical Art School that i've always admired for the range of their activities and their very active blog and Facebook Page. It's great to see one of the American organisations bringing the artwork of their alumni to the RHS Botanical Art Show.
Martha G Kemp GM - a member of the Northern Californian Botanical Art Society and the Broooklyn Florilegium. She specialises in the use of graphite pencil for botanical artwork. Her work has been widely exhibited, has received many awards and is in the permanent collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium, the Alisa and Isaac Sutton Collection and the Shirley Sherwood Collection. She has also previously exhibited at the RHS and won five Gold Medals

in addition Barbara Oozeerally GM - is organising a tribute memorial display for the plantsman John Gallagher who died last year.

Other Exhibitors

For information about the other exhibitors see yesterday's post - Who's exhibiting at RHS Botanical Art (London) 2017?

They include:

Botanical art societies
Botanical organisations
Providers of diploma courses in botanical art and illustration
Various arts and crafts organisations and individuals related to art associated with plants

RHS Botanical Art Shows - Reference

RHS Botanical Art Shows are juried and the process of applying and being selected takes some time. However this is one of two of the most prestigious botanical art shows in the world.

This website has two pages helpful to those wanting to exhibit at RHS Botanical Art Shows

EXHIBITIONS | UK | How to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Shows
EDUCATIONS | Tips and Techniques - contains a section on Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winning Artists - covering every aspect of participating in an RHS Botanical Art Show

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NEW PAGE: Hunt International Exhibitions of Botanical Art & Illustration

12/10/2016

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I have a NEW WEBSITE PAGE about the Hunt International Exhibitions of Botanical Art & Illustration which I've been working on for some time.

It lists:

all the exhibitions to date (1964-2016) - with the dates, number of artworks, number of participating artists and how many countries were represented
a commentary on the exhibition metrics
note about how to obtain an exhibition catalogue

PLUS

an alphabetical list of ALL the artists who have exhibited in a Hunt International Exhibition in the last 15 years BY COUNTRY (This is what took the time!) That's from the 10th (in 2001) to the 15th (in 2016).

What this means is that rather than listing the artists by exhibition, they are listed by where they live (or lived at the time of the exhibition - a few have since moved).

This means you can see which countries have done well in terms of artists having paintings or illustrations or fine art prints accepted for exhibitions in the Hunt in recent years

The top five countries in the 6 exhibitions held in the last 15 years are:

USA - 100 artists
UK (England) - 85 artists
Japan - 57 artists
Australia - 36 artists
Italy - 14 artists

Now does that list surprise you?. I guessed the first four places correctly and wasn't sure which would come fifth!

I'm going to be using the listing of artists who've exhibited at the Hunt along with the listings of RHS Gold Medal Winners as another key source for developing my lists of important contemporary botanical artists and illustrators by continent.

If you've not explored these as yet, I have pages on my website which list the important contemporary botanical artists and illustrators (with a short bio and a link to their website)

I certainly don't have everybody listed as yet who should be! I'm working my way around the world, adding me people in gradually over time. (I'm about to start a major update of the Japanese section).

This new list of people who have recently exhibited at the Hunt is going to help a lot!

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