NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

TOP TIPS from RHS Gold Medal Winners 2017

14/8/2018

When I interview the botanical artists who have just won an RHS Gold Medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show, I always ask them for tips for those aspiring to do the same.

In 2017 I was rewarded - more than I can say - by hearing from Mariko Ikeda who won the Best Exhibit prize at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017. She wanted to thank me profusely for everything I've written before as it really helped her with preparing her exhibit!

Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 (photo Katherine Tyrrell)

Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda - Gold Medal and Best Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017 (photo Katherine Tyrrell)

Then Kate Barling, another exhibitor, found me to thank me for the tip about how to mount the work - and I collected another tip from her which you'll find below!

So the bottom line is what goes around comes around.

You can benefit from the tips I've identified to date and...
...in future I might be asking you what's your top tip!

Note: Unfortunately last year I started this post but forgot finish it. But it's never too late to pass on a few more tips!
READ ON for my very belated post about the top tips from the RHS Gold Medallists in 2017 - which is now complete!

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RHS London Botanical Photography Show 2018 - Awards and Medal Winners

13/7/2018

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The names and exhibit titles of the medal winners and best portfolio award winner at the RHS London Botanical Photography Show 2018 are listed below.

You can see much better images of the portfolios of six images on the RHS website than you can in this post and I recommend any aspiring entrant to do so - PLUS do study the descriptions as well as the images.

Laurence Hill with his intensely botanical and extremely well presented exhibit of Fritillaria affinis and a discussion and demonstration of plant variability relative to the agreed taxonomic description of one species of a wild plant

Photographs at RHS Shows will be assessed for their botanical and horticultural content and for their photographic quality. Judges take account of the overall impression of an exhibit, including details of presentation such as mounting, labelling and framing.

I was struggling to find either botanical or horticultural content in some of the exhibits and I'm personally very much not in favour of Bronze medals being handed out simply for turning up and presenting an exhibit.

I'd very much recommend that ALL those entering work in this competition in future read up on the Guidelines for Botanical Photo Exhibitors which I also think the RHS could make a great deal more prominent on their website!! (see notes at end)

Best Portfolio Photography Exhibit

Polina Plotnikova - Dancing Flowers
I would normally place this exhibit as the feature at the top. However the amount of reflection generated by the exhibit meant that it was difficult to see in the hall and very difficult to photograph

"Dancing Flowers" by Polina Plotnikova

Gold Medals

"Botanical Prints: Where Art Meets Science" - Eleanor Coate

Nigel Chapman GM (2006, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014) - Abstract Images RHS Garden Wisley
Eleanor Coate - Botanical Prints: Where Art Meets Science
Laurence Hill (GM 2014, 2017) - Species Boundaries: Fritillaria affinis
Polina Plotnikova GM (2014, 2015, 2017) - Dancing Flowers

My favourite exhibit was the one by Laurence Hill - and not just because he'd taken on board my comments about exhibit notes at a previous exhibition! His exhibit displayed six precise and different "versions" of the same plant species - at life size - at different locations inland from the Pacific coast of the USA. The latter was indicated by a fine line drawing of the coast line (relative to Mount Hood in Oregon to Point Reyes in California) towards the bottom of 'plate'. Each exhibit was also identified in terms of the specific location and height where it was collected and by whom. The point of the exhibit was to demonstrate the extent of variability in the taxonomic description of the same species with a when found in the wild. He also tracked and documented the extent to which this gets reflected in the synonyms for the taxonomy of names over time - before everybody agrees it is in fact the same plant!

NOTE: It was very difficult to photograph some of the exhibits for this post. Exhibition requirements are that exhibits should be protected by NON-REFLECTIVE acetate sheets.

It was very noticeable that Laurence Hill, Nigel Chapmen and Jan Cassidy who have previously won Gold Medals and previously exhibited in the Horticultural Halls all chose to exhibit images with an unprotected matt surface to reduce the bounce from some extremely bright light overhead.

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RHS Botanical Art Show #3: Medals Awards and Feedback

26/6/2018

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This is the final post in my short series of posts about the RHS Botanical Art Assessment Process. Today's post covers:

how Judges decide the colour of a medal at an RHS Botanical Art Show
how the Best Exhibit and Best Painting in the show are determined
how feedback is provided

The three posts are

Seeking approval to exhibit (24 June)
The Judges and the Judging Process (25 June)
How the colour of the medal and additional awards are decided + Feedback (today's post)

What follows are:

my questions (in green) followed by responses from the RHS Picture Panel
odd comments from me (in italics)
images of RHS Gold Medal Winners who have also won either a Best Painting or Best Exhibit award.

Bridget Gillespie who won a Gold Medal for "Root Vegetables: Lifecycle" and Best Painting in Show 2017 for "Beetroot Beta vulgaris". Next month she's back with another exhibit!

How does the RHS scale standards and criteria
- so they know whether they are looking at different levels of 'performance' and what colour of medal they are looking at in terms of the particular and overall?

When judging, the Panel will look at each exhibit at least twice, sometimes three times, to ensure there is parity between the medals being awarded. There is a lot of discussion and each member votes on the medal to be awarded.

A Gold medal exhibit has to be outstanding in all areas and really have the ‘wow’ factor.
A Silver-Gilt medal is a very high award and still an exceptional achievement. In many cases a Silver-gilt will have only been missing a couple of elements that meant it was not quite a Gold.
The Silver medal will usually have numerous areas for improvement.
A Bronze medal is rarely awarded as the standard is generally so high, but it may be awarded if the artist has really only achieved one or two elements from the criteria.

NOTE (my comment): You will recall from my post RHS Botanical Art Show #1 Approval to Submit that the Picture Panel are expecting those approved to exhibit to be capable of achieving a Silver Medal. Thus an artist achieving a Bronze Medal has either misunderstood what was required or fallen short of expectations in a significant way.

Julie Nettleton (Australia) with her "Best Painting in Show 2016" titled "Xanthorrhoea and marsupial mouse". She won her Gold Medal for "Xanthorroea (Grass Trees)"

Which are "the really important bits" of the criteria?

It is all important and contributes to make the RHS shows unique.

High quality artistic skill must be coupled with botanical and horticultural understanding, correct plant names and well-presented pictures.

If any one of these elements is compromised, it lets down the whole exhibit.

For our audience, botanical art is another way of appreciating and understanding plants, therefore the information that is presented should be as accurate as possible, both visually and in written form.

The best botanical artists serve as advocates for the art form as well as for the plants they paint.

Mariko Ikeda (Japan - Tochigi) won Best Exhibit in Show 2017 with her six watercolour paintings of Pandanus (screwpine) on vellum. Her watercolour paintings were mounted on a board (unframed and unmatted) and a clear perspex sheet was fixed in front of each

The crowds around the Best Exhibit 2017 of Pandanus by Mariko Ikeda (Japan)

In reaching decisions about "Best Painting" and "Best Exhibit" what is "the best"? Can it be described?

Both of these categories are selected from the exhibits that won a Gold medal.

They are ‘show specific’ and so mean the exhibits are judged comparative to those around them, as distinct from the Gold medal that serves as an absolute standard.
The Best Exhibit is given to the one that the judges agree was outstanding in all areas,
The Best Painting is for the individual painting that stands out as exemplary.
These are voted on as the last thing the judges look at.

What happens if somebody produces an outstanding exhibit in all but one respect?

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BISCOT 2017 at the RBGE

10/6/2017

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BISCOT 2017 Preview evening at John Hope Gateway, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The 2017 BISCOT Exhibition has now moved to the John Hope Gateway Building at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinbugh and is on display there until 22nd of June.

Below you can see a photo of Fran Thomas with the Mary Mendum Medal awarded for the Best Exhibit - of her watercolour paintings (behind her) of "Native plants of the coasts and islands of the Firth of Forth" - which also won a Gold Medal.

Fran Thomas with the Mary Mendum Medal for Best Exhibit

Below you can see a slideshow of the exhibits winning Gold and Silver Gilt for Billy Showell, Fran Thomas, Jenny Haslimeier (New Zealand) and Lyn Campbell.

Read more about the artists in my previous post Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT) 2017 - Medal Winners

Note: all pics copyright the artists - please do not copy. I've got permission from BISCOT to reproduce them in this blog post

PUT YOUR CURSOR TOP LEFT OF THE PIC BELOW TO GET THE START ARROW

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Pandora Sellars - an appreciation of a great botanical artist

16/5/2017

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This is an appreciation of the life of Pandora Sellars and contains many contributions by way of 'thank you' for the life of a great botanical artist

The celebrated botanical artist Pandora Sellars GM died on 9th May 2017, age 80. She is perhaps best known by many for two iconic paintings which contributed to the revival of botanical art in the UK

"Laelia tenebrosa et al" (see below) was the first botanical painting ever bought by Shirley Sherwood. It is #1 in what is now the largest contemporary collection of botanical art in the world. It triggered her interest in botanical art and collecting more paintings...
Pandora's "Blue Water Lily Nymphaea nouchali var. caerulea" (see further below) triggered an interest in botanical art across the globe and many artists date their involvement in botanical art to seeing that image.

However during her lifetime she contributed to botanical art in a much more significant way and left a long lasting impression on both botanical monographs and the art of botanical painting and very many botanical artists.

Indeed the lives and careers of many leading botanical artists and teachers in the UK, Canada, USA, Japan and Australia owe much to “the best leaf painter ever”.

This kindly and introverted artist, with the quite remarkable blue eyes and a keen sense of humour, also enjoyed lasting relationships with botanists, archivists and botanical illustrators at Kew Gardens - and across the world.

Read on to find out why... (click link bottom right)

Laelia tenebrosa, Philodendron hybrid, Calatheaomata, Philodendron leichthnii, Polypodiaeceae (1989) watercolour painting signed Pandora Sellars (Shirley Sherwood Collection. First botanical painting acquired by Shirley Sherwood - at Kew Gardens Gallery 1990)

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Interview with Denver Botanic Garden SBAI - RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallist 2017

12/3/2017

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The School of Botanical Art and Illustration (SBAI) at Denver Botanic Garden won an RHS Gold Medal for their exhibit of Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi at Altitude at the 2017 RHS London Botanical Art Show at the end of February

It's really difficult to win an RHS Gold Medal.

It's even more difficult if you are trying to win as a group - where every single artist has to achieve the GM standard. That's because Gold Medals are awarded on the basis of the weakest image in the portfolio and you can't afford to have any one artist not meet the mark.

That's by way of a preamble to explain why what the School of Botanical Illustration achieved was very significant.

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski and the lower altitude half of the Rocky Mountains exhibit

Each of the images had a very detailed label and explanation about the plant including:

complete botanical name
altitude it was collected at
background to the name
highlights of important botanical aspects
explanation about its economic and cultural significance in the area

The images were then ordered (left to right) by elevation.

You can find/see:

a dedicated blog about the exhibit online - Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude. The preamble in the blog post provides the rationale behind the exhibit and choice of plants.

a Facebook album of the images contributed to the SBAI exhibit by the nine artist instructors at SBAI
a Facebook album of photos of the RHS Show taken by Mervi

Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude Exhibit - five plates from higher altitude levels.

The exhibit was made up of nine drawings and paintings by the core of teachers who regularly provide botanical art and illustration instruction at the Denver Botanic Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration and two alumni They are:

Plate 1 Yucca harrimaniae (watercolour and graphite) by Constance Sayas
Plate 2: Mirabilis multiflora (watercolour pencil) by Renee Jorgensen
Plate 3: Castilleja integra (watercolour pencil and graphite) by Charlotte Ricker
Plate 4: Ericameria nauseosa (pen and ink) by Libby Kyer
Plate 5: Colorado mushrooms (pen and ink) by Marjorie Leggitt
Plate 6: Lupinus argenteus (coloured pencil) by Susan Rubin
Plate 7: Frasera speciosa (coloured pencil on Mylar )by Anne Reiser
Plate 8: Aquilegia caerulea (egg tempera) by Laurence Pierson
Plate 9: Four tundra plants (ink, brush and quill) by Susan DiMarchi
Plate 10: Cirsium scopulorum (graphite and coloured pencil) by Randall Raak

Exhibit Listing of Faculty Contributors

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, the Manager of SBAI brought the exhibition to London and talked to me about what's involved in creating a group exhibit.

The aim of the exhibition was to show the quality of the School and the calibre of its instructors. The best way to do that was to go to somewhere completely neutral and see what they thought - and where better than the RHS Botanical Art Show!

The feedback she got about the exhibit was firstly that it was very rare to have a Gold Medal winning exhibit by a group. (I know I've seen a number which have done well - but fallen short of a Gold Medal).

In terms of queries from the public, everybody was very interested in the variety of media used eg the frosted mylar used for coloured pencil which gives the impression of vellum.

What it takes to produce a good group exhibit

We talked about what Mervi found essential to getting the exhibit together at a standard which made it possible for them to win Gold.

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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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