NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

List of artists exhibited in "Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit" at Kew

9/3/2018

This post puts on record all those artists who contributed to Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit at the The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens before it ends on Sunday March 11th 2018.

The exhibition is open this weekend 10am to 5pm (last admission 4.45pm). It includes artwork by botanical artists and illustrators from Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA.

Left: Custard Apple by Álvaro Xavier Núñez; next Pomegranates by Ann Schweizer; Right: two paintings of the Ivy Gourd and Bitter Gourd by Phansakdi Chakkaphak

Like many of the smaller exhibitions in the side corridors of the gallery Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit does not have a catalogue and there is also no list of artists and artworks available at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery.

However I've been given a set of the labels used for the exhibition and was able to discus the plants in the exhibition with Shirley Sherwood.

This was supposed to have been written in November last year - and here we are at the last weekend! Which will teach me not to mistake uploading images of the artists with their paintings to Facebook after the Private View with the rather longer(!) task of sorting out this type of blog post.

Explanation of the exhibition - and how dispersal occurs via wind, water, animals and explosive mechanisms

How this list of artists in the exhibition works

I did think of ordering works by methods of dispersion but that would have got very repetitive in terms of artists names!

So the way it works is like this

The list is alphabetical based on (1) the country they come from and (2) the surname of the artist.
A link to their website (if they have one) is embedded in their name. Alternatively another page has been linked to if this tells you about an artist who doesn't have a website.
an asterisk * after their name indicates they are included in my current summary of artists for the country they live in - where you can read more about them. If the artist is deceased they will be listed in 20th century Botanical Artists in the history section. Those without an asterisk will be added soon!
The name is followed by basic bio data which indicates where they were born and live
This is then followed by the title of the work. The common vernacular name is very often followed by the correct latin name in italics, (for more about naming plants see Plant Names and Botanical Latin in the Botany section on this website)
Media: All paintings are watercolour on paper unless otherwise stated.
Artwork which has been published in one of Dr Sherwood's books includes the title of the book and page number (in green) after the title
Those who have more than one artwork in the exhibition have the titles of the works bullet pointed below their names.

Some of the plants have interesting stories or names and these are also highlighted.

Names of the Artists and Titles of the Artworks

Australia

Second from left is the Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense painting by Betty Hinton

Betty Hinton b.1935 Gin Gin, Queensland
Betty has painted a group of 'plant dinosaurs' from the tropical forest reserve at Daintree, north of Cairns

Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense - gouache and watercolour on paper A Passion for Plants, pg 107 AND The Art of Plant Evolution page 74 and 75

This very ancient plant has huge and heavy seeds. It was first discovered in the nineteenth century and then "lost" again as land was cleared. The fruit is classed as very poisonous by the Aborigines. If eaten by cattle they go mad. The tree is 15 metres tall and the flowers can only be retrieved by somebody climbing the tree to the top to cut off flowering branches - which is what happened in relation to this painting.

Mali Moir GM b.1960

Ovuliferous Scale Bunya Pine Nut Araucaria bidwillii 2014 Watercolour on deer vellum

Jenny Phillips GM b.1949

Corymbia ficifolia 1998 Watercolour on vellum
Sausage Tree Kigelia africana 1999

Brazil

Far Left: Seed Pod, Cardiocrinum giganteum by Robert McNeill. Far right: Two works by by Alvaro E. X. Nunes - Cybistax antisyphilitica and Zeyheria montana

Álvaro Xavier Núñez b.1945 Annapolis, Brazil
One the best known of the contemporary Brazilian botanical artists, Álvaro specialises in painting plants from all the different ecosystems within Brazil - and has seven paintings in the exhibition.

Custard Apple Annona crassiflora 2003 The Art of Plant Evolution page 72 and 73
Cybistax antisyphilitica 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 134 It's a popular Brazilian tonic in the treatment of syphilis and in yaws and its leaves are used to dye cloth blue.
Kapok Tree Ceiba speciosa 2003 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 126
Dioclea violacea 2009 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 135
Fruits of Savannah A Passion for Plants page 156 This might be described as a symphony in browns, the painting displays exquisite tonal control.
"Monkey Pot" Lecythis pisonis This plant is a tropical tree in the Brazil nut family and the fruit has a tight fitting lid which burst open when ready. The common name comes from the fact Monkeys put their hand into to retrieve the nuts. Adults learn that they need to be sparing in how many they take out at one time.
Zeyheria montana 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 132

Selected New Zealand artists for ‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora’ (Botanical Art Worldwide #3)

17/12/2017

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Botanical Art Worldwide 2018 Exhibition in New Zealand

‘Ngāi Tipu Taketake - Indigenous Flora’ is New Zealand’s contribution to the Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition in 2018. This post is about the 36 botanical artists and the 40 botanical paintings, fine art prints and illustrations selected for the exhibition - from the 96 submissions from 53 artists that were submitted.

The exhibition in New Zealand will open at Auckland Botanic Gardens, 102 Hill Road, Manurewa, Auckland, 2105 on March 30th 2018.

After it closes on 1st July 2018, it will then tour around the country for the rest of the year including the

The exhibition in New Zealand has been organised by the Friends of Auckland Botanical Gardens and Botanical Art Society of New Zealand, Inc. - with Lesley Alexander Smith, Sandra Morris and Liz Powell as the main organisers of the NZ exhibition. I'd like to thank Jenny Haslimeier for helping me to put this post together.

Entrance to the Auckland Botanic Garden

Selected Artists

Entries to the exhibition have been juried by a team consisting of

Sri Benham (botanical artist),
Dr. Ross Ferguson (Horticultural Scientist and Botanical Art Collector), and
Rebecca Stanley.

Jurors assessed submissions for botanical accuracy, as well as composition and technique.

Below you can find the names and profiles of the botanical artists whose work has been selected for the exhibition. Also included are images of some of the selected artworks - and there are some real stunners!

Please note that some artists have 2 artworks accepted.

The list below comprises:

image of the artwork (if available) - these include watercolour paintings, illustrations in pencil and pen and ink and different types of fine art prints
Name of Selected Artists - alphabetical by surname (with a link to their website or social media sites embedded if available)
followed by the name of the plant - Genus and species then Common name and/or Maori names/s
brief profile of the artist (if available)

Suzy Abbott
- Phormium tenax, New Zealand Flax, ‘Harakeke’, ‘Kōrari’
Suzy Abbott has been an active member of the Botanical Art Society of New Zealand (BASNZ) for 10 years, exhibiting annually. Her painting New Zealand Flax Phormium Tenax was one of the works in the 2014 Canterbury Plains Florilegium exhibition and was acquired by the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

Phormium tenax, New Zealand Flax, ‘Harakeke’, ‘Kōrari’ by Suzy Abbott

Phormium tenax, New Zealand Flax, ‘Harakeke’, ‘Kōrari’ (watercolour on paper) Copyright Suzy Abbott

Lesley Alexander Smith (Facebook | Instagram)
- Agathis australis, ‘Kauri’
Lesley is a botanical artist living in Auckland. Originally from the UK, she studied Scientific Illustration (BA Hons 1st class) at Middlesex Polytechnic and worked as a medical illustrator before moving to New Zealand with her Kiwi husband and 3 young children in 2003. She completed a Diploma in Botanical Art through the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA), earning a Distinction in 2015. Painting plants in watercolour, graphite and ink are her passions. Lesley currently runs botanical illustration workshops at Kumeu Art Centre, Auckland.

Agathis australis, ‘Kauri’ (watercolour on vellum) copyright: Lesley Alexander

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