NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Bryan Poole (1953-2022)

29/12/2022

Bryan Poole has died age 69. He was one of those very rare people in the world of botanical art - a very fine printmaker and a renowned creator of contemporary aquatint etchings featuring botanical plants. He was a perennial and popular exhibitor of his prints at the RHS Chelsea Show.

Below you can find an appreciation of his timeline and records of his background, career development, techniques used to produce his fine art prints, exhibitions, awards, commissions and collections.

My photo of Bryan Poole with his aquatint etching of "Cynara cardunculus - Cardoon" at a Private View at the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in Chelsea (21 April 2015)

Biography

Born in New Zealand on 2nd December 1953, he passed away on 19th December 2022, just after his 69th birthday, at his London home after a long battle with cancer. (See Death Notice at the end of this post)

It's been announced that a Memorial Service is planned to celebrate his life and achievements.

"Bryan Poole follows in a long line of fine botanical illustrators. Unusually, he has the gift to be able to combine traditional methods of illustration and reproduction with a very modern approach to botanical art and design. His appealing and distinctive work adds hugely to the wide range of talent found amongst botanical artists today."
Dr Christopher Grey-Wilson

Despite his New Zealand heritage, after graduating in Politics and Economics at the University of Otago and with absolutely no training in art, Bryan came to London in the early 1980s and became a freelance botanical illustrator and printmaker in 1981. Latterly he lived in Hackney in East London where he had his print studio in a converted air raid shelter

Bryan Poole in his studio

When he came to London, he trained and worked (1980-1986) in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, under Dr Christopher Grey-Wilson, former editor of The Kew Magazine.

Subsequently he worked on commissions with a number of different people and bodies - including Dr John Kress, a botanist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington.

He produced his contemporary botanical aquatint etchings using copperplates and the painstaking and meticulous intaglio ("in the cut") technique developed in Europe in the 16th century and "spit bite" aquatint techniques (see Techniques below for an explanation of how he did this).

"I lived my life, independently, overseas and sang my own song . . . It is not that I've neglected New Zealand in any shape, way or form but it is just that I can make a living in London. I could never have done international work, gone to Dominican Republic, met (Smithsonian botanist and curator) John Kress, gone to Nepal . . . I am in the centre of things in London."
Botanical artist Bryan Poole home for Central Otago exhibition

Exhibitions

My first meeting with Bryan Poole - who was exhibiting his aquatint etchings at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2008

Bryan was probably best known to most people as a perennial exhibitor of his fine art botanical prints on a stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. It's where I first met him - and became a big fan of his work.

An article by Ursula Buchan (Daily Telegraph 21 May 2008) identifies the print which can be seen on the bottom right of my photograph of him above.

Poole always shows his hand-coloured etchings at Chelsea and this year he has two pictures on display that are likely to cause something of a sensation. Each portrays the flower of a tropical heliconia species - just visible inside the enormous, gaudy, orange-red bracts - and the gorgeous purple-throated carib hummingbird (Eulampsis jugularis ). In one, the male bird is visiting Heliconia caribaea, in the other the female is buzzing round H. bihai. These pictures tell an amazing tale of co-evolution - or what scientists call "ecological causation of sexual dimorphism and co-adaptation
from Chelsea Flower Show 2008: A cut above the competition by Ursula Buchan, Daily Telegraph (21 May 2008)

Other achievements included

He had a one person exhibition of his work at the Herbarium Library at Kew in 2000
He exhibited in the 10th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (28th October 2001 - 28th February 2002) at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh.
He received a prestigious Gold Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in 2007
He was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 2002 and promoted to Fellow in 2006.

He was also a regular exhibitor at specific Print Fairs and Shows in London.

Recently Bryan exhibited his botanical etchings

at Jonathan Cooper Gallery in 2015 - see the Catalogue of Work from Botanical Artists in the Collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE
in Central Otago in 2016 - See Botanical artist Bryan Poole home for Central Otago exhibition
as part of Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art (2019-20) the exhibition at Kew Gardens to celebrate the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Contemporary Botanical Art and 30 years of collecting 1,000+ artworks from all over the world - see Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #6: Australasian Artists
various other exhibitions of the Shirley Sherwood Collection at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens (e.g. see Curtain Call for "Exotica" at Kew - list of art and artists exhibited in 2019)
a retrospective exhibition at the London Sketch Club - in association with a book about his work

In recent years, he and I both had problems with walking and standing. When meeting at Private Views at Kew, we used to shuffle around the exhibition using our walking sticks and often laid claim to the benches and sat next to one another during the speeches at the PVs.

I will miss him and his work. It was exceptional.

Bryan Poole at the Otago Exhibition in 2016

Technique

Poole's technique was described in detail in The Telegraph article in 2008. Although Bryan describes 'The Etching Process' on his website, I'm reproducing it below for posterity as it appears to be the only place where his approach to his work has ever been described in such detail.

Essentially it's the same process used by the famous botanical artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840) when he created fine art prints from his watercolours.

Poole is also notable for making a number of artworks using a landscape format - in order to capture the growth habit of a plant.

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Audrey Eagle (1925 - 2022)

5/12/2022

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Dr Audrey Eagle CNZM has died - just after her 97th birthday on 27th November 2022. She is particularly notable for her contribution to recording and illustrating the botany of New Zealand trees ad shrubs as well as contributing to conservation and protection of plants and natural history in New Zealand.

Audrey Eagle is the author and botanical illustrator of the two volume Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand which led to three significant awards

1985: awarded the Loder Cup - awarded to awarded to individuals and/or groups who have made significant contributions to plant conservation work in New Zealand.
2001: Awarded a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to botanical art in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
2007: won the the prestigious Montana Medal for Non-Fiction

Below is a timeline of her life which records her background, achievements and awards.

Audrey Eagle (courtesy of Royal Society of New Zealand)

LODER CUP AWARD 1985 CITATION
She devoted herself to the descriptive painting of native plants. Her ambition was to paint every known native tree and shrub in such detail that her drawings might make identification easier, and serve as a reference for those engaged professionally in forestry, parks and reserves administration, botany, and botanical research. She painted many rare species, some still unnamed and only recently discovered.

In 1975 Audrey Eagle published her first volume of Eagle's Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand, which included 228 coloured botanical illustrations. In 1982 her second volume, with 405 paintings of woody stemmed flora, endowed future generations with an accurate pictorial record of New Zealand trees and shrubs, complete with flowers, fruits and seeds capsules. These works represent twenty years of painstaking care and accurate artistry in the search for, recording and correct identification of specimens.

Mrs Eagle was a member of the Nature Conservation Council from 1977. She took a keen and active interest in its work, particularly in the conservation of indigenous flora. She has given expert assistance to forest rangers and led many botanical, conservation and youth groups on field trips, freely sharing her expertise. Her fine native garden in Ngaruawahia was a show case for native plants suitable for the home garden. Here she also raised and donated rooted cuttings and seedlings of rare species.
Loder Cup: List of all winners since 1929

Timeline

Audrey Eagle is another who follows in the long tradition of being a very long lived scientific botanical illustrator with an interesting and unusual background!

1925: born Audrey Lily Brodey[2] on 30 October 1925 in Timaru, New Zealand, to English parents
1933: moved to England
1949: returned to New Zealand with her husband.
2022: peacefully passed away at Braeside Hospital, Birchleigh on 27th November.

EDUCATION

1936-1943: attended Horsham High School for Girls, Fulham County Secondary School for Girls (evacuated), and Banbury County School
1944: studied engineering drafting at the Government Training Centre in Slough;
1945-46: attended part-time the School of Technology, Oxford
1947: Dartford County Technical College.
1947: gained an Ordinary National Certificate in electrical engineering (two credits in electrical papers and distinction in mathematics).
1948-49: Studied at Banbury School of Art

FAMILY

1948: married Harold William Eagle. They had two children and three grandchildren.
1982: moved to New Plymouth
1996: moved to Macandrew Bay, Dunedin
After living in Ngāruawāhia for many years, where Harold Eagle was the town clerk, the Eagles moved to New Plymouth in about 1982.[3][5] Harold died there in 1988, and in 1996 Eagle moved to Dunedin, residing at Macandrew Bay.[3][7] Eagle died in Mosgiel on 27 November 2022, at the age of 97.[8]

WORK

1944-48: engineering draughtswoman at the Baldwin Instrument Company, Dartford, Kent.
1949 to 1954: worked in the drafting office at the State Hydro Electricity Department in Hamilton, New Zealand

Audrey's interest in nature commenced as a child and she recalls her childhood in Wroxton (Oxfordshire), "...every spare moment was spent exploring the countryside on bicycle and on foot. Hours were spent in woods, on hillsides and by streams, observing plants, birds and other details of the countryside. It was during this time that she began to paint plants, though she had been keen on drawing and painting from the age of about five"
Anonymous 1986: Profile - Mrs Audrey Eagle. Nature Conservation Council Newsletter No.61: 4.

BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATION

1949: met Athol Ceadric Albin Caldwell, her mentor in relation to New Zealand plants. He was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable amateur botanist as well as being the District Electrical Engineer of the State Hydro-Electricity Department in Hamilton where she was working!
1952: Began painting native New Zealand plants

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Nigel Pickering GM (1957 - 2021)

30/1/2021

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I met Dr. Nigel Pickering at the Private View of the last RHS Botanical Art Show in July 2019 and was very impressed with his exhibit. I came back the next morning and much as I had expected his exhibit - it had been awarded a Gold Medal

Dr Nigel John Pickering with his RHS Exhibit Treasures of the Richtersveld. This drawing is of a Pachypodium namaquanum, the iconic plant of the Richtersveld

Nigel John Pickering came to botanical illustration late in life. He was a qualified doctor who had worked as a General Practitioner, latterly at the of Malmesbury Primary Care Centre. On retirement he studied botanical illustration with Julia Trickey and subsequently joined the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and Cirencester Botanical Artists.

I met Nigel when he showed for the first time at the RHS Botanical Flower Show in July 2019. I found out that he was very interested interested in botany, plants and conservation particularly in rare and unusual plants 'living on the edge'. (plants of mountains and desert regions). He'd travelled to South Africa for his exhibit of Treasures of the Richtersveld (in graphite and watercolour - in the tradition of Auriol Batten). The exhibit was both very unusual and very striking. He was awarded a well deserved RHS Gold Medal. I had every expectation he's be back with another exhibit as he had very obviously enjoyed the show and I was certainly looking forward to seeing his next exhibit.

He died on 14th January 2021 at home.

REFERENCE:

Gold Medal Succulent Art | British Cactus and Succulent Society - a thread by a member who was very impressed by the exhibit - it includes images of Nigel's work.

Treasures of the Richtersveld - RHS Gold Medal winning exhibit by Dr Nigel Pickering

The end of the show and time to pack up...

This is my third obituary for a botanical artist in the last two months - all relating to people who had been ill for some time - and two relate to artists who exhibited at that 2019 RHS Show.....

At this time of a pandemic, we must always remember that any death for any reason is always so very sad for those who are family and friends of the deceased. I send my condolences to Nigel's family and friends. By all accounts, he was somebody who was very much liked and appreciated by all those who knew him.

The funeral service is private and will be followed by a Memorial Service. Donations welcome for The Brain Tumour Charity or Dorothy House Hospice (see Death Notice)

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Jenny Brasier (1936 - 2020)

6/1/2021

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It's been announced that Jenny Brasier GM passed away at the end of December 2020.

Her achievements in the botanical art world included:

Five Gold Medals (1982, 1988 1989, 1994, 2000) from the Royal Horticultural Society
The Linnean Society gave her the Jill Smythies Award in 2002
Her artwork is included in the collections of the Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Shirley Sherwood Collection
She was one of two contemporary botanical artists whose work was included in the 'Picturing Plants' Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1995.
Her small paintings on vellum appeared in a number of exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery.
She exhibited internationally as well as in the UK - including at the Smithsonian Museum and the Hunt Institute in the USA
Jenny was one of the botanical artist who contributed to the Highgrove Florilegium for the 60th Birthday of HRH Prince of Wales
Past Chair of the Eden Florilegium Society
Founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK.

Cyclamen intaminatum by Jenny Brasier (Cyclamen intaminatum) Collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum

A study by Jenny Braiser in the collection of the V&A Museum.
"This is a preparatory study for an illustration showing different examples of the cyclamen species painted for publication in the Cyclamen Society Journal. Having produced several working drawings towards the finished plate, the artist decided to record this process by transferring the original work relating to the colour forms of one species--the Cyclamen intaminatum--to a single sheet."
Study Room resource: Botanical illustration | V&A

Jenny Brasier was born on 9th August 1936 in Alvechurch, England and died on 28th December 2020 in East Sussex.

She had no formal training in botanical art. However no less a person than Wilfrid Blunt encouraged her to start painting plants and flowers in her later years and became known for her small jewel like watercolour paintings on vellum.

Her artwork was published in The Art of Botanical Illustration' by Wilfrid Blunt and William Stearn (1994 version):

her pencil drawing of a leaf of Hosta tardiflora faces the Introduction to the 1994 edition and
her small watercolours on vellum of a leaf and an acorn appear below the dedication.
her painting of a Tulip Tree can be found on page 298

"Jenny Brasier is not a professional artist but was encouraged by Wilfrid Blunt and John Whitehead to draw and paint plants (Colour Plate 112); she excels at the portrayal of leaves (see the preliminary pages of this book)."
The Art of Botanical Illustration - page 300

In addition she was well known for her horticultural endeavours and she illustrated Hosta: the flowering foliage plant by Diana Grenfell (1990).

Exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens include:

'British Artists in Shirley Sherwood Collection' (2017/18)
Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art (2019/20) - see Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #1: British Artists

"Jenny Brasier’s work is highly versatile and very beautiful with some of her brilliant, jewel-like watercolours on vellum having the intense quality of medieval illuminated manuscripts."
Shirley Sherwood

Cyclamen pseudibericum 1993 by Jenny Brasier - on a sheet of Rory McEwen's Vellum - exhibited at the Modern Masterpieces exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew in 2019

I've moved my summary about Jenny Brasier from the Botanical Artists in the UK page to the 20th and 21st Century Artists page in the History Section.

NOTE: A Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Jenny Brasier will be held in Cornwall later in the year "when life will hopefully be a little more normal...."

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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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Rosane Quintella (1959 - 2020)

13/9/2020

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Brazilian botanical illustrator and teacher Rosane Quintella passed away on Friday 11th September age 61.

Rosane Quintella in 2018 at the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art in Brazil.

Rosanne was born on 25th February 1959 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Her studies included:

Graduated in Plastic Arts at Escola de Música e Belas Artes do Paraná (the School of Music and Fine Arts of Paraná) - EMBAP, 1982.
Bachelor and Degree in Biology from Biologia PUCPR (the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná - PUC), 1992.
Botanical Illustration Course at the Illustration Center of Paraná - CIBP

In 2005, she travelled to London to became the 17th Margaret Mee Fellow in Botanical Illustration at Kew Gardens in 2005. (see her below with some of her fellow "Fellows")

One of her works completed in 2005 forms part of the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

Rosane Quintella front second from left - with her fellow Margaret Mee Scholars in in Curitiba, Brazil: Back row: Maria Alice Rezende, Alessandro Cândido, Gustavo Marigo, Marcos A. Silva-Ferraz, and Paulo Ormindo. Front Row: Carol de Bassi, Rosane Quintella, Diana Carneiro and Fatima Zagonel

When she returned to Brazil she became a permanent member of the teaching staff at Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná (CIBD) and taught botanical illustration there for the next 14 years - and was apparently much loved by her students and peers.

She also continued to complete her own scientific botanical illustration works in ink and watercolour and was affiliated to UNIC - National Union of Scientific Illustrators.

Rosanne passed away on Friday 11th September 2020. There are tributes to her on:

her Facebook account https://www.facebook.com/rosane.quintella.7 - I'm very sure any teacher would be proud to read the comments left
the Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná website is also carrying a tribute to Rosane (see below)

O Centro de Ilustração Botânica do Paraná está de luto.
Uma grande amiga nos deixou hoje pela manhã.
Querida Rosane, que falta vamos sentir daquela sua risada contagiante!
Um caminho de muita luz é o que nós, seus amigos, desejamos pra você.
Vá em paz, Flor do Dia!

Rosane Quintella (1959 - 2020)

The Paraná Botanical Illustration Center is in mourning.
A great friend left us this morning.
Dear Rosane, we will miss that contagious laugh from you!
A path with lots of light is what we, your friends, wish for you.
Go in peace, Flower of the Day!

Note: Photographs of Rosanne Quintella:

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Lizzie Sanders (1950 - 2020)

29/7/2020

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It has been announced that the renowned botanical artist and illustrator Lizzie Sanders GM passed away last week, age 70.

Lizzie Sanders in her studio

Born in London on 4 January 1950, she had lived in Edinburgh since 1983 - near to the Botanic Garden where she also taught botanical illustration to very many students. Anne Carlaw, the Chairperson of the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists announced her death via an email to members today.

In it she described Lizzie and her work as both an artist and as a teacher.

"many of us were fortunate to have been taught by Lizzie at the Botanics and even more of you will have been familiar with her stunning work.

Lizzy was the doyenne of dry brush work. To watch her in action was a joy, to try and replicate her technique took considerable practice, time and a shed load of patience. "

It seemed appropriate to use as an example of her stunning botanical artwork, her painting of Sutherland Kale - produced for Flora Scotia and published - as a feature image - in Scottish Plant Lore

Sutherland Kale © Lizzie Sanders - painted for Flora Scotia in 2018 and featured in the introduction to the Catalogue "Scottish Plant Lore"

Favourites are always bold, structural plants which themselves make a grand statement and which lead to careful, sometimes unconventional, composition.
from her website

Lizzie Sanders Timeline

1950: Lizzie Sanders was born in London on 4 January 1950.
1967-71: Lizzie studied for a Diploma in Art, Graphic Design and Typography at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee
1981-82: She left Scotland to study Strategic Advertising and Television Production at the Visual Arts School in New York
She then pursued a career in Design and spent many years working as a Designer for advertising companies in Italy (1975-80) and as an Art Director in New York (1981-1982).
1983 - she finally returned to Scotland and spent seven years as an Art Director or Design Director at two companies in Edinburgh.
1988: awarded Scottish Designer of the Year.
1990-2000 - she was a Founding Partner of a firm of Design Consultants
1990: Lizzie was a keen gardener, she took some classes in botanical illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh between 1991 and 1996. She also took short courses with Annie Farrer (Kew); Pauline Dean (RHS Wisley) and Claire Dalby (Cambridge Botanic Garden). She never looked back, eventually giving up her design career to concentrate on botanical illustration.
As well as creating impressive botanical illustrations she also started teaching art students about how to improve their art and design
She lived in Edinburgh, near the Royal Botanic Gardens, where she found many of the natural specimens she painted
She died in July 2020.

Artwork by Lizzie Sanders

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