NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Nigel Pickering GM (1957 - 2021)

30/1/2021

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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James Sherwood (1933-2020)

19/5/2020

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Other people will be writing about the amazing business career of James Sherwood who passed away peacefully last night.

I want instead to pay tribute to the man who supported his wife, Shirley Sherwood in her interest in and passion for botanical art - and who, with his family's support, gave us the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.

Without the support of James Sherwood, we might not have had:

the patronage and support for the very many botanical artists around the world whose artwork is now part of The Shirley Sherwood Collection
the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens - which opened in April 2008
numerous fabulous exhibitions of botanical art - from all over the world - in the gallery as a result
the renaissance of botanical art around the world. That renaissance was greatly accelerated and promoted through the help and support offered by the Sherwood family.

The last time I saw him - in late November at the opening of Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at Kew - I made a point of thanking him for everything he had done to support botanical art. He seemed somewhat surprised at the time - but I emphasised that I knew that his support had been absolutely vital to what has been achieved in the last 30 years.

James Sherwood attended all the Private Views for exhibitions of botanical art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art - this is the one for the British Artists in the Collection in 2017

I learned of his passing on the Facebook Page dedicated to the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

We're so sad to say that Shirley's husband James B. Sherwood passed away peacefully last night. He'd been in hospital for the past few months after a major operation and we hoped he'd pull through but it was all just too much of a fight, even for someone as mighty as Jim.

You might have known him as the founder of shipping empire Sea Containers. Or the man who brought the Orient Express train back to life and built an entire luxury hotel brand around it. Or perhaps the consummate entrepreneur who always had projects in the pipeline. We just knew him as Jim - always on the move with a razor-sharp mind, a passion for Bridge, a loyal group of friends and colleagues all over the world and a family who loved and admired him.

James Blair Sherwood was an American who was based in Britain. He was

the founder of Belmond Ltd. (formerly Orient-Express Hotels Ltd) and
the founder and former president and CEO of Sea Containers Ltd.

Jim understood the passion of the true collector. He liked to collect classic trains and luxury hotels while Shirley preferred collecting botanical art.

However, many of the stories I have heard Shirley tell of how she found an artist or acquired a painting arose because of her travels with Jim to different parts of the world while he collected more hotels and oversaw those already in the portfolio. He went about his business while she found about the botanical artists in the area and met them and saw their art.

I'm very sure the Orient-Express Hotels company he founded and developed was one of the main reasons why the Shirley Sherwood Collection of Botanical Art is now a truly great international art collection which includes so much art (1000+ artworks) from over 300 botanical artists from 36 countries around the world.

This is a family legacy - it was a joint effort.

James Sherwood (with stick) in discussion with Bryan Poole a fine art printmaker of botanical art - at the Private View for British Botanical Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

James Sherwood was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1933 and grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. He studied at Yale University and earned a degree in economics in 1955, before starting his career in marine transport, trains and hotels and founding and running two major businesses. He has also been

a Trustee of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation;
a Member of the Executive Committee of the Advisory Board of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection;
Vice President of the Transport Trust;
a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Museum of Modern Art in Oxford, England;
a Member of the Board of Save Venice, Inc.;
a Member of the International Council of Yale University;
a Trustee of the World Monuments Fund in Britain; and
a Trustee of Oxford Philomusica.

In 1994, James was made the 15th honorary citizen of Venice since the founding of the Italian Republic in 1867, in recognition of his support of the arts and culture of Venice.

REFERENCE:

James Sherwood interview: the man who relaunched the Orient-Express | The Telegraph
Belmond’s founder deserves his place in its history | The Financial Times
James Sherwood talks trains, hotels, ships, and true luxury | Octavian Report
James Sherwood | The British Travel and Hospitality Hall of Fame

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RIP Hazel Morris (1945 - 2020)

31/1/2020

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Hazel Morris passed away peacefully yesterday morning. This is a post which aims to remember her - with words from her SSBA colleagues and friends and Hazel herself plus my thanks for the help she gave me.

Hazel Morris (21st June 1945 - 30th January 2020)

Yesterday I received a very sad email from Kathy Munro, Secretary of the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists .

It is with great sadness that I inform you of the death of Hazel Forsyth Morris who passed away peacefully this morning in St Columba’s Hospice.

Hazel had been unwell for sometime. She was positive about her illness and determined to carry on with as much of her life as possible, without sharing her anxieties with others.

Hazel was a founder member of the SSBA in 2014 and became a Trustee and Director. She was the first Chairperson, a role that she undertook for four years with dedication and pride. She continued contributing to the SSBA as a Director and Trustee during 2019.

Her major contribution was the establishment of the SSBA annual exhibitions through her Chairing and co-ordination of the Exhibitions Committee. Most recently in November 2019 Hazel was pleased to be asked to present Mary O’Neill with the ‘People’s Award’ from the Whitehouse Gallery Exhibition. An exhibition that was a result of Hazel's hard work and negotiations.

Hazel is known to many Botanical Artists whom she met at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh and classes held by Fiona and Robert McNeill. She also met many international artists through her work with the BISCOT committee that she joined in 2010 and was latterly the artist's contact person. She always acknowledged that she learnt so much about exhibiting from her BISCOT colleagues and friends.

Hazel loved snowdrops and tulips so I thought I would share with you her painting of a snowdrop that has been on the SSBA web site for some time.

Hazel on Hazel - her SSBA profile

You can see Hazel's profile in relation to her botanical art on the SSBA website. You can read what she has to say about herself and her botanical art below.

The image at the top of this post is of Hazel at the Callander Park exhibition where her iris painting was 'Commended'.

I began my adult working life as a Home Economics teacher, and painted in watercolours, mainly landscapes, as a hobby and a way of relaxing.

After marrying, I accompanied my civil engineer husband as he worked mainly abroad, making homes and living in a number of countries in the Far East before returning to the UK to care for elderly parents. It was only after these family commitments were discharged that I was able to start thinking about taking up painting again.

I had been very interested in botanical painting for a number of years, influenced mainly, I think, by the work of Elizabeth Blackadder whose botanical paintings I saw regularly in Festival art exhibitions, and was fascinated by, complete with coffee stains, obvious alterations, and other marks on them; and yet, the marks somehow far from detracting, seemed to add to their artistic integrity.

However, it was only after picking up a booklet for educational courses at the RBGE that the possibility of studying this fascinating and complex form of art became a reality. I have now been painting botanical art for about nine years and attend Fiona Strickland’s class weekly.

In 2010 I was asked to join the committee of Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT) and this has afforded me the opportunity of seeing at first hand, some of the best and most original work being created in botanical illustration today.

Snakes Head Fritillaries by Hazel Morris

Hazel was a perennial member of the weekly botanical art class in Falkirk held by Fiona Strickland and Robert McNeill.

Hazel centre back of Fiona Strickland's Botanical Art Ladies in the weekly class at Falkirk

Hazel Morris - drawing a specimen in her sketchbook in class

I received a contribution (below) from Fiona this morning - plus photos of:

Hazel in her weekly botanical art class - and I've had many comments that she is a very fondly remembered member of that class.
a gorgeous photo of Hazel by Fiona taken at our very first post SBA Annual Exhibition dinner in London - at Carluccios.

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