NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Artists exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024

29/5/2024

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This post is about:

Facts about the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2024 - and how to see it in June in London!
Profiles of the 22 botanical artists and illustrators selected to exhibit a minimum of six artworks on a theme at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2024 - plus the title of their exhibit.â€‹

If you want to exhibit in the future.... at the end tells you some of the things you need to know.

Some of the exhibiting artists at RHS Botanical Art Show 2024

Facts about the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024

This is how to see the exhibition.

Venue: Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, King's Rd, London SW3 4RY
Dates: 14th June - 7th July 2024
Times: 10am - 6pm (last entry 5.30pm)
Website Page: https://www.saatchigallery.com/exhibition/the-rhs-botanical-art-photography-show-2024
Entry to the exhibition:
- Free for members of RHS and Saatchi Gallery - on production of membership card;
- Otherwise: Adult: Â£7, Concession: Â£5, Â£17/family.
- â€‹â€‹Tickets available to book now

The Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea

Some of you may be aware I've been interviewing Gold Medal Winners for years and years.

You can see past interviews in my ARCHIVE RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2023
I'm going to be at both the Private View and the Press View and will be trying to get an interview with all those who have won a Gold Medal - and as many photos of artists with their artwork as possible!

RHS Botanical Art Show 2024: List of Exhibiting Botanical Artists & Illustrators

Charlotte Brooks and the RHS have gone to a lot of trouble this year to improve the scope and quality of the information about the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show and the exhibitors on the RHS Website.

Every artist has their work featured with a profile and links to their websites and social media.

The exhibition will showcase exquisite botanical art and photography, featuring a rich variety of subjects from medicinal desert flowers to ornamental bananas, and from images of forest slime moulds to urban street plants. It will showcase the new work of leading botanical artists and photographers representing the UK, Italy, Portugal, Romania, USA, South Africa, Taiwan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Japan. Saatchi Gallery

As usual, the two countries dominating the show are the UK and Japan - with four artists each.

Unusually this year we have three artists from the USA in the exhibition - which I'm very pleased to see.
Australia, Italy and the Republic of Korea each have two artists exhibiting
Portugal, Singapore, South Africa and Sri Lanka and Taiwan all have one artist each - and I think this might be the very first time there have been representatives from Sri Lanka and Taiwan!

Unusually, the majority of the artists are first time exhibitors - and only two artists (Linda Pitkin and Toni Dade) are previous RHS Gold Medal Winners.

It's been apparent in recent years, how much the calibre of entrant has improved and it's now not at all unusual for first time exhibitors to achieve a Gold Medal the first time they exhibit. As a number of the artists have demonstrated their ability to excel in other countries and other exhibitions, I'm expecting the same will happen this year. (I am already making my list of those who look to me like possible GMs!)

â€‹So it will be interesting to see what the medal table looks like after the exhibits have all been assessed and the medals and prizes awarded.

I'm looking forward to meeting as many as possible of the artists listed below as possible. I'll be there on the 13th for the Press View and Private View in the evening....

Botanical artists and illustrators from England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and the USA - exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2024

Below, I'm listing the names of the various botanical artists and illustrators, ordered by country - starting with the UK and then going alphabetically for the remaining countries.

Each of the names - on this page - provides

a bio of the artist and
a brief description of what the exhibit is about
a brief insight to the background of this artist and their previous history with the show

If the artist has a website or social media site, you will find

a link to it in their name.
links to a website and other social media sites on the profile on the RHS website

I've also added in images from their Instagram accounts where this was allowed by the account.

UK (4 artists)
England

LINDA PITKIN: Native British Woodland Wildflowers (Gold 2019) Linda is a biologist and took up botanical illustration after a life long career as a biologist at the Natural History Museum and success as a wildlife photographer under water. She won Gold in 2019 at her first attempt - see RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019 - Awards and Medal Winners
ANN SAWARD: Sarracenia - Trumpet Pitcher Plants of North America (First time exhibitor). A retired potter, based in Devon who is a member of the South West Society of Botanical Artists.

Scotland

INGRID ARTHUR: A Shetland Garden (First time exhibitor). Born in Shetland, Ingrid left in 2016 to study at Edinburgh College of Art. Graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) in Tapestry Weaving in 1981. Enrolled at RBGE in 2019 and graduated in 2022. Her exhibit seems to be based on the work she did for her Diploma.â€‹

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RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2022

6/4/2022

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The RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show opens to the public at the Saatchi Gallery on Saturday 9th April and continues until Friday 29th April 2022.

The exhibition is open from 10am to 6pm each day
Tickets must be booked via the Saatchi Gallery website. Entry is £5, however....
Admission is free for members of the RHS and the Saatchi Gallery - on production of your membership card.
- Pre-booking for RHS Members: use the code provided by RHS in the right hand column of the booking page (below) to get free access.
- (You can find the code in the RHS Magazine sent to members and in emails recently sent to members about upcoming events).
This is the direct link to book tickets for timed entry slots. A valid membership card must be shown on arrival.
For more information on the show, please click here: www.saatchigallery.com/exhibition/rhs2022 and www.saatchigallery.com/visit

The Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea where the exhibition is being held.

I've been contacted by artists from all over the world who want me to know they're exhibiting and can they meet up with me!

If I'm really really lucky I'll get to see this exhibition.
However, right now in week 10 post ankle fusion surgery, despite the fact I am now allowed to put my foot on the ground (lightly!) I can still only move a few steps each day and travel is very, very difficult with a knee scooter :(

I just want to confirm that despite the doubts about me being able to get there I will still be doing ALL my normal blog posts about the exhibition focusing on

RHS Botanical Art Awards 2022
RHS Botanical Photography Awards 2022
Commentary on the exhibitions and arrangements in 2022 - which will probably be towards the end of the month assuming I can work out how to get there after (hopefully) being signed off at my 12 week review - and getting out of my horrible walker boot!

What I need all exhibitors to do!

I need photos for my blog posts - and you can help!

I've got the RHS Press People helping me out with photos - and I've primed one or two other people. However if YOU want the best shot of you next to your exhibit, you need to take the photo!

Tips for taking photos of Botanical Artwork and Botanical Artists

DON'T GET IN FRONT OF THE ART! Do not stand in front of your exhibit I cannot emphasise this enough!) Instead make sure you stand close to one of your artworks without obscuring it - preferably the one you like the best - and smile! The one below is of Dr. Nigel Pickering who won a Gold Medal in July 2019 - and sadly passed away on 14th January 2021. (see Nigel Pickering GM (1957 - 2021). His widow is exhibiting a portfolio of his artwork at this year's exhibition - and I hope he wins another Gold.
FILL THE FRAME: Make sure that whoever is taking the photo knows how to fill the frame with you and your artwork. This means minimise the amount of other detail in the image. We don't need photos of the floor, walls or ceiling! For example: Take pics of your portfolio in a series of pics eg
- 3 x 2 artworks - if they are quite widely spaced; or
- 2 x 3 artworks - if they are hung closer together
- the one below - of half of Kimiko Miyahara's Best Exhibit in Show in 2021 - has been cropped to a 3:1 format but I've only had to crop the top and bottom because my photo filled the frame side to side with three of her paintings.

Treasures of the Richtersveld by Nigel Pickering. This drawing is of a Pachypodium namaquanum, the iconic plant of the Richtersveld

Endemic Plants of Japan's Ogasawara Islands, A Unesco World Heritage Site by Kimiko Miyahara (Japan) - awarded Best Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2021

CHECK THE PICS AFTER TAKING THEM - You might need to have another go. I found last year that there is some very odd lighting at the Saatchi Gallery which makes everything look subdued and grey. So I stopped using my camera and started using my iPad Pro as it was able to absorb more light and, as a result, produced a much better picture. Aim for the best you can do with whatever you've got available to take photos.
SEND ME THE PICS if you want to be featured in my blog posts! This is how to contact me and I'll send you an email to send them to.

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RHS Portfolio Photography Show 2019 - Selected Exhibits

13/7/2019

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Every year the RHS Photographic Competition has a special category for the Portfolio Exhibit - which replaces what used to be known as the Botanical Photography Show (i.e. the photographic counterpart of the Botanical Art Show)

This is the only RHS competitive exhibition for photographers which is eligible for RHS Medals.

Species Boundaries Fritillaria affines - won a Gold Medal for RHS Veteran Photographer Laurence Hill - who is not exhibiting in 2019

I'm very much hoping for a higher standard than last year. In my view, the 2018 exhibition included some very weak exhibits as well as some excellent (see above) exhibits when compared to the medal winners in previous exhibitions. There were also some really awful problems with reflections due to the strong sunlight and glass roof - and no exhibitor should assume a neutral and shadowless north light!

This exhibit should in my opinion be UNIQUE and should NEVER ever be mistaken for a landscape photography nor a still life 'arty farty' photography competition.

It's entirely possible that the change in the quality of the exhibits on display changed because of a change in the method of selecting exhibitors. The inconsistency between the Art and the Photography Exhibitions makes absolutely no sense to me since the value of all the Medals awarded should always be equivalent. That suggests to me that process and criteria - and application of same - should be very similar too.

For the 2019 Exhibition Selections Process

those submitting did NOT have to go through a pre-selection stage as Botanical Artist still do.
the entries are now submitted online
a number are selected anonymously for the show - which if course allows in the generic photographer with no specific experience, knowledge or expertise in either botanical or horticultural photography.

In my opinion, to be a proper RHS Portfolio Photography exhibition - which equals the current standard of the Botanical Art Show - and, at the same time, is distinctively different from the other categories within RHS Photographic Exhibition, it needs to be VERY firmly located in "botanical" or "horticultural". Pretty or clever or "mood" or "I love nature" photos alone do not cut it. What is important is that the exhibit includes:

proper labelling of plant names in latin
photographs that are useful to botanists or horticulturalists in terms of (1) identifying key distinguishing plant features and/or (2) habitats where they grow and/or (3) recording gardens
an excellent presentation of the story of the exhibit.

Art over horticultural or botanical content simply does not make the grade for me. There are LOTS of other photographic competitions for those types of photos. However there is only one RHS Show and medals!

I'll be very interested to see what gets exhibited. I'm currently not optimistic that the current selection process is doing a good job. If there is not a big improvement in the standard of exhibit in 2019, then I may well stop covering it.

Selected Exhibitors

The Titles of the Selected Photography Exhibits - and associated Photographers are listed below.

I'm guessing (because of people being away at the RHS) that all the following are exhibitors in the Portfolio Category. Please note

Exhibitors are categorised by country.
Links in their names are to their websites or photo site (Aside, I'm somewhat surprised at the number of photographers who still have their photographs on an insecure site - as identified by Google. It's not difficult to create a secure site.)
If their website has a unique page for their project I link to it
ARPS means Associate of the Royal Photographic Society.

Having reviewed websites, I know whose work I'm looking forward to seeing.....

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Review: Society of Botanical Artists 2019 - Plantae

9/6/2019

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SBA Plantae 2019

The annual exhibition of the SBA - Society of Botanical Artists - has closed at the Mall Galleries in London.

It may seem odd to be doing the review now. However I have already written three blog posts connected with the exhibition! These are:

I'm going to look at:

practical matters first - and the success or otherwise of the exhibition's new venue
other changes to the exhibition
The Catalogue - and the scope for a future virtual exhibition
Private View and Demonstrations

I'll cover art I liked in another blog post.

A new home - at the Mall Galleries

The entrance to the new exhibition venue - at the Mall Galleries on The Mall in London (right next to Admiralty Arch and just up the road from Buckingham Palace)

The end wall in the Main Galleries

This is the first annual exhibition the SBA has had for two years. During which time the President, the membership arrangements and the venue for the annual exhibition have all changed.

In effect it's a reinvention of something we're very familiar with and hence it seems appropriate to focus on what's changed, what worked extremely well - and the areas where there's scope for further development and improvement in future years.

I don't see the Society of Botanical Artists leaving the Mall Galleries anytime soon. I think they've found their new "forever" home!

I asked people visiting the exhibition on my three visits what they thought of the new venue and without exception ALL were very impressed with:

the general feeling of professionalism - its purpose was an art gallery - and it felt like an art gallery
the way the artwork looked on the walls - unsurprisingly given the prior comment
the location - the feeling of being down in the basement ( at Central Hall ) had been completely lost - although interestingly all of the galleries are below ground! The white walls and the higher ceilings all made for a lighter, fresher and less claustrophobic feeling. People also very much liked the better sense of being at the centre of things - being a hop, skip and a jump from Trafalgar Square, other large art galleries, theatres and shops.
the facilities - visitors very much valued the opportunity to sit and have a cup of tea and chat in the Gallery rather than, as we used to do in Central Hall, Westminster, having to leave the exhibition and visit a not very inspiring canteen type cafe for some not very inspiring refreshments!

Bottom line - nobody wanted to go back to Central Hall, Westminster!

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Awards - Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2019

6/6/2019

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This post is the second of four about the annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists:

today's post is about the botanical artists receiving awards at "Plantae" the 2019 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. It includes images of the artwork receiving awards and more information about the artists (links to their websites are embedded in their names).
yesterday's post Plantae: SBA Annual Exhibition 2019 - Selected Artists was about the artists whose work was selected for the exhibition
the next post is about those artists who were awarded a Certificate of Botanical Merit - which was judged by Lucy T Smith, who illustrates plants for Kew Gardens or the NEW Certificate of Exhibiting Excellence
finally, the fourth post will be a review of the exhibition as a whole - with notes of the artwork I liked and a commentary on its move to the Mall Galleries. I've been asking people what they think about the new environment.

The show is on at the Mall Galleries in London until 1pm on 9th June 2019. Admission is free

The awards are split into two categories:

the SBA Awards - awarded by the SBA Council
The Prizes awarded by the Exhibition's Sponsors.

NOTE: The quotations below come from the Society of Botanical Artists Instagram account.

SBA Award Winners

The Joyce Cuming Presentation Award
This is probably one of the most prized awards and is a sterling silver Almoner’s plate which is a legacy from Joyce Cuming. The winner also receives a certificate.

The winner was Lidiya Doukhnevitch who is based in Minsk in Belarus.

For me this was one of the best - if not the best - paintings in the competition. My eye kept being drawn back to it. That's because it has a great subject treated in an unusual way. It kept reminding me of alien monsters in sci-fi movies - and yet's it just what potatoes do if you leave them alone! The tonal range was great (which helped it to bounce off the walls in the gallery and make you want to go and look at it again) and the colour handling is impeccable.

The Secret World of Potatoes by Lidiya Doukhnevitch (watercolour £1,500)

Botanical art is not just about pretty flowers! This painting ‘The Secret World of Potatoes’ by Lidiya Doukhnevitch @lida_duhnevich is a stunning example of how even the simplest of plants can be intriguing and exciting!

I asked Lidiya why she chose a potato and she replied as follows

“It’s not difficult to create something beautiful from something beautiful. And when you start a new picture, you involuntarily set yourself a task higher and more difficult. So I decided to look at something at first glance unattractive in a new way and look at it from the inside. To tell the story of life. I even tried to grow it. But the potato itself found me. I love the sunlight very much, how it creates the world around us for our eyes. Therefore, I always build the lighting in the artwork. " Lidiya Doukhnevitch

The Margaret Granger Memorial Silver Bowl
This award is given in memory of Margaret Granger for the best picture by a member elected in the last two years. As a prize it's an excellent incentive for a new member to create a memorable impression.

The award winner was Jackie Isard SBA Fellow who was a graphic designer prior to becoming a botanical artist. I very much liked all the works she entered this year and recommend you look out for them.

Faded Protea neriifolia ‘Snowcrest’ by Jackie Isard (watercolour, £1,450)

Joanne Craig McFeely Rose Bowl
This is a Silver Rose Bowl awarded (for a year) for a true botanical work - judged by an external Judge (although NOT in this case Lucy Smith who judged the Certificates of Botanical Merit - not quite sure what happened there).

The winner was an American artist Charlotte Ricker who teaches "Botanical Illustration in Pencil II" at the School of Botanical Art & Illustration | Denver Botanic Gardens. Bear in mind this work was completed using watercolour pencils!

I really loved this work. This excellent contemporary interpretation of the sequencing of the bud through to bloom and then seed head reminded me very much of Georg Ehret's own magnificent painting of Magnifolia grandiflora with growth sequence. It's similar enough to tip its head to the master and different enough to be unique. (See my page About Georg Dionysius Ehret for a comparison)

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A Florilegium for the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) - Call for Entries

25/2/2019

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We've seen a number of great gardens and botanic gardens develop arrangements to create a Florilegium since the 90s.

The latest proposal comes from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh (RBGE) which aims to establish a Florilegium Society - see RBGE Florilegium

Proposal for an RBGE Florilegium Society

The aim of the Society would be to create a permanent, visual record of RBGE’s botanical and horticultural work through the acquisition of illustrations of the plants that are grown, collected, studied and named by RBGE staff. The Society would also raise RBGE’s profile as an important centre of botanical art in relation to both our educational work and our art collection.

A number of statements have been made. My summary of the various aims of the proposal to create a Florilegium - which are still under discussion are - are:

to enhance and grow the collection of botanical art at RBGE - which is a statutory requirement
to produce a visual record of the living collection of plants at RBGE gardens - particularly those plants grown, collected, studied and named by RBGE staff
to reflect scientific and horticultural interests associated within RBGE
to raise the profile of RBGE as an important centre for botanical art
to make good use of its botanical art collection for both education and merchandising (income generation)

A debut at BISCOT

Artists worldwide are invited to submit work to be considered for a RBGE Florilegium category which will be displayed alongside the regular BISCOT exhibition at the John Hope Gateway venue.

The proposal to establish a Florilegium Society will publicly debut at the BISCOT Exhibition.

A separate RBGE Florilegium category will be included in the BISCOT Exhibition and the artwork selected from this Call for Entries (see below) which will sit alongside the regular multi-work, award giving BISCOT exhibition.

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Call for Entries:
How to submit art and associated documentation

The core documents are as follows:

Select a plant and access plant material

See the RBGE Florilegium Plant List for plants identified for inclusion in the Florilegium
Once you have selected a plant to illustrate you next need to contact the Artist Coordinator to express your intentions to paint a plant (see Call for Entries)
You also need to access plant material and a botanist. The Call for Entries identifies how you can access material via RBGE. If working away from Scotland you need to contact a local botanist/botanic garden for access to plant material. It's sometimes best to start with what's accessible and select from that rather than the other way around
RBGE will make regular updated information on which plants are available (e.g. plants in flower) on the RBGE Florilegium Page

Requirement for paintings - SIZE
It's not uncommon for Florilegium to have stipulated sizes for paintings. In this instance ALL paintings must conform to one of 3 window sizes, with appropriate margin, or you may wish to take your painting to the edge:

A4 (21 x 29.7cm);
A3 (29.7 x 42cm);
A2 (42 x 59.4 cm).
Paper must be at least 2 cm larger than window size all round.

Requirement for artwork - MEDIA

Only original botanical art in 2-dimensions is acceptable.
No photography, digital or 3-dimensional art.

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Call for Entries: Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2019

10/1/2019

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This is a guide to the OPEN Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2019 and

who can enter,
what you enter
how to enter

In 2019, this exhibition is moving to a new time of year at a new venue

Venue: the Mall Galleries in The Mall in Central London. (Location) - the exhibition will be held in the Main Gallery, North Galleries and Threadneedle Space (i.e. the whole gallery)
Dates: 5 June 2019 to 9 June 2019 | Hours: 10am to 5pm (closes 1pm on final day).

Plantae is the exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists; exhibiting excellence in all art that is plant related. The Society brings together artists of national and international repute. As the forerunner of all other botanical societies its mission is to promote the skills of artists using a varied range of media who all excel in their ability to portray botanical forms in an accurate, unique or interesting way. (Mall Galleries)

READ my blog posts about the Society of Botanical Art: Exhibitions 2006-2016
previously held at Central Hall, Westminster if you're unfamiliar with the exhibition and the standard of work it attracts

Who can enter?

THIS IS AN OPEN EXHIBITION - Any visual artist, anywhere in the world, can enter if they produce botanical artwork in two or three dimensions - which meets the eligibility criteria (see below).

Botanical artists from other countries around the world frequently submit entries to this exhibition - and get selected for exhibition.

You do not have to be a member of the Society of Botanical Artists to submit an entry.
However, under its new rules, you can however apply to be an Open Member of the Society of Botanical Artists (at a cost of £65p.a.) if you want to reduce the level of commission paid on sales by 10%. The cost of membership pays for itself if you sell one artwork priced at £650 - and if you make more sales you can make even more savings on your expenses i.e. 10% of £100 = £10.

The new type of membership - the Open Member - will be available from mid-January so if you expect to sell and want to reduce commission, I'd advise waiting to submit your entry until after you have applied to be an Open Member.

What can you enter?

Eligible artwork will be work you are proud of AND

Predominantly of botanical content.
Botanically accurate.
Visually pleasing - with strong wall appeal.
Up to five artworks
For sale

In terms of type of artwork and size, artwork will be

Original Paintings - in any media
or Original Drawings - in any media
or Original Fine Art Prints (all prints must be hand pulled and NOT giclee)
or Original Ceramics
or Original Jewellery - in any media
Maximum dimension of all 2D and 3D arworks: 120cm on the longest side. (although they don't say framed or unframed re 2D art - and when they don't it's always safest to assume this means "framed")

Presented in:

simple plain mounts and wooden frames (which can accommodate mirror plate fixings)

Work that is NOT eligible for entry includes:

photography
other digital art forms
work using acrylic glass
work framed with clips

How do I price my artwork?

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