NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

RHS Botanical Art Show: 2019 dates and deadlines for 2020 submissions

11/10/2018

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This is an update on "need to know" facts relating to the 2019 and 2020 RHS Botanical Art Shows.

The RHS website has been updated with key facts about the 2019 and 2020 Botanical Art Shows
I've summarised these below.
Read the details in the Botanical Illustration Exhibitor Factsheet (557kB pdf)

View of part of the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018

Facts about the RHS Botanical Art Show

The RHS Botanical Art Show is an OPEN and INTERNATIONAL exhibition
It's the longest running and TOP juried botanical art show in the world.
No other show juries a minimum portfolio of six botanical artworks for every exhibit
It's the LARGEST juried international art show in the world.
It receives submissions and exhibits from botanical artists and botanical illustrators from around the world. Asia, Australasia, Africa and Europe contribute most international artists from outside the UK.

It would be great to see more artists from North, South and Central America!

RHS Botanical Art Show 2019 - show dates

Make a note for your diaries!
The dates for the RHS London Art & Photography Show in 2019 are

Wednesday 24–Thursday 25 July 2019.
Plus a late event on Tuesday 23 July 2019.

My understanding is that the 2019 show will be in the RHS Lindley Hall.

RHS Botanical Art Show 2020
- application for approval to exhibit

If you want to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2020, you must first submit your work for approval to exhibit. I'll be updating my page about RHS Botanical Art Shows but I've summarised key facts below

This is how the submission process works to be ELIGIBLE to apply for space to display work at an RHS Show in 2020:

IF YOU HAVE NOT PREVIOUSLY EXHIBITED you must first submit a sample of four pieces of work to the RHS Picture Panel for assessment and approval at the May Submission Selection Meeting.
Artists based outside the UK can submit rolled prints of the same (value £0) rather than original art. This enables them to get through Customs without problems. (Prints are not returned)
The above requirement relates to both individual artists and groups
The artwork does NOT need to be related to your proposed exhibit. However all pieces must demonstrate that you can produce a very high standard of botanical illustration. (You can view my previous blog posts for images of exhibits displayed at previous shows)
If submitting as a Group, you must submit at least one artwork by each artist
The next Submission Selection Meeting is on Thursday 9 May 2019
Artwork - for assessment and approval - at this meeting can be submitted to the Lindley Library in London between Tuesday 23 April and Thursday 2 May
Please contact the Picture Panel Secretary before sending any work. It's recommended that you hand deliver artworks.

The RHS Lindley Library and Headquarters of the RHS at 80 Vincent Square, London

Dawn Jolliffe Botanical Art Bursary

If the cost of exhibiting is likely to prevent you from exhibiting then you can apply for funding support.

The Dawn Joliffe Botanical Art Bursary is available to support botanical artists in their endeavours to prepare an exhibit and then display it at the show.

Funding is available to help support artists with

the costs of staging an exhibit at one of the RHS Shows
towards the costs of travelling to paint plants in their natural habitat.

For more information and to apply see Apply for an RHS Bursary

Tips for exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show

For more about RHS Botanical Art and Photography Exhibitions see the following dedicated pages on this website:

PLUS In the Tips and Techniques area of the EDUCATION section you can find Tips from RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners - these provide tips around

an outline of the process from application to exhibit through to the exhibition
includes several articles about tips about how to be successful at an RHS Botanical Art Show by RHS Gold Medal-winning artists. Every year they come up with new tips!
how to mount the display
how to transport your exhibit

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Flowers and Fruit - solo show by Kathy Pickles

23/9/2018

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Kathy Pickles GM's new solo show "Flowers and Fruit" opened yesterday in the Exhibition Room of the Old Library in Kirkwall on the Isle of Orkney in Scotland. It continues until 13th October 2018 and is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 5pm.

Her solo exhibition contains 64 botanical paintings in watercolour - mostly on paper but with some on vellum. 24 paintings were sold at the Preview Evening and another 8 in the gallery yesterday morning so Kathy got to the half way mark in terms of sales after the preview and 3 hours of being open to the public! I gather her paintings on vellum are going fast!

If you're starting a collection, I'd very much recommend you take a close look....
My experience of Kathy's paintings in the past are they priced to sell - and she almost always sells nearly all of them!

You can also read more about Kathy Pickles at the end of this post.

Flowers and Fruit

While not everybody can get to Orkney to see the exhibition, you can see most of the work in the show on Kathy's Facebook Page - Kathy Pickles Botanical Art or her website at www.kathypickles.co.uk. Plus she is a regular participant in the Botanical Artists Facebook Group where she also posts her new work.

Kathy works - very fast - from observation (and never from photographs) and her paintings follow the seasons and what she's growing in her garden!

Crops of Botanical Paintings by Kathy Pickles - on her website

About Kathy Pickles

Kathy Pickles GM - with her 7th Gold Medal exhibit at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017

Kathy Pickles was born in London but has lived on Orkney since 1981. Her art education started with a Foundation Course at Canterbury College of Art. She also studied textile design at Winchester School of Art before going to Sussex University where she gained a degree in the History of Art.

She has won seven RHS Gold Medals (1991-94, 1996, 2015, 2017) - which is more than any other botanical artist I know!

Her Gold Medal in 2015 was for 16 paintings of Fritillaria and Helleborus
The Gold Medal in 2017 was for 12 paintings of Clematis. Rachel de Thame bought one of her paintings!

You can view my Video Interview with Kathy Pickles at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2015

Other achievements in the botanical art world include:

She has also exhibited in a three person show at the Kew Gardens Gallery (1995-96)
She designed the 1997 Chelsea Flower Show Plate which celebrated the Golden Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip. Later that year she was invited by Orkney Islands Council to meet the Prince of Wales and show him her original painting while he was in Orkney viewing the work of a number of local artists and craftsmen.
her study of Mertensia maritima was one of the paintings of endangered species included in the special 250th anniversary edition of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine

Prestigious Botanical Art Collections which own her work include:

The Royal Botanic Garden Kew
The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh,
the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh and
the Shirley Sherwood Collection.

Her professional combines fine art with botanical illustration for commercial purposes and since 1994, she has designed over 150 designs for floral mugs for Dunoon Ceramics - including designs containing Scottish Wild Flower which included some Orkney favourites such as Primula scotica, Northern Marsh Orchid, Yellow Flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus) and Oyster Plant (Mertensia maritima).

She has been having solo shows on Orkney for the last 30 years and also works to commission.

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More about botanical artists and exhibitions

ARTISTS: You can see more Contemporary botanical artists and illustrators around the world on my dedicated pages on my website

EXHIBITIONS: You can find out about more Botanical Art Exhibitions & Collections - around the world. Current and future exhibitions in different parts of the world are listed or signposted on the following pages:

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Four new botanical art exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery

23/8/2018

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This autumn and winter there will be four new exhibitions of botanical art in four quite distinct styles at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 

Opening to the public on 6th October are:

Mark Frith: A Legacy of Ancient Oaks 
Trees: Delight in the Detail
Rankafu: Masterpieces of Japanese Woodblock Prints of Orchids
Botanical Theatre: The Art of Pandora Sellars (1936-2017)

Gloriosa rothchildsiana (the glory lily) by Pandora Sellars

READ ON to find out more about each of these exhibitions and see some of the images which will be included in the four exhibitions.

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Video Interview with Kathy Pickles

19/8/2018

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Between 1991 and 1996, Kathy Pickles exhibited every year at the RHS Botanical Art Show. Each year she won a Gold Medal for her exhibit.

In 2015, after nearly 20 years, she returned for a sixth time - and won a sixth Gold Medal. This time she managed to display 16 paintings - eight of Fritillaries and eight of Hellebores.

I've been sorting out my videos of interviews with botanical artists and realised that I'd never made a video of an interview with Kathy in 2015 into a 'proper' published video.

So below you can find my video interview with Kathy Pickles on 27 February 2015 at the RHS Botanical Art Show in the Lindley Hall Westminster - which has now been uploaded to my new Botanical Art and Artists Video Channel on YouTube

In it she advises on why it's always a good idea to go and view botanical art in person - especially at the top shows.

In 2017, Kathy returned for a seventh time and won her seventh Gold Medal for her display of paintings of Clematis. The Judging Panel happened to include the renowned clematis grower Raymond Evison!

Kathy Pickles with her seventh Gold Medal in 2017

Three of Kathy Pickles's paintings of clematis in 2017

To find out more about Kathy Pickles - or even ask her a question you can find her at:

her website http://www.kathypickles.co.uk
her Facebook Page: Kathy Pickles Botanical Art
as a regular participant in the Botanical Artists Facebook Group

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TOP TIPS from RHS Gold Medal Winners 2017

14/8/2018

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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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TOP TIPS from RHS Gold Medal Winners 2018

14/8/2018

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Today I have some of the Tips I received from my interviews with the RHS Gold Medal Winners at last month's RHS Botanical Art Show.

AND

Later this week you will also have tips from the RHS Gold Medal Winners in 2017 too! This is because although I drafted most of it last year for some reason I didn't finish the post and publish it!

This is a LONG POST with lots of content - so you might want to get a hot drink and a notebook before you start to read!

It's been my habit, for some years, to ask each of the Gold Medal Winners who speaks reasonable English to tell me what would be the three tips they'd like to pass on to people aspiring to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show. Some include ones I've heard before - but good tips are always worth repeating.

I have however omitted

tips relating to painting and art materials as these tend to become repetitive and have been covered in previous tips posts (see end for reference)
tips related to the actual transport of material and how to get your exhibit to stick to the display boards - see my two previous posts last month (listed at the end).

TIP: Focus on what you are passionate about

AGM Dryopteris: species and cultivars of Dryopteris ferns with an Award of Garden Merit - Laura Silburn GM (2013, 2014)

Recommended by Laura Silburn and various artists. More than one artist told me this - in various ways. Variations include:

Be yourself
Know your subject really well
Love your subject
Choose something that inspires you

It is so much easier to complete a major project - such as a portfolio for an RHS Botanical Art Show if you are in love with your subject matter.

TIP: Being a grower helps a lot!

Simon Williams - Nepenthes

Recommended by Simon Williams Nepenthes 
Simon Williams told me he has been growing carniverous plants since he was 16 - and loves them. He's invested in heated greenhouses. The advantages of being a grower are that you get to see your plants through a complete life cycle and can watch them through every season.

TIP: Keep a sketchbook

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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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