NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Looking forward to the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2019

12/6/2019

Last night at the Private View for the Exotica exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery I was reminded of the next major botanical art show in London which is, of course the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show in the Lindley Hall (just behind RHS HQ in Vincent Square in London). Otherwise known for some odd reason as the RHS London Art and Photography Show. (How about taking out 'London' and adding in 'Botanical' so it says what's it about?)

Mariko Ikeda and Elaine Allison

I met up with two ladies who are both approved exhibitors for this year's show:

Mariko Ikeda, winner of a Gold Medal and the Best Exhibit Prize at the Show in 2017 is going to be exhibiting again - with more Pandanus. Who can forget her wonderful exhibit in 2017?
Elaine Allison is bringing an exhibit which has been several years in the making called The Host Plants of Australian Butterflies and we had a discussion about my recent new page about Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows

Charlotte Brooks - the RHS Art Curator and Secretary of the Picture Advisory Panel - was also at the PV last night and tells me that there are 30 Botanical Art Exhibitors this year and that both the Botanical Art and the Botanical Photography Exhibits will be all in the Lindley Hall.

I'm hoping to publish names and exhibit titles for those who don't mind 'revealing all' in advance of the show opening, shortly before the exhibition. (This is the one I did last year Exhibits at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018)

I highly RECOMMEND that if you want to exhibit with the RHS, that if at all possible that you try and make a point of coming and see a show beforehand. People tell me it makes all the difference to be able to see the different ways people present their work - and the standard of work which brings different colour medals.

Below you can see my video of the show in 2017. (8 minutes) It starts with the entrance to the Lindley Hall and shows you all the exhibits.
Below that are the details about this year's show.

RHS London Art and Photography Show - Dates and Ticket details

Venue: RHS Lindley Hall, Westminster, London LSW1P 2QW
Dates:

Tuesday 23rd July (5-9pm) Members and Public pay £10 online and £12 on the day (except online comes with a transaction fee so it's not £10)
Wednesday 24th and Thursday 25th July 2019 (10am - 5pm) Free to RHS Members. (Yay!) Everybody else £5 in advance (online) and £8 on the day

Everything you need to know to plan your visit

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What's a suitable plant theme for the RHS Botanical Art Show?

19/5/2019

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This is a post for all those botanical artists who will be hearing round about now whether or not they have been approved to exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Botanical Art Show between 2020-2025.
(See my earlier post The RHS Picture Panel - Approval to Submit)

Once approved you have five years to exhibit at a show. This is because the RHS very much appreciates that some exhibits often require two to three years or more to assemble in terms of the research, the field trips, collection of material, checking with botanists - and finally the painting! Not to mention the presentation, labelling and saving up to transport the exhibit to London from all over the world!

However first you have to settle on a suitable subject - or plant theme - to win a medal at the RHS Botanical Art Show!

READ ON to find out more about what RHS Gold Medal winners have titled their exhibits in the last decade!

List of Titles of Gold Medal Winning Exhibits at RHS Botanical Art Shows

Last year I looked back at all the RHS Botanical Shows I've covered and written about in the last decade (and more) and I reviewed all the title of the exhibits that won an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art.

This is a link to List of Titles of Gold Medal Winning Exhibits at RHS Botanical Art Shows which I created as a result of my review and analysis.

CATEGORIES: My review generated a list of the categories that the titles fall into - AND a commentary on each of those categories. The categories are:

Family or Genus Names
Exhibits related to specific locations/habitats
Habit / Lifecycle / Growth
Common and Generic Names
Medicinal Plants
Theme names related to botanical history
Unspecific Theme names
Unspecific / media related names
Mixed plant names

Each category on the page includes:

all the Exhibit Titles (and the year) and
the names of the gold medal winners

TIP #1 - When reviewing the lists of exhibit titles by ALL the exhibitors it was very clear to me that:

there was a VERY marked difference in the distribution of titles across the various categories at different medal levels
two of the categories were very much favoured by Gold Medal Winners

TIP #2 - I concluded from this that the choice of topic and the focus you give it - with the Exhibit Title - is a clear marker from the very beginning of whether or not you are setting your sights high and aiming for the very best level of achievement. In essence have you determined your goal and refined your focus BEFORE YOU START TO PAINT!

However that's not to say that there isn't a lot of scope to stand out at the Show by focusing on one of the less frequented categories (eg Theme names related to botanical art history)

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ARTISTS AND EXHIBITS

You should be able to find out more about the artists in my lists of artists as winning a Gold Medal is one of the criteria for getting a listing on this website!

If you want to see what a gold medal winning exhibit looks like

try the artists' websites - some of them include images of their RHS exhibits
you can also see pictures of many of the Gold Medal winning exhibits in my blog posts covering the shows - see my page - ARCHIVE:RHS Botanical Art Shows (2007-2018)
PLUS you can review Tips from RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners (in EDUCATION) .

ARCHIVE RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2018

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The RHS Picture Panel - Approval to Submit

13/5/2019

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There's always been a little bit of mystique about the process used by the RHS Picture Panel when reviewing all the very many applications to exhibit at the very prestigious RHS Botanical Art Show.

Or as I call it "the best botanical art show in the world" - because of the requirement for each botanical artist or illustrator to exhibit a minimum of six artworks of a very high standard.
Or as it's called this year by the RHS - the RHS London Art & Photography Show (if you want to visit you can get tickets at the link)

It's wonderful therefore to be able to see some of the preliminary process and people involved via photographs taken by the RHS Orchid Artist Deborah Lambkin - who is a member of the Picture Panel - in a tweet!

Artists, either individuals or groups that have not previously exhibited at an RHS Show, 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 to be eligible to apply for space to display work at an RHS Show in 2020.

A very high standard of work is expected when exhibiting botanical illustration at an RHS Show.
Exhibiting at RHS Shows

Below you can see images of the Submission Selection Meeting which took place in the RHS Council Chamber on Thursday 9 May 2019. As you can see all the submissions (4 artworks per submission) are laid out on top of the very large table.

The lady in the green trousers is Charlotte Brooks who is the Art Curator at the Royal Horticultural Society and has care of the 30,000 artworks in the RHS Lindley Library Collection as well as acting as the Secretary to the Picture Panel.
Some of you will recognise Helen Allen and Dr Shirley Sherwood.
I have a hunch who the chap in maroon is but will wait for Deborah to get back to me....

Charlotte Brooks @RHSLibraries and members of the botanical art judging panel assessing entries for future botanical art shows in the beautiful Council Chamber @The_RHS in London pic.twitter.com/BAw8Aa9GHP
— Deborah Lambkin (@DeborahLambkin) May 10, 2019

BELOW you can

see some of Deborah's photos at a larger size - but if you go to her tweet and click the pics you can see them larger still!
find out MORE about the process of submitting work to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show

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Green Gold: Plants from the Travels of John Jeffrey

7/5/2019

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Pinus jeffreyi Jeffrey Pine - Branch and cone. Watercolour by Nicola Macartney

The exhibition Green Gold: Plants from the Travels of John Jeffrey has opened in Edinburgh.
Venue: Gateway Gallery, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Dates: 27th April - 30th June 2019
Time: 10:00 - 17:45
Admission: FREE

The exhibition celebrates the life and achievements of plant hunter John Jeffrey. It focuses on his travels in North America in the middle of the nineteenth century. Below you can find out more about:

botanical paintings in the exhibition
John Jeffrey, the plant hunter
the book associated with the exhibition

Paintings of plants collected by John Jeffrey

The exhibition includes six especially commissioned watercolour paintings by Nicola Macartney featuring trees and flowering plants collected by Jeffrey in North America.

I met Nicola last July when she was exhibiting her suite of six paintings at the RHS Botanical Art Show - where she won a Silver Gilt Medal for her exhibit (see below).

Her paintings were created from specimens of plants growing in the Royal Botanic Garden at Edinburgh and Benmore. - quite possibly from the cones and seeds sent back by Jeffrey to Scotland.

"Plants Collected by John Jeffrey" - exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show by Nicola Macartney

Nicola Macartney standing next to her watercolour painting of Pinus jeffreyi - the Jeffrey Pine

The exhibition also includes plus materials from RBGE including specimens from the Herbarium, and letters and minutes from their archives.

About John Jeffrey

John Jeffrey was born in Forneth, Parish of Clunie in east Perthshire. He worked as a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. A Scottish group known as the Oregon Association (established 1849) appointed him to travel to North America and find trees and collect their seeds.

The intention was that he would continue the efforts of botanist David Douglas (1799–1834) who made three separate trips from Britain to North America. (The Oregon state tree is named after him - its common name being Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii, once Pinus douglasii).

Jeffrey's travels involved:

a journey by ship in 1850 across the North Atlantic - from Gravesham in Kent to Hudson Bay
travelling more than 1,200 miles (1,900 km) overland to reach the Columbia River.
Four years spent exploring Washington, Oregon, and California

The odds were stacked against John Jeffrey from the start. The distances to be travelled across British Columbia and the Rocky Mountains were extraordinary, while the territory itself was challenging due to the extreme cold, high altitude, and unrest among Native American tribes
Unearthing the epic true story of a missing Scottish explorer | First published in The Scotsman, 25 April 2019

While exploring he sent the specimens he collected back to Scotland and kept journals of his travels. He discovered 24 new species many of which now grow in the gardens of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh and Benmore.

Thanks to his work however the seeds from 119 species were collected and more than 400 plant specimens sent to the Herbarium at RBGE, including seeds and/or specimens of 35 conifer species. Two plant species still bear his name, Dodecatheon jeffreyi and Pinus jeffreyi while a third,Penstemon jeffreyanus, was later renamed by botanists
John Jeffrey rediscovered | Botanics Stories | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

In 1854 he disappeared while travelling east from San Diego across the Colorado Desert. Despite attempts to find him, he was never seen again.

Below is a video by Gabriel Hemery illustrating the extent of his travels

REFERENCES:

John Jeffrey | Wikipedia
John Jeffrey rediscovered | Botanics Stories | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Green Gold: The Epic True Story of Victorian Plant Hunter John Jeffrey by Gabriel Hemery
Unearthing the epic true story of a missing Scottish explorer | First published in The Scotsman, 25 April 2019

Green Gold (the book)

The exhibition is associated with the publication of Green Gold by Gabriel Hemery.

Gabriel Hemery is the author of

He's a forest scientist by profession and is also the Chief Executive of the Sylva Foundation and has a website which celebrates the wonders of trees, forests and wood.

Below are two videos

the first illustrates the extent of the travels of John Jeffrey across North America and down the west coast before he disappeared on his way to Arizona.
the second is an interview with Gabriel Hemery in The Edinburgh Bookshop - in which he reads an extract from his book

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Remembering Mally Francis FLS FEPFS FCPGFS

22/4/2019

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Mally Francis FLS FEPFS FCPGFS, the Cornish based botanical artist, illustrator and tutor and Founder Chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society, died on Saturday 13th April 2019 after a short illness.

This post remembers Mally and her achievements. It contains

a timeline of her life in botanical art
a video of Mally talking about botanical painting and
references to her artwork, articles about her and a book she illustrated.

I last saw Mally at the Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art Show last summer. She was there supporting both Laura Silburn who was taught botanical painting by Mally and the Association of British Botanical Artists' stand. Her fabulous painting of 'Babington's Leek' was displayed on the stand and attracted the attention of Shirley Sherwood who bought it - hence the red spot!

Indeed I first heard about Mally Francis at the 2013 RHS Botanical Art Show when I met Laura Silburn for the first time and interviewed her for my Gold Medal Winner Interviews. She told me what an inspiration Mally was to her and what an excellent teacher she was.

Mally Francis with her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var.babingtonii) at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018 (12th July 2018)

Mally Francis with her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var.babingtonii) at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2018 (12 July 2018)

Mally Francis - a Timeline in Botanical Art

1946 - born in Yorkshire

1967 - qualified as a speech and language therapist in Edinburgh

1988 - started to learn about botanical art; studied with Anne-Marie Evans in Leicestershire - and followed her principals for all her artwork and teaching

She was a particularly lovely person and always very kind. I have known her for well over 30 years. She started botanical painting with me at the Leicester college and became a member of the LSBI. She also attended many of my Summer Schools at Market Overton. She then moved to Cornwall and started teaching but we kept in contact and I have always heard particularly flattering comments about her teaching. I am sure that all who had the privilege of knowing her will miss her
Anne-Marie Evans

1996 - moved from Leicester to Cornwall

2000 - started her botanical painting classes at her Sawpit Studio

2001 - Founded the Eden Project Florilegium Society

2012 - Made a Fellow of the Linnean Society for her contribution to botanical art.

Below is the story of what happened during those years....

Mally and her husband Charles, a photographer, moved to the Heligan Estate and embarked on their joint creative endeavour. Here they

renovated the Wagon House - eventually creating accommodation for their students
rebuilt the derelict sawpit, creating the Sawpit Studio for botanical painting and as a photographic studio.

The Studio was originally built about 250 years ago as the Sawpit for the Heligan estate when logs were dragged in by a horse and then cut into planks and beams by two men using a pit saw. One above, standing on the log (the top-dog) and the other below in the pit, covered in sweat and sawdust, (the under-dog).
When we bought The Wagon House in 1997 the Sawpit had become a ruin with only two cob walls standing and the brick piers opposite to support the roof.
In 1999 we commenced the restoration and it came into full use as our studio early in 2000. The Sawpit, thirty feet long and six feet deep still remains beneath the floor as a little piece of Heligan history.
Nowadays, the Sawpit is in full time use again, either for the Botanical Painting classes or as a Photographic Studio. A collection of old saws are attached to the roof beams.

TEACHING: Mally ran her botanical painting courses in the Sawpit Studios from 2000 - until just recently. She also taught botanical art classes at the Eden Project, the Bath Society, the South West Society, Stourhead, Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, Truro Arts, Boconnoc House and Trengwainton Gardens in Cornwall.

She tutored artists ranging from complete beginners through to advanced levels - with two artists awarded Gold Medals in recent years by the RHS. She was the sole tutor of Laura Silburn who has now won three RHS gold medals and who credits Mally Francis with her involvement in botanical art.

My teaching philosophy is to encourage all students to develop their own skills to the highest level possible. There is never any competition in my classes and everyone can work at their own pace. The courses are always enjoyable and old friends meet each other year after year as they return to continue their studies. Everyone has their own aspirations and it gives me great pleasure to help them to achieve their own goals.
Mally Francis (in Mally Francis Paints the Lost Gardens of Heligan
February 1, 2011 by Tania Marien)

a still from the video about her botanical painting classes at the Wagon House

GARDENS AND PLANTS: Their life was intertwined with two major garden projects in Cornwall largely created by Sir Tim Smit KBE

The Lost Gardens of Heligan - they lived on the Estate
The Eden Project - a 20 minute drive away

The connections were intrinsic to communicating the structures and plants in both locations.

Tim Smit asked Mally to illustrate Heligan Wild: A Year of Nature in the Lost Gardens (1999) a book about the Lost Gardens of Heligan. She also illustrated Heligan Days - A Perpetual Diary (2005)
Charles was the official photographer of the Eden Project (1997-1984) - while it was being built

EDEN PROJECT FLORILEGIUM SOCIETY: Mally founded the Eden Project Florilegium Society (EPFS) in 2000 and became its first Chairman of in 2001 - and held that position until 2012 when she retired and was made the Honorary Founder Chairman of EPFS.

She provided tuition and inspiration to two-thirds of the artists whose work features in the Eden Project Florilegium. She also organised many exhibitions of artwork by her students and members of the EPFS.

The Florilegium was the inspiration of Mally Francis FCPGFS, FEPFS who founded the Society in 2000, and was its Chairman from 2001 to 2012. Mally stepped down in January 2012, and was made Honorary Founder Chairman of the Society, and a Fellow of The Linnean Society in recognition of her contributions to world of Botanical Illustration and Botany.
Eden Project Florilegium Society

RECOGNITION: In 2012, on her retirement from being Chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society she was made an Honorary Founder Member of the EPFS and a Fellow of the Linnean Society for her contribution to botanical art. She was also a member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society.

More recently, her painting of Babington’s Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii) was a feature image for "In Ruskin's Footsteps" at the Peter Scott Gallery at Lancaster University in May 2018 - the UK contribution to the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art organised by the Association of British Botanical Artists. Below are links to articles discussing the development of the artwork.

It was also displayed at the RHS Botanical Art Show (see my photo at the top of this post) and was bought by Shirley Sherwood for her collection.

Below is a video Mally Francis talking about the difference between flower painting and botanical painting - and why everybody can have a go at creating botanical art.

Mally Francis died on Saturday 13th April and leaves a husband Charles, two daughters and four grandsons.

She also leaves a legacy in terms of the interest and competence in botanical art she stimulated in very many of her students - in Cornwall and around the world - and her paintings in her studio, private collections and the archives of two Florilegia Societies.

Please feel free to add your own comment about and/or memories of Mally Francis via comments below.

FUNERAL DETAILS
Her funeral will be at 14:00 on Friday 3 May, at All Saints church, St Ewe, Cornwall. (Google Map)

REFERENCES

Obituary

Mally Francis FLS, FCPGFS 1946 - 2019 | ABBA

Titles, Memberships and Roles

Fellow of the Linnean Society.
Honorary Founder Chairman of the Eden Project Florilegium Society (2001-2012)
Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society.
Eden Project Botanical Art tutor

Mall Francis Online

Website: https://mallyfrancis.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mally.botanicalartist/
Twitter https://twitter.com/mally_francis
Eden Project Florilegium Society - About Us

Paintings for the Eden Project Florilegium Society

Paintings by Mally Francis

Articles / Blog posts

How to illustrate a six-foot-tall-plant – a master class! | Eden Project Florilegium Society
Babington’s Leek – Mally Francis ABBA Blog
Mally Francis is "Remembering Heligan" BAA Blog
Mally Francis Paints the Lost Gardens of Heligan by Tania Merian | Art Plantae

Books

Heligan Wild: A Year of Nature in the Lost Gardens (1999) - by Colin Howlett (Author), Mally Francis (Illustrator), Angus Hudson (Illustrator), Tim Smit (Introduction)
Heligan Days - A Perpetual Diary (2005) - illustrated by Mally Francis

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RHS Botanical Art: NEW archive for past shows and exhibit titles

6/2/2019

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RHS Botanical Art Shows can now be found in four different places on my website:

RHS Botanical Art Shows - all about how to enter
ARCHIVE: RHS Botanical Art Shows (2007-2018)
ARCHIVE: Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows

I had a reorganisation of content material at the weekend followed by creating TWO NEW PAGES for

the archive material relating to past shows
the titles chosen by botanical artists for their Gold Medal winning exhibits at RHS Botanical Art Show.

What's now where is summarised below.

RHS Botanical Art Shows

RHS Botanical Art Shows - How to Exhibit

I took the opportunity of moving content around to edit and reposition some of the content on this page. It's now better organised, less repetitive but still works through the process of how to win an RHS Medal - from submitting work for approval to exhibit to the practicalities of getting

It covers:

an overview of the page
RHS Botanical Art and Photography Shows 2019 - in London and Malvern
RHS Botanical Art Shows 2020-2025 - applying to exhibit

"How to Exhibit" is then analysed in terms of

#1. Selection for new exhibitors - submission to be "approved to exhibit"
#2 The Selection Meeting - the approval process by the RHS
#3 How to apply for a space at a SPECIFIC RHS Exhibition of Botanical Art
#4 What to exhibit
#5 How botanical artwork is judged at the RHS Show
#6 How to win an RHS Gold Medal

MOVED
ARCHIVE: RHS Botanical Art Shows (2007-2018)

ARCHIVE: RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2018

The content relating to past RHS Botanical Art Shows is now on an entirely NEW DEDICATED PAGE.

This

provides an overview of the RHS Botanical Art Shows in recent years (2007-2018).
Lists Best Painting and Best Exhibit winners and the names of all RHS Gold Medal winners + the titles of their exhibits
Includes images of the shows and the botanical art and illustration which won prestigious awards.

In future I plan to add in all those botanical artists (and the names of their exhibits) who won Gold Medals in previous years. I plan a visit to the Lindley Library!

I'm aware I've only included the shows I've visited in London. However I'm very happy to start including all those GM winners that I know already - with exhibit title and year. Please either comment below with the data or expect to receive an email nudge in the future!

Tap pic to check out my recommendations

The Best Books about Botanical Art History, Artists & Illustrators

The Best Botanical Art Instruction Books

NEW! Exhibit Titles

Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows

The aim of this page is to demonstrate the range of exhibits which have been seen in the Lindley Hall in the last few years.

All the exhibit titles listed relate to the exhibits awarded an RHS Gold Medal at either London or Malvern.

I first listed all the titles and then tried to work out some categories for them - and came up with the list you see below. Exhibit titles are listed under one of the following categories:

Family or Genus Names
Exhibits related to specific locations/habitats
Habit / Lifecycle / Growth
Common and Generic Names
Medicinal Plants
Theme names related to botanical history
Unspecific Theme names
Unspecific / media related names
Mixed plant names

All the artists winning a Gold Medal are also identified by year and name.

I'm very happy to receive suggestions for how the categories might be improved. (Please comment below)

I intend to develop the page and also list the titles which were awarded different grades of medal. Speaking personally, I find it interesting to identify correlations between the exhibit title and the colour of the medal - and I've commented on this on this page.

The correlations will become more evident as I add in more exhibit titles.

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Botanical Art and Artists: looking back, looking forward

1/1/2019

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Today seems a good day to

look back at the momentous year for botanical art in 2018 and
look forward to what's happening in 2019 for botanical art and artists around the world

First I'd like extend all my readers my very best wishes for your botanical art and travels in 2019.

May your paper work properly, your brushes not drop hairs, your paints behave as they're supposed to, your pencils sharpen and keep their points, the frames arrive on time, your artwork not get lost on its travels post - and for you to discover new plants and tutors who inspire you to do more superb botanical artwork!

Botanical Art and Artists in 2018

I must confess I absolutely and totally ran out of steam re. covering botanical art towards the end of 2018 and had a very quiet few weeks towards the end of the year - despite a pile of books to review (which will now be reviewed this month - for all of you with money to spend from Christmas)!

Botanical Art Exhibitions

So much had been happening during the course of the year in relation to botanical art exhibitions around the world that I had to race to keep up - metaphorically speaking - for most of the year. (More literally, there was a point during the year when I could barely walk!). There were exhibitions I wanted to see that I just couldn't get to and ones which I've seen which I still need to write about....

Some of the Catalogues from the Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art currently on display at Kew

One of the main reasons for all this was the HUGELY successful Worldwide Exhibition of Botanical Art in 2018.

I LOVED seeing all the photos and videos about their exhibitions that people posted to Facebook and their websites. It really felt like a huge community effort by the botanical art community across the world.
I also loved writing the blog posts about all the exhibitors in the exhibitions (for which I had information). It was great to make contact with so many new groups (for me). I also learned so much about botanical artists worldwide - and all those who were listed in a blog post got a link to their website from mine!
In addition, it helped me write about a lot more artists across the world for my leading artist pages on the website

Decals decorate the exterior of the Gallery to mark the decade since it opened in April 2008.

Four other highlights were:

the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew and its one millionth visitor - see One millionth visitor to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art!
the visit by the Florilegium of RBG Sydney artists in April - for the exhibition of their work at Kew. See"The Florilegium: The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney" exhibition at Kew Gardens and List of artists exhibited in "Down Under II: Works from the Shirley Sherwood Collection". It was a simply stunning exhibition and I met some lovely ladies for the first time - and I very much enjoyed what I now call "Australia Day" (which reminds me I still need to upload all those photos of the artists and Herbarium visit to Dropbox for you!)
the largest ever RHS Botanical Art Show in July - at which 16 GOLD MEDALS were awarded(!!!) - see RHS London Botanical Art Show 2018 - Awards and Medal Winners. Hye Woo Shin went one better than her previous Best Exhibit Award and received a Judges Special Award for her exhibit of "Plants of Dokdu Island"

Hye Woo Shin and her Special Judges Award for her RHS exhibit "Plants of Dokdu Island"

New Pages in 2018

There were a number of new pages on the website in 2018 - and there are lot more in draft. Probably the new pages are of most interest to students of botanical art are the ones about

Online Botanical Art Courses. I'll be looking to developing this further in 2019.
NEW Books about Botanical Art and Illustration - new Instruction books will remain on this page for 12 months after publication

Traffic growth

Growth in traffic to my website has been exponential in 2018.
Traffic has been on a marked upward trend since the website started in 2015. However, traffic is now three times more than that in 2016.

Botanical Art And Artists Traffic in 2018: No. of unique visitors (blue) and pageviews (green) per month

In 2018 my website received (see chart below)

654,354 pageviews (green column)
469,482 unique visitors (blue column) to my website

At one point this summer, I started to think I might make it to 1,000,000 visitors to my website by the end of the year! However although this didn't quite happen - it will be happening very soon - probably end of February/March! (you can see my counter in the right hand column). I must think of some way of celebrating!

This year I need to get into training so I don't run out of steam!

Botanical Art and Artists in 2019

I'm looking forward to some more great things for botanical art and from botanical artists in 2019. I'm going to say a few words below about

my plans for my website in 2019
exhibitions in 2019

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