NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

RHS Botanical Art Show 2020 Selection Meeting - Postponed

19/3/2020

This is an update for:

those botanical artists hoping to be selected for future RHS Botanical Art Shows
those interested in exhibitions at the RHS Lindley Library
those interested in RHS Show updates.

Dr Shirley Sherwood and Charlotte Brooks at the Selection Meeting for the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2019 - in the RHS Council Chamber (photo courtesy of Deborah Lambkin)

Charlotte Brooks, the Art Curator of the RHS Lindley Library - and the Secretary of the RHS Picture Panel which deals with RHS Botanical Art Shows - wrote to me yesterday with an update on what has been cancelled and how things are moving forward with respect to other matters related to the RHS Botanical Art Show.

You can read her email below. KEY POINTS are:

2020 Selection Meeting is cancelled - but will be rescheduled in due course (depending on the coronavirus timescale). This meeting identifies those eligible to exhibit for the first time in future RHS Botanical Art Shows - including that taking place in 2021.
RHS Botanical Art Show 2020 - The RHS Shows Team are looking at options for possible rescheduling of cancelled shows (presumably only those which do not involve plants.)
Notices will go on the RHS website soon and will be updated as and when this is possible.

Dear Katherine,
As I’m sure you’re now aware, due to COVID 19, we had to cancel the Botanical Art and Photography Show yesterday. All of the exhibitors have now been informed and I have been in touch with the botanical artists via email. Further information is available on the RHS website https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/policies/coronavirus-statement

We have also had to postpone the 2020 Selection meeting, as the library is now closed until further notice and we are working from home. Notices are due to go up on the RHS website shortly and we will update the information as it becomes available.

The Shows team will be looking at the options and over the coming months work out what is possible regarding the shows. As and when we have more information, we’ll keep you updated. I will also re-schedule the Selection meeting, once we know how other things are working out.

Thank you for your support and I hope you and yours stay well.
All best wishes, Charlotte

Art Curator
RHS Lindley Library

See more (and larger) photos from the 2019 Selection meeting on Deborah Lambkin's Twitter feed

The Picture Panel in action at the 2019 Selection Meeting (Left to right: Helen Allen, Andrew Brown, Shirley Sherwood and Charlotte Brooks)

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In the meantime......

For those thinking about submitting botanical art or illustrations for selection for the RHS Botanical Art Shows at some future date, you might like to read more on this website about

the RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions
Archive of Past RHS Botanical Art Shows
and/or contemplate the page about Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows which I started a while back - which gives the titles used in the show along with images of some of the exhibits. It certainly provides food for thought - especially for those working from home!

Like Charlotte, I hope you are all keeping well and looking after your health.

Now's a good time to get on with drawing and painting plants and reading about and looking at botanical art in books and online!

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RHS Botanical Art Show 2020 CANCELLED

17/3/2020

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The RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show 2020 has been cancelled due to the formal coronavirus guidance issued by the UK Government yesterday.

Further to my blog post last week, RHS London - Botanical Art & Photography Show 2020, this morning's announcement by the RHS immediately follows the announcements at 5pm yesterday by the Government about:

injunctions to avoid mass gatherings
the need for much more social distancing within the wider community and
the need for social isolation for some vulnerable groups of people.

I was fully expecting this to happen and am not surprised. I am however a little surprised by the notion that this particular exhibition will not be held later in the year. Obviously all the show which involve plants also involve growers growing for a particular date. However that's not quite the same for Botanical Art and Botanical Photography. However given the uncertainty about how the coronavirus

RHS Libraries

In addition, the RHS Libraries at Vincent Square, RHS Garden Wisley and RHS Garden Harlow Carr will all close from 18 March 2020 (i.e. tomorrow). This effectively means that no public will be allowed on RHS premises.

I'm so sad for RHS Orchid Artist Deborah Lambkin as the exhibition of her work only opened a few days ago. I'd planned to go to see it this week!

You can see some of the images of her botanical illustrations from her exhibitionin her tweet online.

I'm sure it will left up and/or we'll get an opportunity to see it again at a later date.

So sad to hear @The_RHS shows cancelled and my @RHSLibraries exhibition will close tomorrow. Unprecedented times. I am so glad I saw it yesterday and I will now post a few photos of the exhibition here so you can see it. pic.twitter.com/sCFJjOu9hS
— Deborah Lambkin (@DeborahLambkin) March 17, 2020

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Royal Horticultural Society Gardens

For the record so far there has been no announcements about the RHS Gardens - other than the statement by Sue Biggs below

It's my expectation that the gardens may well stay open but all shopping and catering facilities may well be candidates for closure.

“As with everyone, we have no crystal ball, but for the time being we are planning our Summer Flower Shows and our Gardens remain open, as they are large outside spaces where people can escape in open space and benefit from some tranquillity and beauty, surrounded by nature – all things that are much needed during these unsettling times.

“Things of course may change, but whatever decisions we make, safety will be utmost in our mind and we will, like the rest of the world, be monitoring the situation closely.”
Sue Biggs RHS Director General

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RHS London - Botanical Art & Photography Show 2020

10/3/2020

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Just to confirm - the dates for this year's RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show are Friday 17th and Saturday 18th April 2020 - with a preview evening on Thursday 18th.

I've been in touch with the RHS (in the light of announcements yesterday by the Chief Medical Officer about moving into the "Delay" Phase in the next 10-14 days) and the current official RHS position is that:

The RHS is monitoring the current position very closely and carefully
The Picture Committee is in touch with all the participating artists
At present, the RHS still expects the show to go ahead - as planned
If anything changes the RHS will highlight this ASAP.

I will also highlight any change on this blog and also on my Facebook Page. (You can subscribe to my blog via the link below)

I will be highlighting the artists participating in this year's show in the near future - just as soon as that listing has been finalised.

For what it's worth, my personal view is that if the RHS do decide it is necessary to cancel this Show in April, the worst case scenario will be that will only be postponed and will then be held at a later date in 2020.

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The Winter Garden: Scented Sprigs and Feisty Flowers by Susan Christopher-Coulson

1/12/2019

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About the Winter Banner for 2019/20

"The Winter Garden: Scented Sprigs and Feisty Flowers" by Susan Christopher-Coulson (Shirley Sherwood Collection) coloured pencil

The Winter Garden: Scented Sprigs and Feisty Flowers by Susan Christopher-Coulson - in a cropped format - is the new banner on the homepage of my website and my Botanical Art and Artists Facebook Page.

This is the first contemporary botanical image I've used since I created my website four and half years ago. There are two reasons for this change:

the routine one - I change the banner to try and suit the season every three months on the 1st December, 1st March, 1st June and 1st September.
Winter has always been a bit of a challenge - except when using images from the Southern Hemisphere!

However, I was very pleased to spot this image of "The Winter Garden: Scented Sprigs and Feisty Flowers" by Susan Christopher-Coulson when reviewing the artwork hung in the Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art exhibition at Kew. It seemed very appropriate to me to honour the exhibition in some way over these winter months. When I saw her at the private view I asked whether I could use the image for the winter banner for my website and she very kindly agreed.

About Susan Christopher Coulson

Susan Christopher Coulson at the PV for Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery - where "The Winter Garden: Scented Sprigs and Feisty Flowers" is currently hanging

Susan Christopher Coulson GM (1999) VPSBA is a very experienced botanical artist and teacher of botanical art whose chosen medium is coloured pencils.

Susan was born in Durham and trained as a fashion and textile designer, graduating with a degree in Fashion and Textiles from Kingston Polytechnic in 1977. She then lived in London for several years while working in the fashion industry as a designer / illustrator. She returned north with a young family and the subjects she drew began to change from fashion to plants.

The Botanical Artist

She'd become interested in the plant world while on country walks with her father during her childhood - which is also when drawing with coloured pencil also started as her preferred form of artistic expression. As an adult she expanded her techniques

She focused on developing drawings based on natural subjects, including botanical, and expanding her coloured pencil techniques, which have been her preferred medium since childhood. Their potential to create rich tonal depths as well as subtle transitions and translucent colours is a constant fascination as are the infinite possibilities offered by the botanical subjects, which she prefers to draw directly from live subjects.

Awards

Her work has received a variety of awards

She was awarded two Royal Horticultural Society gold medals in 1999 and 2001.
At annual exhibitions of both the Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Floral Painters (now defunct)

Collections and other notable information

Her artwork is in the Shirley Sherwood Collection, the RHS Lindley Library Collection and The Florilegium archive at Sheffield Botanical Gardens, as well as numerous private collections in the UK and abroad.
She has also produced commissions for a number of clients (and this is how to contact Susan if you're interested in commissioning her or asking her to teach)
Her artwork has also featured in a number of books about botanical art, notably those associated with the Society of Botanical Artists.
She was one of the two Vice Presidents of the Society of Botanical Artists between 2010 and 2018.
She continues to teach botanical art - using coloured pencils around the UK (see below)

Group of coloured pencil drawings by Susan Christopher Coulson exhibited at the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2015. (top left) Cures from the Potager; (top right) Bean Counting: In Pursuit of Diversity; (bottom left ) Medieval Medicinals, from an Apothcary's Garden; (bottom right) Winter Greens: In pursuit of Form and Colour in the Winter Garden

The Teacher

Susan is a well known and experienced teacher of botanical art using coloured pencils.
Her Teaching page on her website details those venues in the UK where Susan will be teaching workshops. You'll also find her listed as both a teacher on my Teachers Page and her courses and workshops on my Courses Page for the UK

Susan Christopher Coulson demonstrating how to use coloured pencils for botanical art at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2016

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Future Banners

In future, I'm minded to use more CONTEMPORARY botanical artwork for the seasonal banner image. If botanical artists want to contact me with suggestions as to appropriate images - whether their own or ones by other contemporary botanical artists - I'd be very happy to receive and consider all suggestions.

I have two constraints:

the artist must be listed on my website (or eligible to list on my website)
The image needs to lend itself to a panoramic format for the banner - via cropping if required - whatever format it is created in. So verticals in a portrait format with wide empty spaces either side won't work - but a landscape or square format with horizontals (such as in Winter Flowers) does work.

Obviously all contemporary botanical artwork is subject to copyright when used in this way and the artist must agree to the use of the image for a banner.

By way of credit I always create a link on the home page to the source of the image e.g. the artist's own website. (Try clicking the small image on the home page to see what I mean)

Do leave a comment below if you're interested in providing an image and/or would like to suggest a suitable image for future banners.

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Janie Pirie's Life in Roses - book and exhibition

3/11/2019

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Next week, gold-medal winning botanical artist Janie Pirie is having a solo exhibition at the Mall Galleries of illustrations of roses - which has taken three years to develop - and launching her new book.

Rosa is an exhibition of roses illustrated by RHS gold medallist Janie Pirie. This is a new body of botanical art to coincide with the launch of a book of the same name. "Rosa - a Life in Roses" | Mall Galleries

Exhibition: Rosa - a life in Roses

Rosa - A Life in Roses - the exhibition - comprises 36 drawings in coloured pencils of different varieties of roses. It's on display at the Mall Galleries in London and I'll be visiting later this week. It's taken three years to develop.

Venue: the North Gallery, the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London, SW1
Dates: between Tuesday 5th and Sunday 10th November 2019
Hours: 10 am to 5pm daily except 10th November when the exhibition closes at 1pm.
Sales: All work is for sale (unless previously purchased. Copies of the book will be on sale as well as the originals.

Janie Pirie or a colleague will be on hand during the exhibition to answer the questions of any visitors or purchasers.

"Rosa - A Life In Roses": some of the images by Janie Pirie - in the exhibition AND in the book

Book: 'Rosa - A Life in Roses'

Only 1,000 copies of Janie Pirie's new book are being printed.

I've not seen it yet but understand that

it's a limited edition coffee-table book measuring approx. 29cm / 11 inches square with a "lay flat" binding.
The linen-bound hardback book is presented in a slipcase with the same linen covering as the book and finished to a high quality.
almost all the roses are shown one to a double page spread.

The first edition of ROSA is a limited edition of 500 copies, priced at £100.00.
The Special Collectors' Edition will be numbered and signed by the artist and comprise the first 250 copies of the First Edition. It's priced at £120.00 however it also includes an A4 print of one of Janie's favourite rose portraits; 'Comte de Champagne'.
You can find out more here
It will be on sale at the exhibition.

About Janie Pirie

Janie Pirie has two RHS Gold Medals for her botanical illustrations.

In 2009, at RHS Malvern Show, she was awarded the accolade of ‘Best Botanical Artist in Show' and a Gold Medal for her series of paintings of orchard fruits.
She was awarded a second Gold Medal, also at Malvern, in 2014.
Janie has also exhibited at the 13th International Exhibition of the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, USA.

Janie is:

a member of the Society of Botanical Artists and is also a tutor on their Distance Learning Course.
a member of the UK Coloured Pencil Society and shows her work at their annual exhibitions where she has been awarded "Best In Show", "Runner-up Best in Show" and "Best Botanical".

She studied illustration at the Colchester School of Art before combining a career in illustration with one involved with public relations and marketing for a leading seed company. She has worked as a professional artist for some years and also runs art workshops in her garden studio at her home in the Dedham Vale on the Essex/Suffolk borders and at other venues around the UK.

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RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019 - Awards and Medal Winners

24/7/2019

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This post is about who won which award and which colour of medal at the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2019.

Below you can read about

which artists won Awards for outstanding botanical artwork
the names of artists and exhibits which won different colour medals - and some images of the Gold Medal winners

There are:

10 Gold Medals ( UK x 5; Japan x 4; Russia x 1;)
8 Silver Gilt Medals
10 Silver Medals
2 Bronze Medals

Links in the names of artists are generally to their websites where you can see more about their botanical artwork.

If you'd like to read more bout the individual artists, please refer to Exhibiting artists at the RHS Botanical Art Show 2019

Awards for outstanding botanical artwork

There are three Awards this year - which were awarded as follows:

Best Botanical Painting 2019: Mariko Ikeda GM (2017-2019): P.Tectorius ‘En Khelen’ - Mariko is developing an excellent track record. She won Best Exhibit in her first exhibit and Best Painting this time.
Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2019: Naomi Gumma GM (2019): The Lifecycle of the Shimonita Welsh Onion Naomi's art extends well beyond her botanical painting - see the video below (in the Gold Medal section) of her dance associated with her exhibit.
Judges’ Special Award 2019: Betsy Rogers-Knox: Exploring the Seasons at Beckley Bog - This was awarded because of the significant educational value about plants growing in a specific environment of Betsy's images.

Best Botanical Painting 2019: Mariko Ikeda GM (2017-2019)

Best Botanical Art Exhibit 2019: Naomi Gumma GM (2019): The Lifecycle of the Shimonita Welsh Onion

Judges’ Special Award 2019: Betsy Rogers-Knox

RHS Gold Medals 2019

There are ten Gold Medals. It's important to also note that

Four previous GM winners repeated their GM from their last exhibition and
Four previous GM winners did not win a GM this time.

Just because you have won a GM before there is no guarantee you can repeat this. The medal is awarded for a specific exhibit not the botanical Artist per se.

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How RHS medals for Botanical Art are assessed

23/7/2019

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For those coming to the RHS London Botanical Art Show this week - and those watching social media and reading online - you may be interested in how a botanical art exhibit at an RHS Botanical Art Show is assessed for

whether it should receive a medal and
what sort of medal it should get.

Gold Medals are only given for exhibits of outstanding quality, whatever their diversity of approach, or visual impact
Gillian Barlow, Chair of the RHS Picture Panel (in RHS Botanical Illustration - the Gold Medal Winners)

Candidates who have been approved to exhibit must submit at least six works - preferably on a theme.

You can earn extra marks if you illustrate a plant family.

ASSESSMENT: KEY POINTS are:

very high standards are essential
the emphasis should be on botanical accuracy with aesthetic appeal

The Picture Panel Judges always:

assess as botanical illustration
review botanical content and accuracy
review artistic and aesthetic effect
assess overall impression and how this has been achieved
assess the whole exhibit; marks are awarded for presentation of the exhibit as well as accuracy and quality of the artwork

The best botanical illustration successfully combines scientific accuracy with visual appeal. It must portray a plant with the precision and level of detail for it to be recognised and distinguished from another species.

Two of the botanical illustrations by Hye Woo Shin (RHS Botanical Art Show 2018) - which resulted in a Judges’ Special Award 2018 for ‘ Plants in Dokdo Island’

As a technical discipline, botanical illustration emphasizes the depiction of accurate information, documenting the anatomical and functional aspect of a plant throughout its life cycle.

Judges want to see.....

My suggestions of things you need to do to deliver on what judges are looking for are indicated in bullet points below.

This summary is based on discussions over time with both Judges and artists who have had feedback from Judges - and highlights some of the frequent problem areas which I hear about again and again. (I'll be updating and amending after this week's show!)

All quotes in green (except for the first above) are drawn from the Exhibitor Fact Sheet

Artwork should be life size and if not, a scale must be evident.

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