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This is about:
This morning I updated the RHS Botanical Arts Shows page on my website which is dedicated to:
I've done a radical edit of the content and sequencing of information to make it more logical. It now includes sections for:
RHS Botanical Art Show 2018
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Four Gold Medals, four Silver-Gilt Medals and two bronze medals were awarded for the Botanical Photography Exhibits at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last week.
Details of the photographers and the exhibits are below. You can also
By way of contrast you also have the dedicated botanical photographers who have notched up Gold and/or Silver Gilts at previous exhibitions, who work long and hard on their projects and are sometimes quite intensely botanical! Note that the GM suffix indicates that the individual has won an RHS Gold Medal at a previous show(s). Best Portfolio Photography Exhibit
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| Botanical Art in the UK provides:
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| Botanical Art Collections in the UK provides links to the permanent collections of original botanical art by the past and more contemporary masters in:
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| Botanical Art Exhibitions at Major Art Galleries and Museums in the UK has links to current and upcoming exhibitions at:
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| There is also an ARCHIVE web page for The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew: Exhibition Archive (2008-2016) . This is the ONLY online archive in the world. Besides highlighting the exhibitions it also highlights the books about the exhibitions which are still available. |  |
| RHS Botanical Art Shows provides:
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| Botanical Art Exhibitions in England and Wales provides links to information about exhibitions by:
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| Botanical Art Exhibitions in Scotland covers international, national and local exhibitions of botanical art by BISCOT, RGBE projects, and the national and local botanical art societies and groups. |  |
| The website includes an ARCHIVE of Past Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK. This is a listing for the more significant botanical art exhibitions in the UK in recent years. From which you can see which places, organisations, galleries and artists have been the most active. It also includes links to relevant exhibition guides which are still available. |  |
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The School of Botanical Art and Illustration (SBAI) at Denver Botanic Garden won an RHS Gold Medal for their exhibit of Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi at Altitude at the 2017 RHS London Botanical Art Show at the end of February
It's really difficult to win an RHS Gold Medal.
It's even more difficult if you are trying to win as a group - where every single artist has to achieve the GM standard. That's because Gold Medals are awarded on the basis of the weakest image in the portfolio and you can't afford to have any one artist not meet the mark.
That's by way of a preamble to explain why what the School of Botanical Illustration achieved was very significant.
It's really difficult to win an RHS Gold Medal.
It's even more difficult if you are trying to win as a group - where every single artist has to achieve the GM standard. That's because Gold Medals are awarded on the basis of the weakest image in the portfolio and you can't afford to have any one artist not meet the mark.
That's by way of a preamble to explain why what the School of Botanical Illustration achieved was very significant.
Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski and the lower altitude half of the Rocky Mountains exhibit
Each of the images had a very detailed label and explanation about the plant including:
The images were then ordered (left to right) by elevation.
You can find/see:
- complete botanical name
- altitude it was collected at
- background to the name
- highlights of important botanical aspects
- explanation about its economic and cultural significance in the area
The images were then ordered (left to right) by elevation.
You can find/see:
- a dedicated blog about the exhibit online - Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude. The preamble in the blog post provides the rationale behind the exhibit and choice of plants.
- a Facebook album of the images contributed to the SBAI exhibit by the nine artist instructors at SBAI
- a Facebook album of photos of the RHS Show taken by Mervi
Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude Exhibit - five plates from higher altitude levels.
The exhibit was made up of nine drawings and paintings by the core of teachers who regularly provide botanical art and illustration instruction at the Denver Botanic Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration and two alumni They are:
- Plate 1 Yucca harrimaniae (watercolour and graphite) by Constance Sayas
- Plate 2: Mirabilis multiflora (watercolour pencil) by Renee Jorgensen
- Plate 3: Castilleja integra (watercolour pencil and graphite) by Charlotte Ricker
- Plate 4: Ericameria nauseosa (pen and ink) by Libby Kyer
- Plate 5: Colorado mushrooms (pen and ink) by Marjorie Leggitt
- Plate 6: Lupinus argenteus (coloured pencil) by Susan Rubin
- Plate 7: Frasera speciosa (coloured pencil on Mylar )by Anne Reiser
- Plate 8: Aquilegia caerulea (egg tempera) by Laurence Pierson
- Plate 9: Four tundra plants (ink, brush and quill) by Susan DiMarchi
- Plate 10: Cirsium scopulorum (graphite and coloured pencil) by Randall Raak
Exhibit Listing of Faculty Contributors
Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, the Manager of SBAI brought the exhibition to London and talked to me about what's involved in creating a group exhibit.
The aim of the exhibition was to show the quality of the School and the calibre of its instructors. The best way to do that was to go to somewhere completely neutral and see what they thought - and where better than the RHS Botanical Art Show!
The feedback she got about the exhibit was firstly that it was very rare to have a Gold Medal winning exhibit by a group. (I know I've seen a number which have done well - but fallen short of a Gold Medal).
In terms of queries from the public, everybody was very interested in the variety of media used eg the frosted mylar used for coloured pencil which gives the impression of vellum.
The aim of the exhibition was to show the quality of the School and the calibre of its instructors. The best way to do that was to go to somewhere completely neutral and see what they thought - and where better than the RHS Botanical Art Show!
The feedback she got about the exhibit was firstly that it was very rare to have a Gold Medal winning exhibit by a group. (I know I've seen a number which have done well - but fallen short of a Gold Medal).
In terms of queries from the public, everybody was very interested in the variety of media used eg the frosted mylar used for coloured pencil which gives the impression of vellum.
What it takes to produce a good group exhibit
We talked about what Mervi found essential to getting the exhibit together at a standard which made it possible for them to win Gold.
This year I got permission from the RHS to video the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017. This way those who aspire to enter in future - or have been thinking about visiting - can
my comments about the exhibition itself.....
- see what the exhibition is like and
- see what sort of standards people need to achieve to get exhibited.
my comments about the exhibition itself.....
RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017
Three Gold Medal winning exhibits together got a lot of attention - top: Shirley Slocock; middle Denver Botanic Garden School of Botanical Art and Illustration and bottom Kathy Pickles
This year's show was slightly smaller than the one in 2016. It was planned to have 29 artists (35 in 2016) from 10 different countries (10 in 2016). In reality due to two artists pulling out late on due to the serious ill-health of close family members, the exhibition was reduced to 26 artists from 8 different countries.
As both of the artists who didn't exhibit are also previous Gold Medal Winners, the number of Gold Medals awarded may also have been reduced. This year it was 9 compared to 13 in 2016.
Although the quality of work at the top end was good, initially I thought there was more variability in standards across the whole exhibition when compared to the last show in London. However when I did the medal count, this simply wasn't true in terms of medals the situation was as follows:
You can Download the list of 2017 awards (57kB pdf)
As both of the artists who didn't exhibit are also previous Gold Medal Winners, the number of Gold Medals awarded may also have been reduced. This year it was 9 compared to 13 in 2016.
Although the quality of work at the top end was good, initially I thought there was more variability in standards across the whole exhibition when compared to the last show in London. However when I did the medal count, this simply wasn't true in terms of medals the situation was as follows:
- Gold Medals 9 (13 in 2016)
- Silver Gilt: 10 (8 in 216)
- Silver: 5 (11 in 2016)
- Bronze: 2 (1 in 2016)
You can Download the list of 2017 awards (57kB pdf)
Crowds throughout the exhibition inbetween the Pandanus Best Exhibit and the Root Vegetables Life Cycle which has Best Painting
As always I was able to walk round the show and spot the Gold Medal exhibits before I saw the Medal Card attached to their stand. That's because there's something different about a Gold medal-winning exhibit. They stand out. They're unique. They're very high quality.
Some examples:
Some examples:
- the exhibit is highly botanical (e.g. Keiko Fujita's Bamboo or Mariko Ikeda's Pandanus or Denver's Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with altitude or Annie Hughes Eucalyptus)
- the exhibit is very specifically habitat related (e.g. the Denver Rocky Mountain exhibit or Shirley Slocock's Wayside tracks and verges which documented the wild flowers growing in specific locations or Suyein Kim's Endemic Plants of Korea
- alternatively, the exhibit is highly horticultural (never ever forget the RHS is a horticultural society!) (e.g. Bridget Gillespie's Root Vegetables: Life Cycle)
- the artist has produced more than is asked for - at a consistent high quality e.g. Kathy Pickle's Clematis and Mayumi Ishi's Roses.
- the artist has a track record of producing high quality exhibits - I only have to see the artist! (e.g. Annie Hughes and Kathy Pickles).
BOTANICAL (Plant Family): Growth of Bamboo in Japan by Keiko Fujita (Japan)
HABITAT: Rocky Mountains: Plants and Funghi with Altitude - Half of the ​exhibit by the instructors of the Denver School of Botanical Art & Illustration ​(USA - Colorado)
HORTICULTURAL: Root vegetables: Life Cycle by Bridget Gillespie GM
The RHS this year for the first time produced a board explaining how they assess the exhibits. While insiders and those with a copy of what used to be a hard to find document which listed the criteria knew what was important, this wasn't always immediately apparent to those visiting the show. Hence you'd get people liking exhibits because it was very pretty - and not realising that there were issues which meant that the exhibit got marked down.
So the key things which judges are looking for are:
So the key things which judges are looking for are:
- botanical accuracy
- exact colour reproduction
- attention to detail
- aesthetic appeal - it needs to look good
- individual quality of the drawings or paintings
- the way the whole exhibit is presented - in terms of botanical content and artistic effect. This includes labels identifying plants and other explanations.
- Exhibits attracting a higher award tend to be given to exhibits illustrating a particular theme OF plant family
I'm not sure everybody has quite got the message that it's not just about having a theme but rather it's about having a theme related to a specific plant family.
UPDATE: A very experienced exhibitor has written to me and suggested that the "of" (above) may have been a typo and SHOULD have been "or" as per the printed guidelines. In which case this is less of a change than it looked at first! I'm writing to the Picture Panel to check. However I'd observe that the higher medals do by and large go to exhibits with a strong botanical, horticultural or habitat theme.
UPDATE: A very experienced exhibitor has written to me and suggested that the "of" (above) may have been a typo and SHOULD have been "or" as per the printed guidelines. In which case this is less of a change than it looked at first! I'm writing to the Picture Panel to check. However I'd observe that the higher medals do by and large go to exhibits with a strong botanical, horticultural or habitat theme.
Climbers growing in my Devon Garden by Kate Barling (Silver Medal)
For example, Kate Barling had a very pretty exhibit which was well presented and had great explanations of all her plants in labels underneath each one - and it won her a Silver Medal.
However, while "Climbers growing in my Devon Garden" might represent a coherent theme, it misses out on having an emphasis on
There was a clear lesson at the show for all those who find mixing and painting greens to be a bit of a challenge and that came in the form of all the green leaves in Bridget Gillespie's exhibit of Root Vegetables: Life Cycle where differences in green within and between plants were much more evident within this Gold Medal winning exhibit.
That for me is the value of visiting the show and why all those who can visit easily should make a point of doing so - and making the date of your visit non-negotiable!
However, while "Climbers growing in my Devon Garden" might represent a coherent theme, it misses out on having an emphasis on
- one botanical plant family; or
- a specific habitat for wild plants or flowers or
- an emphasis on a horticultural plant family.
There was a clear lesson at the show for all those who find mixing and painting greens to be a bit of a challenge and that came in the form of all the green leaves in Bridget Gillespie's exhibit of Root Vegetables: Life Cycle where differences in green within and between plants were much more evident within this Gold Medal winning exhibit.
That for me is the value of visiting the show and why all those who can visit easily should make a point of doing so - and making the date of your visit non-negotiable!
RHS minimum exhibit requirements back in 2011 was 8 paintings
I heard a new theme at this year's show. Judges telling exhibitors that they don't need to do so many paintings! Apparently, the Picture Panel judges are getting a bit anxious whether there is a new trend to submit more than six paintings.
I'm wondering if this is maybe a "new judge" thing because those of us who have been painting for the RHS for a long time AND those of us visiting RHS for some time well remember when the minimum requirement for an exhibit was EIGHT artworks (not six as it is now). Above is a photo I took at the 2011 show in the Lindley Hall - where each exhibit very clearly has 8 paintings.
Below are three of Kathy Pickles's Clematis paintings. While for most people this would be half her exhibit, for Kathy this is just a quarter of her exhibit. There are nine more! However Kathy goes way back in terms of painting for the RHS. This was her seventh Gold Medal and she got her first back in the early 90s.
I'm wondering if this is maybe a "new judge" thing because those of us who have been painting for the RHS for a long time AND those of us visiting RHS for some time well remember when the minimum requirement for an exhibit was EIGHT artworks (not six as it is now). Above is a photo I took at the 2011 show in the Lindley Hall - where each exhibit very clearly has 8 paintings.
Below are three of Kathy Pickles's Clematis paintings. While for most people this would be half her exhibit, for Kathy this is just a quarter of her exhibit. There are nine more! However Kathy goes way back in terms of painting for the RHS. This was her seventh Gold Medal and she got her first back in the early 90s.
Three of the 12 paintings of Clematis by Kathy Pickles GM - for her 7th Gold Medal.
I gather the point being made is that the Judges have to look at each and every painting in an exhibit really carefully - and on average look at them all four times (or is that four different judges looking at each painting?). This is because the grade of medal you get is based on the weakest painting. While this may be a complete joy if the exhibit wins a Gold Medal, it's less so if the exhibit isn't up to this standard. However even Mrs Ishi who won a Gold for her roses was advised to paint fewer paintings next time if she wants to exhibit her roses again.
I think the other thing that influences this injunction not to paint too many paintings is that as the show gets bigger it will become intolerable for the judges if all the exhibitors start painting more than six.
I predict if it becomes a major problem, then it will be addressed by telling exhibitors when they arrive that they can hang six and that's it. So if you do paint more than six, think on - there may come a time when extra paintings won't help in any way.
I think the other thing that influences this injunction not to paint too many paintings is that as the show gets bigger it will become intolerable for the judges if all the exhibitors start painting more than six.
I predict if it becomes a major problem, then it will be addressed by telling exhibitors when they arrive that they can hang six and that's it. So if you do paint more than six, think on - there may come a time when extra paintings won't help in any way.
Video of the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017
Below is my video of the exhibition:
I hope you enjoy it. Do let me know what you think.
(Also can I apologise, it was supposed to be in HD but didn't turn out that way for some reason I have yet to identify!)
- It starts with an overview of the entrance and what the entire exhibition looks like.
- This is followed by an explanation of the standards for the exhibition and what judges look for when assessing the artwork.
- Individual exhibits by artists are then ordered into sections according to the colour of medal they achieved - starting with the Gold Medals.
- each video of each individual exhibit is annotated with the name of the artist, the country they come from and the title of the exhibit.
I hope you enjoy it. Do let me know what you think.
(Also can I apologise, it was supposed to be in HD but didn't turn out that way for some reason I have yet to identify!)
If you're interested in entering The RHS Botanical Art Show in 2018, you will need to first be approved to exhibit.
- The process for how this happens is outlined on my page about the RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions.
- Plus the process for getting from thinking about an application to actually exhibiting is set out on my NEW PAGE about Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winners.
More about the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017
Past blog posts include:
- Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallists 2017 - from Asia and Australia
- RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017 - Medal Winners
- Best Exhibit and Best Painting in RHS Botanical Art 2017
- Artists' Exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017
- RHS Botanical Art 2017 - Selected Artists
- Who's exhibiting at RHS Botanical Art (London) 2017?
- RHS Botanical Art Shows in 2017 - the FAQS
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This is the first of three posts with information from interviews with the nine RHS Gold Medallists at the London Botanical Art Show 2017.
I've been interviewing RHS Gold Medallists since 2011 and you'll find a list of previous interviews at the end of this post. This post covers five artists who won medals in 2017:
Japan
Upcoming posts will cover
I've been interviewing RHS Gold Medallists since 2011 and you'll find a list of previous interviews at the end of this post. This post covers five artists who won medals in 2017:
Japan
- Keiko Fujita GM - Growth of Bamboo in Japan
- Mariko Ikeda GM (Japan) - Pandanus
- Mayumi Ishii GM (Japan) - Roses
- Suyeon Kim GM (South Korea) - Endemic Plants of Korea
- Annie Hughes GM (2011, 2012, 2013, 2017) (Australia) Eucalyptus of Western Australia
Upcoming posts will cover
- interviews with three artists from the UK and one group from the USA who also won RHS Gold Medals for their Botanical Art.
- Tips from Gold Medal Artists.
ASIA
Keiko Fujita GM (Japan - Tokyo)
Keiko Fujita - Growth of Bamboo in Japan (RHS 2017)
Keiko Fujita GM lives in Tokyo, Japan. She's been a botanical artist for the last 19 years and prior to that was an interior designer. Her art career started by studying at art school and then her son started to study ecology at his junior high school. His homework involved botanical paintings and that's the point at which she became interested in botanical art. Subsequently she found an adult education night school which provided a class. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists.
Growth of Bamboo in Japan by Keiki Fujita (RHS 2017)
Her exhibit is about the Growth of Bamboo in Japan. She chose bamboo as it's a famous plant associated with Japan. Everybody knows about "Bamboo" (eg that it's very invasive) but nobody knows the different species!
She first had the idea for the exhibit seven years ago and started doing her research, finding plants and planning her exhibit. She finally started on the painting two years ago and each painting took about 3-4 months to do.
The paintings she produced:
She first had the idea for the exhibit seven years ago and started doing her research, finding plants and planning her exhibit. She finally started on the painting two years ago and each painting took about 3-4 months to do.
The paintings she produced:
- reflect the changes in the plant across the seasons.
- highlight the differentiating features of the different species which are sometimes very small. She used macro drawings within circles to highlight the very important differentiating features. Her labels beneath the paintings then explained each circle in terms of the technical terms for the different plant features.
Mariko Ikeda GM (Japan - Tochigi) - Winner of Best Exhibit 2017
Mariko Ikeda GM's Pandanus won Best Exhibit in Show and, unsurprisingly, it had lots of people looking at it and talking about for the duration of the show! (It's more commonly known as the screw pine).
Mariko took a botanical illustration class with Jenny Phillips in Sydney in 1999. Then studied Art and Design at University followed by a Ph.D in the Sciences of Art at the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba. Recently she took a botanical illustration class with Mikeo Ishikawa in 2015.
She lives in Tochigi and has been a Botanical Art Instructor at the Gakushuin University Lifelong Learning Centre in Tokyo since 2006. She's a member of the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration and the American Society of Botanical Artists. However she has not exhibited widely.
Mariko took a botanical illustration class with Jenny Phillips in Sydney in 1999. Then studied Art and Design at University followed by a Ph.D in the Sciences of Art at the Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba. Recently she took a botanical illustration class with Mikeo Ishikawa in 2015.
She lives in Tochigi and has been a Botanical Art Instructor at the Gakushuin University Lifelong Learning Centre in Tokyo since 2006. She's a member of the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration and the American Society of Botanical Artists. However she has not exhibited widely.
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