NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Fiona Strickland: Tulipa - a review of her second solo exhibition

7/9/2020

Fiona Strickland: Tulipa Exhibition opened last week at the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in Park Walk, Chelsea. Below you can find my review and images of the exhibition and what Fiona told me about her painting when we met up for lunch on Thursday last week. Plus more about Fiona and the presentation of the paintings at the end.

This is Fiona Strickland's second - and much awaited - solo exhibition after The Vital Moment in 2016. So much so that Botanical art collectors and lovers of heritage tulips had bought a number of her paintings before Tulipa opened!

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND botanical artists pay a visit. It's a rare exhibition of botanical artwork of a very high quality. I'm very sure that all those who work in vellum and all those who aspire to do must surely want to visit - because Fiona sets a benchmark which has been rarely equalled or exceeded. Besides - I also know a number of botanical artists, like me, are also botanical art collectors!

Do not forget your magnifier to see if you can spot her brush strokes!

You have until 26 September to visit the Exhibition (and must book a visiting time in advance due to social distancing requirements)

If you can't get to Chelsea you can either:

view the images of the paintings on the Gallery website
view the images in the Tulip Exhibition Catalogue on Issuu
get your own Catalogue of the exhibition - and a reference for the future. (I've taken to collecting catalogues and I can tell you they only get more expensive over time - now is very much the best time to acquire one!)

I went to see Tulipa on Thursday but met up with Fiona Strickland and her husband Robert McNeill for lunch in Chelsea beforehand. We had a wonderful catch-up since our last "chinwag" at the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2019 and I asked her about the exhibition.

Fiona Strickland with Robert McNeill and a Group of English Florists Tulips

This exhibition of stunning tulips should have been held in prime Tulip season back in Spring. However it was not to be. Like so many others, this exhibition was opening late - having, of course, been postponed due to the Pandemic.

It has been more than two years in the making - tulips only bloom in the spring!

The timescale was in part determined by Fiona's decision to paint some of the English Florists' tulips which are only available from the Wakefield and North of England Tulip Society - who have been showing them since 1836! This is the sole surviving Tulip Society in the UK - which grows heritage tulips (including English Florists' Tulip which are characterised by the flamed and feathered markings caused by Tulip Breaking Virus - which made them highly valued during Tulipomania). They also supplied Rory McEwen with tulips for his paintings. Indeed two of the tulip paintings in the show are of Tulipa ‘Rory McEwen’, a Bybloemen Flame tulip that was named in McEwen’s honour. One on Kelmscott Vellum and one on Rory McEwen Kelmscott bequeathed to her by the Hunt Institute where his vellum supplies now reside.

Like Rory McEwen before her, having learned of its work Strickland became a member, and was delighted to be gifted prize- winning tulips from its annual show to depict in her work. Carefully transporting them home in the brown beer bottles in which they are exhibited, after painting these perfect specimens Strickland could not bear to part with them, and has preserved their dried forms in her studio. Catalogue

There are eighteen watercolour paintings of tulips in this solo show - predominantly English Florists' Tulips - of which thirteen have now sold.

You can see a SLIDESHOW of my photographs of the show below.
- Click top left for the automatic rendering
- or top right to take your time going through the photos.
- (Note the numbering in the gallery is not the same as the online exhibition).
I'm also going to upload larger versions of the same photos to my Facebook Page in an album after publishing this post.

0 Comments

View "Tulipa" by Fiona Strickland online!

17/8/2020

0 Comments

The Tulipa Exhibition by Fiona Strickland at the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in Chelsea opens on 2nd September (until 26 September 2020). However the exhibition has been published on his website and - as you can clearly see from the exhibits online (and the image below) - sales have already been made.

You can see from the website (and the catalogue) that Fiona's new paintings of tulips are all watercolour on Kelmscott Vellum and most are small to medium sized paintings - making them more affordable than her much larger paintings. "Affordable" in this context is very much defined by the fact she is one of the leading botanical artists in the world who is very popular with collectors. So if you're thinking of buying a painting by Fiona, I'd act sooner rather than later.

You can

view the exhibition catalogue online at Issuu and it's also available for sale.
book a time slot for a personal appointment to see the exhibition via the following link: https://app.artsvp.co/7c47cb

I should probably add at this point that some of my prized possessions are catalogues of past exhibitions by leading botanical artists. Many of these are now extremely difficult to buy and very expensive when you do. So my very strong recommendation if you're unable to get to see this exhibition in London is to buy a catalogue. You won't regret it.

Fiona Strickland Tulipa at Joanathan Cooper Gallery

"Tulipa" by Fiona Strickland at the Jonathan Cooper Gallery - online now and selling!

Exhibition Title: Tulipa
Dates: 2-24 September 2020
Venue: Jonathan Cooper Gallery
Address: 20 Park Walk, London, SW10 0AQ
Hours: Gallery in currently open Monday - Saturday
(appointments encouraged - ring +44 (0) 207 351 0410)

0 Comments

Flowers and Fruit - solo show by Kathy Pickles

23/9/2018

0 Comments

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.

Subscribe to BAA News
Blog posts are emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email
Your subscription is: ONLY to this blog + ONLY activated IF you verify the link you will receive.
It will NOT be used for anything else and will NEVER be given to anybody else.
You can unsubscribe at any time

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:

0 Comments

Marianne Hazlewood - first solo exhibition

5/8/2018

0 Comments

The occasion of a first solo exhibition for a botanical artist is very special - and I like to try and highlight those who are trying to make a career as a professional artist.

Fernation Verdation © Marianne Hazlewood

This is about the first solo exhibition by Marianne Hazlewood at the Pittenweem Festival on the coast of Fife in Scotland.

The 2018 festival is

a celebration of the visual arts and features 132 artists and 9 galleries.
it takes place in galleries, homes, studios and other venues.

Below you can:

find out about Marianne Hazlewood
view images of her exhibition
find out where to see her work in person at the Festival
learn more about the Pittenweem Festival

About Marianne Hazlewood

Marianne began painting plants in evening classes at the botanics in Edinburgh a few years ago. She belongs to the "seduced by a Rory McEwen exhibition" fraternity and started her studies at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh after seeing an exhibition of his work in Edinburgh.

Painting plants developed into something of an obsession for her and she completed the Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2017:

She is now making her way as a full time artist and this is her first solo exhibition, although she has successfully exhibited previously in Group Exhibitions.

She loves structure and pattern and this infuses a lot of her work - and is probably one of the main reasons why I like it to much - apart from the very high quality of the work she produces!

Marianne is a member of the Scottish Society of Botanical Artists, the Edinburgh Society of Botanical Artists and the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Marianne Hazlewood - Solo Exhibition

Marianne's exhibition can be found at Venue 26, 4 West Shore, Pittenweem Arts Festival. From the harbour, keep walking along the lane that goes along the rocky beach right the way along.

Her show is made up of work pre and post Diploma.

Fernation Vernation (see top image) is an exploration into the lush verdant nature of ferns and the diversity in their structures (these were shown previously at BISCOT).

Arisaema Growth Cycle - in watercolour - © Marianne Hazlewood

Arisaema Growth Cycle is a study using different botanical illustration techniques (watercolour and pen and ink) to demonstrate the seasonal development of these fascinating Cobra Lilies.

Marianne is particularly excited about having the full life cycle up on the wall. This is the vision she had in mind when working her way through the series of illustrations.

Arisaema Growth Cycle - in pen and ink - © Marianne Hazlewood

Cards and small works by Marianne Hazlewood

Her show has some original work for sale, various small pieces that she worked on for her portfolio, whilst completing the Diploma, and also features much more affordable artworks in terms of prints and cards .

Portfolio works by Marianne Hazlewood

The Pittenweem Arts Festival 4-12th August 2018

Pittenweem in the East Neuk of Fife is home to around 30 artists and craft designers. The festival was begun in 1982 by several of these resident artists. Each August since then, it has grown to include 100 or so artists and makers from all over Britain who exhibit in houses, studios, galleries and public spaces throughout the village.
About Pittenweem Festival

The Festival opened yesterday and continues until Sunday 12th August 2018.

There is a stewarded car park to make parking easy. Their festival brochure provides a complete guide to the wide variety of exhibitions, workshops, talks, children’s events and evening performances, all related to the arts

Marianne visited the festival last year and was inspired by the work and the community of artists who work together towards creating a show. She considers she was extremely lucky to get a place. When enquiring she tells me that she heard the term “hen’s teeth” more than once!

I'm very impressed by the quality of both her work and the attention paid to presentation at her venue. It looks gorgeous and I only wish I was closer so I could pay a visit.

0 Comments