NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Flowers and Fruit - solo show by Kathy Pickles

23/9/2018

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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Marianne Hazlewood - first solo exhibition

5/8/2018

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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.

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