NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Over 1,000 attend Worldwide Day of Botanical Art 2025 at Kew Gardens

19/5/2025

Yesterday I attended the second Worldwide Day of Botanical Art 2025 at Kew Gardens, having also been there for the first in 2018 (see Nearly 1,000 people at Kew for Worldwide Day of Botanical Art). According to the event manager, their record of visitors suggested it beat the attendance record for the last event with over 1,000 visitors between 10.30am and 4.00pm.

The first talk of the day: Dianne Marshall - Introduction to Botanical Art - with Dr Shirley Sherwood watching

Last time the event was held in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art - which strained at the seams somewhat in 2018! This time it was held in

the Nash Conservatory - a very large and light space near the East Gate - which coped very well - and
the Sir Joseph Banks Building, a short distance away which is normally off limits to the public.

I confess I was absolutely amazed at the numbers of people attending each one of the talks and the numbers coming and going throughout the day. Many stayed all day.

The Nash Conservatory - the main hub at Kew on the Worldwide Day of Botanical 2025

The Nash Conservatory was used for

a welcome by Dr Shirley Sherwood
the various talks held throughout the day and
various stands about botanical art and by Kew Courses, Kew Illustrators and representatives of the Association of Botanical Artists who were the lead society organising the day
plus various other related stands relating to Kew Short Courses about botanical art, Curtis's Botanical Magazine, The Shirley Sherwood Collection and books available from Kew retail.

Inside the Nash Conservatory - lots of space for various stands plus the talks

Kew Courses and Artists' Tables on one side of the Conservatory - at the very beginning of the Day

Rui Jiang giving a talk on Botanical Sketchbooks

Bedgebury Florilegium - just published by Kew

The Banks Building (a short walk away) was used for

demonstrations by various artists (Pamela Taylor, Ann Swan, Julia Trickey and Emma van Klaveren) and the Bedgebury National Pinetum Florilegium Society - who are currently exhibiting their work in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery and have a new book titled Bedgebury Florilegium (published by Kew Publishing) which celebrates the centeneray of the Pinetum.
the digital slideshow of the artwork featured in the UK exhibition in Birmingham, and in all other exhibitions around the world participating in Botanical Art Worldwide 2025. I gather it takes 2.5 hours to watch and I only watched some - but was very impressed by all the art.
- You can find a selection of artwork with commentary (38 minutes) and the full version online (1 hour 45 minutes) at YouTube in perpetuity.
facsimile examples of some of the artwork in the BAW exhibition (UK - England and Wales) - which focus on the international theme for 2025 of Heritage Plants and Crop Diversity.

Examples of some of the facsimiles on display - of of some of the artwork being exhibited at "looking Back to our Future" Exhibition in Birmingham.

Ann Swan talking with visitors

I had a lovely talk with Pamela Taylor - who does wonderful drawings of trees - about her new book Secrets of Trees (Two Rivers Press) and her new RHS Project - drawing the oak trees in Windsor Great Park - which is a Royal Park.

Pamela Taylor with her very new (just published) book - delivered to her specially on Friday for the event

Lucy T Smith, Ann Swan and Julia Trickey

The day finished in the Conservatory with an excellent panel presentation and Q&A which I thought was the best I've heard in some time.

Lucy T Smith, Ann Swan and Julia Trickey are all extremely experienced botanical illustrators and artists who followed very different routes to becoming botanical artists and practice botanical art and illustration in different ways. However they are all also

multiple RHS Gold Medal Winners and
very well known and very experienced teachers of botanical art.

They tackled the topic of "Common Questions we get asked" in a very well organised and very interesting presentation. Such a pity it wasn't videoed!

All in all - a very satisfactory day. With many thanks to all those contributing to the organisation and content of the day.

Botanical Art Worldwide: more information

Botanical Art Worldwide - the international website
- links to what happened in ever country
- the Botanical Art Worldwide - the full version | YouTube (
Botanical Art Worldwide 2025 - Exhibitions and Events in the UK

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Plantae 25 - Masterclasses,Talks and Gallery Tours

12/5/2025

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This year the Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. Hence the name of its annual exhibition this year is Plantae 2025 – The 40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. This is being held as follows:

Venue: Mall Galleries (West, East and North Galleries) - The Mall, London SW1Y 5AS. This is the link to their Plantae exhibition page
Dates: 28 May 2025 - 7 Jun 2025
Hours: Open daily from Wednesday 28 May, 10am - 3pm and thereafter Thursday 29 May - Saturday 7 June, 10am - 5pm
Admission: £5 admission, no booking required

Besides the exhibition, the educational focus of the SBA means there are also a number of Masterclasses, Talks and Gallery Tours available for people to sign up for - and the list has just been published.

Details are below - and I'd recommend you book early as some of these are going to be VERY VERY popular!

This is the link to the Eventbrite site where you can book and pay for a place in the Masterclass or to hear a Talk.

Do click the links on this page to see what is on offer.
You might notice that I am giving a talk - about grants - following on my chairing of the Panel which considered the SBA Fellow Grant 2024 - so below I've included the pic and the link to my talk so you can scroll down that page and find out what that's about!

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Two days left to book Julia Trickey Talks at discount!

30/1/2024

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The talks organised by Julia Trickey are now very well know within the botanical art world - and are also accessible to every botanical artist around the world.

This is about the talks which will take place in the first half of 2024 - plus details of a very generous offer from Julia.

February - March 2024

The new schedule of one hour Julia Trickey Talk for the first half of 2024 has been published
On the Talks Page on her website you can find out about:

summary details about the talk and the speaker
how to register and book - the link to register for the talk is at bottom of each "Talk Box" on the Talks Page.
all talks are available for £8 if you book a place before the end of January.
If you register after 31 January, the talks are £12 each.
how to access the talk - all talks are on Zoom and you need a Zoom account to be able to watch
how to access the talk (or watch again) AFTER the date of the talk (for a limited period) if you do NOT want or are unable to watch at the time it is given.
PLUS there's a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions HERE

The Talks include:

a lot of botanical artists who are very well known internationally ;
other speakers who are maybe better known in their own countries but have particularly specialised skills relating to the way they create botanical art - which may open your mind and eyes to media and techniques you have not previously considered.

If you'd like to enjoy a sample, you can watch a FREE ZOOM video of BOTANICAL ART TALKS - Best Bits 2023- Shared screen with speaker view

APRIL - MAY 2024

As somebody who has done a couple of talks for Julia, I can confirm they are always extremely well organised with those talking given a prep and practice beforehand so all goes smoothly on the day of the talk.

Plus there's lots of opportunities to ask questions of the speaker if you watch LIVE!

JUNE - AUGUST 2024

NOTE: The next subscriber email of one of these blog posts may well look different as I have to move to a platform on Mailerlite before 1 February 2024 - and have to set up the way it looks again from scratch.

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TALK (18 May 2022): How to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show

15/5/2022

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I've been asked by the Society of Botanical Artists to do a talk about "How to Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show" on Wednesday 18th May 2022.

Below are details about the talk - which is open to all.

TALK: How to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show

There's a very specific process for exhibiting at the RHS Botanical Art Show - and it's completely different to ALL other Major International Open Exhibitions of Botanical Art.

I sometimes refer to it as "The Botanical Art Olympics" - as almost all of those who participate get a medal!

This talk aims to

demystify the process for all those interested in participating in the show at some point
enable botanical artists wanting to enter to understand how they can help themselves to do better.

TITLE OF TALK: How to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Show by Katherine Tyrrell

SCOPE OF THE TALK

How to get approved to exhibit
- what you need to read
- timeline for the process
- who should apply
- when you should apply
- what you should submit
- how you should submit
How to win a Medal
- how is artwork judged?
- what are the characteristics of Gold Medal exhibits?
TOP TIPS for how to get into training for the Botanical Art Olympics!
- based on very many interviews with Gold Medal Winners for more than a decade
- plus analysis of all the top exhibits in recent years

Talk Host: Society of Botanical Artists
Platform: Zoom
Date: Wednesday 18th May 2022
Time: 19.00 - 20.00 BST (that's 2pm Eastern Standard Time in the USA ) and https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html gives you the conversion to other places
SBA Members: Free event for all SBA Fellows, Foundation members and DLDC students. Login for the Zoom Talk in the normal way (Plus a recording will be added to the Members', foundations' and Students' sections of the SBA website)
Everybody Else: Also available to non-members via Eventbrite on THIS LINK for £10

My credentials for giving this talk are that I've:

written about RHS Botanical Art Shows since 2007
interviewed most of the Gold Medal Winners since 2011 and have recorded their top tips for people wanting to enter and do well
analysed the exhibits in terms of type and frequency - and how these contribute to doing well in terms of the colour of the medal
developed dedicated resources to support people entering the RHS Show
been thanked by very many botanical artists - at the show after they won a medal - for making the "how to" more accessible! :)

READ MORE NEWS ABOUT BOTANICAL ART AND ARTISTS

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Julia Trickey Talks: "Best Bits" in 2021 + Talks 2022

16/1/2022

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If you've not yet booked one of the talks organised by Julia Trickey, you can now get a sample of various people who provided talks in 2021 via a Zoom link

This is the link to the Best Bits of the talks in 2021

access is FREE
the link will expire on 19th February.

Talks in 2022

Julia Trickey Talks were set up at the beginning of 2021 after a chance conversation between Julia and a fellow botanical art tutor, who had been hit financially by the Pandemic. The aim was to

support fellow professional artists,
whilst bringing their work and passion for botanical art to a wider audience.

BELOW are links to information about the talks and speakers confirmed to date for 2022.

I highly recommend them - and that's not just because I did a talk last year and am doing another one this year.

https://www.juliatrickey.co.uk/talks

The talks are diverse and more numerous in 2022 and include:

6 January: 2021 Talks: Best Bits (FREE) - Julia Trickey FREE
20 January: The Heart of Botanical Art - Mary Dillon
10 February - An Iris Field - Işik Guner
24 February: Painting for the Grootbos Florilegium, South Africa - Laura Silburn
10 March - Wild Plants on Glass - Yanny Petters
24 March: Sketchbook Studies - Lizzie Harper
21 April: Rebel Flower Painter - Jess Shepherd
5 May: Botanical Painting using Gouache - Simon Williams
19 May: Art in the time of Covid - Elaine Searle
23 June: The Herbarium Specimen Painting - Rachel Pedder-Smith
21 July: From Zero to Hero - Jarnie Godwin
15 September: Deborah Lambkin
13 October: Lucy Smith
17 November: Katherine Tyrrell
15 December: Artists Together

The way the talks work is as follows - you get

Live presentations from experienced botanical artists.
Unique insights into working practices, recent projects or favourite techniques.
Tips and techniques for your own botanical art projects.
Meet artists from the UK and beyond, from the comfort of your own home.
Interactive Q&A opportunity.
Access to the recorded talk 24 hours after the live meeting for a further 48 hours, making it accessible across all time zones.
A 25% discount, if you book more than a month in advance.

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WEBINAR: How to be a "business savvy" botanical artist

16/6/2021

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I'm doing a Zoom Webinar next week about "How to be a Business Savvy Botanical Artist".

This is the latest in the series of BOTANICAL ART TALKS which Julia Trickey has been organising this year. You can find a summary of what it's about on Julia's website - under Talks.

Date: the webinar is on Thursday 24th June 2021
Time: 7pm BST, 2pm EDT and 11am PDT - but not session is also recorded - see below
Fee: £12
Talks are recorded and made available to registrants 24 hours after the live session. They will then be available for 48 hours, making them accessible whatever your time zone!

The Zoom webinar will focus on

a range of aspects of the art business which artists generally and botanical artists in particular need to be aware of IF
- they want to become a professional career
- or just do better at generating income from their talent and their art.
PLUS what's changed since the beginning of 2020 - and what are the implications for the future.

It's particularly relevant to

those aspiring to a professional career and
those starting out
anybody who has minimal awareness of what an artist needs to know to run their own art business!

BOOK HERE

How can you be a botanical artist and ‘business savvy’?

In this talk Katherine will explore:
• What botanical artists need to know to be successful as a botanical artist.
• What the business of botanical art involves – and how has this changed over time.
• How the last year changed the botanical art business forever.
• What the core competences, knowledge and skills that a botanical artist now needs to be business savvy in future.

About Katherine Tyrrell

For those who don't know me.....

After I retired I developed

a leading art blog Making A Mark (5.5 million visitors and over 17 million page views)
a world-class website about Botanical Art and Artists and
a comprehensive website Art Business Info for Artists which helps artists find out more about the art business.
and associated social media accounts

I've was awarded an MBA from the London Business School after qualifying as both a teacher and an accountant. In the past few years I've written art business articles for UK art journals and lectured on various business topics for artists at a London Art School, ASBA and to art societies.
(You can also check out my background to find out what qualifies me to talk on this topic)

PS For those who want to see how much weight I've lost in my goal of "getting fit for surgery" you can either take a look at my latest photo below and/or come and see me give a talk next week! :)

Guess how much weight I've lost!

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NEW PAGE: Talks, Lectures and Tours about Botanical Art & Illustration

25/3/2021

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Today, I've published a new page about Talks, Lectures and Tours about Botanical Art and Illustration.

You can find it in the menu of the EDUCATION section of my Botanical Art and Artists website

The New Page has two halves

Online Talks and Lectures
In Person Talks, Lectures and Tours

This is content which does NOT form part of an educational course or workshop.

I've created the new page for two reasons

First, I think not everybody is aware of the free and paid opportunities to access experts talking about botanical art and illustration. Hence I aim for this page to be a place where all alks, lectures and tours can be listed.
Second, we've seen an increase in the number of people and organisations which are now routinely delivering online content as videos by Zoom.

Online Talks and Lectures

Find out more about the online talks, lectures and demos being delivered by:

The Shirley Sherwood Collection (FREE)
Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library Talks (FREE)
Linnean Society Talks and Tours (modest PAID)
Julia Trickey Talks (PAID)
ASBA Annual Conference (PAID)

In Person Talks, Lectures and Tours

I will be including the following in this section and provide indications of what has been provided to date

Kew Gardens "Ask the Expert" (FREE)
Kew Gardens Tours
Lectures in The Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens
Lectures at the Lindley Library, RHS HQ, London

NOTE: Most of the in person events are suspended at the moment due to the Pandemic (and lockdown in the UK). Some are limited to members of Kew or the RHS or other specific groups.

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