This post is all about some of the KEY THEMES of this year's exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show - particularly those which, relative to the judging criteria, displayed:
It should be emphasised that all those who get to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show have already met a high bar in being "approved to exhibit". So this post, to the extent that it considers weaknesses and aspects capable of improvement is very much focused on the tweaking and refining which is always a focus for those seeking to exhibit at the top level of this international exhibition. The only artists I name are those who won Gold Medals and the only images I show are those by Gold Medal winners. It's another of my VERY LONG posts and it's intended for all those artists who:
I'm bound to have forgotten something I meant to say, so this may well be revised and updated over the next couple of days. It will be added to my archive of posts about RHS Exhibits for the benefit of those who I'll be reviewing in future years. Why write this post?One of the HUGE benefits of the RHS Botanical Art Show is that each Judge provides detailed feedback to artists individually. So each artist has already had the "official view" on why they got the colour of medal that they did. So why write this post? After all I'm not a Judge - but
As a result I've learned, over time, how to recognise a Gold Medal winner. Indeed I'm proud to say I used to be able to identify most of them before the medal certificates went up. I also like to work out
When we had the RHS Botanical Art Show for just two days in the Lindley Horticultural Hall in Victoria, lots of artists from all over the world were able to attend for the entire 2.5 days involved with the hang, private view, open to the public and take down. As a result I always made a point of interviewing all the Gold Medallists who were there and able to converse in English. In doing so, I identified what were their top tips for the benefit of future exhibitors. (See various posts in my Archive of my posts about the RHS Show) However I cannot do that any more given the very limited time to access those artists who do attend the opening of the exhibition. So, I decided to find another way of passing on what I think may well be useful tips for others who want to exhibit - or exhibit again. Hence this post! I'm happy for others to comment (below) on their views or what they've learned - but please be respectful of artists. I'd prefer you to highlight what you liked most! Judging Criteria
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Bryan Poole has died age 69. He was one of those very rare people in the world of botanical art - a very fine printmaker and a renowned creator of contemporary aquatint etchings featuring botanical plants. He was a perennial and popular exhibitor of his prints at the RHS Chelsea Show. Below you can find an appreciation of his timeline and records of his background, career development, techniques used to produce his fine art prints, exhibitions, awards, commissions and collections. BiographyBorn in New Zealand on 2nd December 1953, he passed away on 19th December 2022, just after his 69th birthday, at his London home after a long battle with cancer. (See Death Notice at the end of this post) It's been announced that a Memorial Service is planned to celebrate his life and achievements. "Bryan Poole follows in a long line of fine botanical illustrators. Unusually, he has the gift to be able to combine traditional methods of illustration and reproduction with a very modern approach to botanical art and design. His appealing and distinctive work adds hugely to the wide range of talent found amongst botanical artists today." Despite his New Zealand heritage, after graduating in Politics and Economics at the University of Otago and with absolutely no training in art, Bryan came to London in the early 1980s and became a freelance botanical illustrator and printmaker in 1981. Latterly he lived in Hackney in East London where he had his print studio in a converted air raid shelter When he came to London, he trained and worked (1980-1986) in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, under Dr Christopher Grey-Wilson, former editor of The Kew Magazine. Subsequently he worked on commissions with a number of different people and bodies - including Dr John Kress, a botanist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington. He produced his contemporary botanical aquatint etchings using copperplates and the painstaking and meticulous intaglio ("in the cut") technique developed in Europe in the 16th century and "spit bite" aquatint techniques (see Techniques below for an explanation of how he did this). "I lived my life, independently, overseas and sang my own song . . . It is not that I've neglected New Zealand in any shape, way or form but it is just that I can make a living in London. I could never have done international work, gone to Dominican Republic, met (Smithsonian botanist and curator) John Kress, gone to Nepal . . . I am in the centre of things in London." |
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Katherine Tyrrell writes about botanical art and artists and has followers all over the world. You can also find her at linktr.ee
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