NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

RHS Botanical Art Show #1 Approval to Submit

24/6/2018

A little while ago I asked the RHS whether they could provide some detailed answers to questions about various aspects of assessment relating to the RHS Botanical Art Show which are of interest to

those wanting to submit to a future RHS Botanical Art Show
those exhibiting this year or in future - and
all those wanting to know how to win a Gold Medal AND maybe a Best Exhibit or Best Painting Award.

The RHS have very kindly responded with some very informative answers to my questions via Charlotte Brooks, the Secretary to the Picture Panel.

I asked an awful lot of questions and the answers run to five A4 pages!
So I'm going to post all the questions and answers over three days as follows:

Seeking approval to exhibit (today - see below)
The Judges and the Judging Process (tomorrow Monday 25th June)
How the colour of the medal and additional awards are decided + Feedback (Tuesday 26th June)

I'll also be including images from past Botanical Art Shows and the information will also be included on my website page about the RHS Botanical Art Shows.

Every artist must be able to present six artworks forming a high quality, unified and consistent exhibit of botanical art. This photo of the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2016 includes three Gold Medal winning exhibits.

Assessment: Approval to Submit

Before you can exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show you must be approved to exhibit.

How this works:

the next section provides the RHS response to my question about what those assessing your application to exhibit are looking for
followed by my summary explanation of how you can submit an application for approval to exhibit.
More information about the RHS Botanical Art Shows on the RHS and Botanical Art and Artists websites - for those who want to find out more.

How does assessment work at the initial "approval to submit" stage?
What are you looking for?

What follows is what the RHS told me (i.e. their words).

The Selection criteria are similar to the judging criteria, but at this stage the judges are principally looking at the artist’s technical skill and the quality of their botanical illustration. Although the judges will also offer feedback on other areas if there is something that stands out as being particularly well executed, or if there are things that should be avoided.

The criteria are summarised as follows:
• Quality of botanical illustration
• Quality of the presentation
• Overall impression

The pieces that are submitted should demonstrate good draughtsmanship and the artist’s ability to handle form, texture, colour, tonal range.

The horticultural and botanical content in the pictures is also important (e.g. life-cycle stages / magnifications / habit), as it distinguishes a work as being a piece of botanical illustration.

Although artists do not have to submit the work they intend to exhibit, the submission should be representative of the overall quality of their work.

Artists are encouraged to send in examples of their best and most recent work.

If an artist works in more than one medium, for example graphite and watercolour, but is unsure which to exhibit, the judges may offer feedback on which of the examples they consider to be stronger.
The exhibit should be consistent, not a mix of pictures executed in watercolour, graphite, coloured-pencil or gouache.
However, if an artist chooses to create their work in a combination of graphite and watercolour, this is permissible.
The overall exhibit must be unified.

RHS Botanical Art Show February 2015 - BEFORE the new white Exhibit Boards were introduced. The number and size of artwork exhibited remained the same!

The feedback given at Selection stage is intended to help guide artists with any further planning and work they may wish to undertake.

We see a range of artists submitting

some are already very experienced with a high level of skill;
other artists are very much at the beginning of their journey and may need more tuition before exhibiting with the RHS.
In some cases artists are self-taught and so may be seeking support in their work but are not ready yet to exhibit.

The judges are looking to see whether the works submitted would reach a minimum standard of a Silver Medal.

If you've not yet submitted an application for approval to exhibit, you should also read the next section - based on guidance from the RHS,

0 Comments

Exhibition by the Birmingham Society of Botanical Artists

21/4/2018

0 Comments

The Birmingham Society of Botanical Artists are hosting an exhibition of botanical art in 2018 - which opened last week. This is their first exhibition since 2013 - because of the lack of a suitable venue.

The 2018 exhibition is being held in The Core, Courtyard Gallery, Solihull B91 3RG and the dates are 18th April – 5th May 2018. (This is how to get there)

The exhibition includes 60 artworks by 22 artists. 43% are executed using coloured pencils and 36% are watercolour paintings. The rest (20%) are graphite or mixed media.

Around 10 artists will be providing demonstrations during the course of the exhibition.

Below are some gallery views of the exhibition.

You can find a list of exhibiting artists in this exhibition in the file below - together with titles and media.

bsba_exhibition_list.pdf
File Size:	24 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

You can also see artwork by some of the members in the gallery on the BSBA website

Birmingham Society of Botanical Artists was founded in 1999 by graduates of the University of Birmingham’s Certificate of Higher Education in Botanical Illustration.

Members are drawn from an area bounded by Shrewsbury to the north, Worcester to the west, Nottingham to the east and Rugby, Nuneaton and Leicester to the south.

The aims of the Society are that

members should continue to develop skills in botanical drawing and painting;
the Society to encourage and support such development through the provision of a monthly programme of talks, workshops and practical sessions.

Details of the BSBA one year botanical illustration course can be found on the website.

0 Comments

List of artists exhibited in "Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit" at Kew

9/3/2018

This post puts on record all those artists who contributed to Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit at the The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens before it ends on Sunday March 11th 2018.

The exhibition is open this weekend 10am to 5pm (last admission 4.45pm). It includes artwork by botanical artists and illustrators from Australia, Brazil, France, Italy, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, UK and USA.

Left: Custard Apple by Álvaro Xavier Núñez; next Pomegranates by Ann Schweizer; Right: two paintings of the Ivy Gourd and Bitter Gourd by Phansakdi Chakkaphak

Like many of the smaller exhibitions in the side corridors of the gallery Abundance, seed pods and autumn fruit does not have a catalogue and there is also no list of artists and artworks available at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery.

However I've been given a set of the labels used for the exhibition and was able to discus the plants in the exhibition with Shirley Sherwood.

This was supposed to have been written in November last year - and here we are at the last weekend! Which will teach me not to mistake uploading images of the artists with their paintings to Facebook after the Private View with the rather longer(!) task of sorting out this type of blog post.

Explanation of the exhibition - and how dispersal occurs via wind, water, animals and explosive mechanisms

How this list of artists in the exhibition works

I did think of ordering works by methods of dispersion but that would have got very repetitive in terms of artists names!

So the way it works is like this

The list is alphabetical based on (1) the country they come from and (2) the surname of the artist.
A link to their website (if they have one) is embedded in their name. Alternatively another page has been linked to if this tells you about an artist who doesn't have a website.
an asterisk * after their name indicates they are included in my current summary of artists for the country they live in - where you can read more about them. If the artist is deceased they will be listed in 20th century Botanical Artists in the history section. Those without an asterisk will be added soon!
The name is followed by basic bio data which indicates where they were born and live
This is then followed by the title of the work. The common vernacular name is very often followed by the correct latin name in italics, (for more about naming plants see Plant Names and Botanical Latin in the Botany section on this website)
Media: All paintings are watercolour on paper unless otherwise stated.
Artwork which has been published in one of Dr Sherwood's books includes the title of the book and page number (in green) after the title
Those who have more than one artwork in the exhibition have the titles of the works bullet pointed below their names.

Some of the plants have interesting stories or names and these are also highlighted.

Names of the Artists and Titles of the Artworks

Australia

Second from left is the Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense painting by Betty Hinton

Betty Hinton b.1935 Gin Gin, Queensland
Betty has painted a group of 'plant dinosaurs' from the tropical forest reserve at Daintree, north of Cairns

Idiot Fruit Idiospermum australiense - gouache and watercolour on paper A Passion for Plants, pg 107 AND The Art of Plant Evolution page 74 and 75

This very ancient plant has huge and heavy seeds. It was first discovered in the nineteenth century and then "lost" again as land was cleared. The fruit is classed as very poisonous by the Aborigines. If eaten by cattle they go mad. The tree is 15 metres tall and the flowers can only be retrieved by somebody climbing the tree to the top to cut off flowering branches - which is what happened in relation to this painting.

Mali Moir GM b.1960

Ovuliferous Scale Bunya Pine Nut Araucaria bidwillii 2014 Watercolour on deer vellum

Jenny Phillips GM b.1949

Corymbia ficifolia 1998 Watercolour on vellum
Sausage Tree Kigelia africana 1999

Brazil

Far Left: Seed Pod, Cardiocrinum giganteum by Robert McNeill. Far right: Two works by by Alvaro E. X. Nunes - Cybistax antisyphilitica and Zeyheria montana

Álvaro Xavier Núñez b.1945 Annapolis, Brazil
One the best known of the contemporary Brazilian botanical artists, Álvaro specialises in painting plants from all the different ecosystems within Brazil - and has seven paintings in the exhibition.

Custard Apple Annona crassiflora 2003 The Art of Plant Evolution page 72 and 73
Cybistax antisyphilitica 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 134 It's a popular Brazilian tonic in the treatment of syphilis and in yaws and its leaves are used to dye cloth blue.
Kapok Tree Ceiba speciosa 2003 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 126
Dioclea violacea 2009 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 135
Fruits of Savannah A Passion for Plants page 156 This might be described as a symphony in browns, the painting displays exquisite tonal control.
"Monkey Pot" Lecythis pisonis This plant is a tropical tree in the Brazil nut family and the fruit has a tight fitting lid which burst open when ready. The common name comes from the fact Monkeys put their hand into to retrieve the nuts. Adults learn that they need to be sparing in how many they take out at one time.
Zeyheria montana 2008 Old and New South American Botanical Art page 132

Selected UK artists for 'In Ruskin's Footsteps' (Botanical Art Worldwide #4)

5/2/2018

0 Comments

This is the list of the 30 selected artists who have had 40 botanical drawings/paintings of native UK plants selected for 'In Ruskin's Footsteps' - the Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition in the UK.

This exhibition will open at the Ruskin Library at Lancaster University and will take place between Friday 18 May and Friday 15 June 2018.

Selection and statistics

The selection was made by a Jury of Experts. These were:

Helen Allen - Principal of the Chelsea School of Botanical Art
Brent Elliott - former Head Librarian at the Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library.
Christabel King - chief botanical artist and teacher at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and author of The Kew Book of Botanical Illustration
Martyn Rix - eminent botanist, author and editor of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine
Ann Swan GM - botanical artist, author and teacher specialising in pencil and coloured pencil with three RHS Gold Medals to her name

The selection of plants and botanical artwork was made in three stages with the process as follows:

Stage 1: Artists were asked to nominate a plant for submission. 71 artists indicated they wished to submit and selected 124 plants. These were then checked at this stage to make sure they were native plants - and if not, artists had the opportunity to nominate another plant.
Stage 2(a): Digital submission: 47 artists submitted 70 digital images of their artwork by the deadline for digital submission;
Stage 2 (b): Judges then reviewed digital images to reduce the 70 to 50 paintings to view in person. The digital signatures of the artists were removed prior to inspection by the organisers so that all artwork was reviewed on a strictly 'anonymous' basis which I understand the judges found to be very helpful (i.e. not distracted by who produced what).
Stage 3: The viewing of actual artwork by the Jury took place at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in January. 40 paintings by 30 artists were then selected from the 50 submitted.

In due course generic feedback will be provided as to the reasons why artwork was not selected.

Selected artists and native UK plants

The list below is ordered by the surname of the artist and comprises:

Name of Selected Artists - alphabetical by surname (with a link to their website or social media sites embedded if available)
Name of the plant - Genus and species then Common name
Brief profile of the artist (if available)

Allium ampeloprasum var. babingtonii Babington's Leek by Mally Francis

Please note that some artists had two artworks selected and one artist has three artworks selected.

0 Comments

Botanical Art in the UK gets an overhaul

5/1/2018

0 Comments

The page for Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK has

a brand new look AND
it's now much easier to access the right page

New images for the UK Botanical Art Exhibitions Page for 2018!

This time of year is when I start to systematically go through pages on my website and give them a very thorough overhaul (as you do when it's cold and bad weather outside!)

This is what I've been doing:

change the emphasis from 2017 to 2018.
remove content (eg 2017 courses)
archive content (eg 2017 exhibitions) from the main page to an archive page.
change and update images where necessary
UPDATE pages with new course and exhibition information relevant to 2018

Plus I start checking to make sure I've got all relevant and up to date information - hence this post!

So this post is about

the new look. Above are the images relating to the new presentation of information about botanical exhibitions and collections in the UK. Do tell me if you find the new landing page for UK Exhibitions easier to use - or not.
plus a request for you to get in touch if you have information suitable for my website

You can contact me via the form at the bottom of the page.

PLUS a NEW page for UK Call for Entries

Content on the landing page for UK exhibitions still needed to be made simpler.

So I now have a brand new page for Calls for Entries for Open Botanical Art Exhibitions in the UK

That too has a new image, relating to the Best Exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show last year - the wonderful Pandanus exhibit by Dr Mariko Ikeda GM (2017) from Japan.

That's because one of the messages is that botanical art exhibitions in the UK are NOT exclusive to botanical artists in the UK.

There are LOTS of international botanical artists who exhibit in the UK - and it's absolutely wonderful to live here and to be able to see their work. I do so appreciate the effort people make to come and exhibit in the UK!

Next week I'm going to be doing posts about the two major exhibitions which will attract major international botanical artists in 2018

the RHS Botanical Art Show and
the Botanical Images Scotia (BISCOT) Show in Scotland.

I'm really looking forward to the exhibitions in 2018! :)

Subscribe to BAA News
Get every blog post emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email

0 Comments

New Year and a NEW page - about Pandora Sellars

1/1/2018

0 Comments

Today I created a BRAND NEW web page about Pandora Sellars (1936-2017)

I've been meaning to do this for some time and decided the NEW Year was a good time to start.

I say start, because this page (like the one for Rory McEwen) is going to take some time to develop to the level I'd like to get it to. Nevertheless I got a lot done today and I'm very pleased with how it looks on a desktop screen.

Pandora Sellars - and bluebells - in 2008 (Photo courtesy Sarah Neill)

It covers:

a summary about Pandora Sellars which explains why she is regarded as one of the best botanical painters ever.
a biographical timeline about her botanical art career and botanical paintings
a review of her botanical art practice - how she painted and why she is memorable (I'd love to hear more opinions about what made her special)
a list of exhibitions (a work in progress)
a list of individual paintings - (a work in progress) I'm developing this over time from various publications and databases. I aim to link these to sites where they can be seen online or viewed by appointment.
tributes following her death
articles and publications in which you can find out more about her and see his botanical paintings

At present the sections devoted to:

exhibitions
the list of paintings
publications

are all off to a good start - but I think they need a lot more work (and more research to identify the sources of data and then digging it out).

Let me know what you think.
Even better - do let me know if you have some information or images to share which are relevant to this page.

and finally....

I wish you and your botanical art and associated activities all the very best in 2018.

Subscribe to BAA News in 2018
Get every blog post emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email

0 Comments

UPDATE - British artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

23/11/2017

0 Comments

I've made a major UPDATE to my blog post British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - a review and a timeline.

This post is about the "British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection" exhibition at The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew Gardens

Dr Shirley Sherwood speaking at the Private View for the opening of 'British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection' exhibition at Kew Gardens

When I wrote my catalogue-like blog post - , Shirley Sherwood was out of the country. When she returned to the UK, she invited me to visit her because she had a number of comments she wanted to make on the content. It was a pleasure to visit Shirley twice to review this rather long blog post and clarify matters where I'd guessed and listen to stories about an artist or how a painting was bought.

We're both very keen on:

creating a record of exhibitions relating to the Collection (you can see my archive of the exhibitions to date in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery on this webste)
making sure that all information is accurate (some of my comments in the original post were informed guesses).

IMPORTANTLY - and for the very first time - this blog post now lists the number of paintings by each artist in the collection. I've also updated it with the comments she asked me to include and I've also added in some additional images.

I was absolutely amazed - as I am sure you will be - by how many paintings by leading British botanical artists she now owns!

My next job is another catalogue-like blog post about the current exhibition Abundance: Seeds, Pods and Autumn Fruits from the Shirley Sherwood Collection - complete with pics of some of the paintings and some of the artists. I've had some help from Shirley with this one too! :)

Speech by the Director of Kew Gardens at the Private View, 27 March 2017

Subscribe to BAA News
Get every blog post emailed to you when you
Subscribe to Botanical Art & Artists - News by Email

0 Comments

<<Previous