NEWS about Botanical Art and for Botanical Artists

Autumn 2022 Banner: Medlar and Pear by Joris Hoefnagel

5/9/2022

The correct title of the painting used for the new Autumn Banner for my website and Facebook Page is actually Medlar, Poppy Anemone, and Pear by Joris Hoefnagel.

The cropped image comes from an illumination within a book called the Mira calligraphiae monumenta (Model Book of Calligraphy ) which was written 1561–1562 by Georg Bocskay the Croatian-born court secretary to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand. The illumination at the bottom of the page was added about 1591–1596.

Joris (aka Georg) Hoefnagel was commissioned by Emperor Rudolph II, Ferdinand's grandson, to illustrate the book - some 15 years after the death of Bocksay. Hoefnagel added fruit, flowers, and insects to nearly every page.

Medlar, Poppy Anemone, and Pear, 1561–1562; illumination added 1591–1596 Watercolors, gold and silver paint, and ink, Leaf: 16.6 × 12.4 cm (6 9/16 × 4 7/8 in.) Joris Hoefnagel (Flemish / Hungarian, 1542 - 1600), illuminator and Georg Bocskay (Hungarian, died 1575), scribe The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. 20, fol. 13, 86.MV.527.13

About Medlar, Poppy Anemone, and Pear

- In 1591, Hoefnagel was appointed court artist to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II. In this role he was commissioned to illustrate the Mira calligraphiae monumenta a model book of calligraphic scripts.

This image is from the edition (1 of 2) owned by the Getty Museum and has fruit, flowers, and insects to nearly every page.

The Getty Museum does not state what the support is but I'm guessing it's vellum as that's stated to be the support used for other artwork by Hoefnagel on other websites. Also, if you inspect a magnified version of the image, you can see the dry brush strokes commonly used on such supports. The media used for the illumination is watercolour, gold and silver paint, and ink.

You can see more examples of the calligraphy by Bocskay and paintings by Hoefnagel on this page.

When I look at these, I get the impression that he added images to each page one at a time - and kept going until he had a nice assembly. That's because the images don't fit seasons as such! I can demonstrate this - with the example BELOW - called Insect, Daffodil, European Columbine, and English Oak Acorns. This suggests that maybe the daffodil was painted first, the columbine came next and then the acorns later in the year - and the insect maybe added last to add to the overall balance of the image.

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Jenny Brasier (1936 - 2020)

6/1/2021

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It's been announced that Jenny Brasier GM passed away at the end of December 2020.

Her achievements in the botanical art world included:

Five Gold Medals (1982, 1988 1989, 1994, 2000) from the Royal Horticultural Society
The Linnean Society gave her the Jill Smythies Award in 2002
Her artwork is included in the collections of the Natural History Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Shirley Sherwood Collection
She was one of two contemporary botanical artists whose work was included in the 'Picturing Plants' Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1995.
Her small paintings on vellum appeared in a number of exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery.
She exhibited internationally as well as in the UK - including at the Smithsonian Museum and the Hunt Institute in the USA
Jenny was one of the botanical artist who contributed to the Highgrove Florilegium for the 60th Birthday of HRH Prince of Wales
Past Chair of the Eden Florilegium Society
Founder member of the Society of Botanical Artists in the UK.

Cyclamen intaminatum by Jenny Brasier (Cyclamen intaminatum) Collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum

A study by Jenny Braiser in the collection of the V&A Museum.
"This is a preparatory study for an illustration showing different examples of the cyclamen species painted for publication in the Cyclamen Society Journal. Having produced several working drawings towards the finished plate, the artist decided to record this process by transferring the original work relating to the colour forms of one species--the Cyclamen intaminatum--to a single sheet."
Study Room resource: Botanical illustration | V&A

Jenny Brasier was born on 9th August 1936 in Alvechurch, England and died on 28th December 2020 in East Sussex.

She had no formal training in botanical art. However no less a person than Wilfrid Blunt encouraged her to start painting plants and flowers in her later years and became known for her small jewel like watercolour paintings on vellum.

Her artwork was published in The Art of Botanical Illustration' by Wilfrid Blunt and William Stearn (1994 version):

her pencil drawing of a leaf of Hosta tardiflora faces the Introduction to the 1994 edition and
her small watercolours on vellum of a leaf and an acorn appear below the dedication.
her painting of a Tulip Tree can be found on page 298

"Jenny Brasier is not a professional artist but was encouraged by Wilfrid Blunt and John Whitehead to draw and paint plants (Colour Plate 112); she excels at the portrayal of leaves (see the preliminary pages of this book)."
The Art of Botanical Illustration - page 300

In addition she was well known for her horticultural endeavours and she illustrated Hosta: the flowering foliage plant by Diana Grenfell (1990).

Exhibitions at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens include:

'British Artists in Shirley Sherwood Collection' (2017/18)
Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art (2019/20) - see Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art #1: British Artists

"Jenny Brasier’s work is highly versatile and very beautiful with some of her brilliant, jewel-like watercolours on vellum having the intense quality of medieval illuminated manuscripts."
Shirley Sherwood

Cyclamen pseudibericum 1993 by Jenny Brasier - on a sheet of Rory McEwen's Vellum - exhibited at the Modern Masterpieces exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew in 2019

I've moved my summary about Jenny Brasier from the Botanical Artists in the UK page to the 20th and 21st Century Artists page in the History Section.

NOTE: A Service of Thanksgiving for the Life of Jenny Brasier will be held in Cornwall later in the year "when life will hopefully be a little more normal...."

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

7/9/2020

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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.

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View "Tulipa" by Fiona Strickland online!

17/8/2020

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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)

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NEW Online Botanical Art Exhibition by Jonathan Cooper

21/5/2020

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The Spring Exhibition at the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in Chelsea is celebrating botanical art with an ONLINE Exhibition - due to the constraints imposed by the lockdown.

You can see examples of the work of gallery artists in the exhibition below and much more on the exhibition website.
Please note, some have already been sold or reserved.
Click twice on a website image to get a large view.
The botanical artists included in the exhibition are listed below - with one of their images in the exhibition.
If you're interested in buying just click the enquire link on the page for each artwork and complete the form.

Fiona Strickland (six works) - Fiona is a world renowned botanical artist and tutor who lives in Scotland. b.1956 in Edinburgh , she received a Post Graduate Diploma in Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art. Her watercolour paintings are complex and very detailed and demonstrate her amazing control over multiple layers of transparent watercolour to create her intense colour and beautifully rendered tone for the smallest details. She has exhibited internationally and has won several awards including a Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medal (2008) and The Hort's "Best in Show" Award at 18th Annual International in New York. Her botanical artwork is much in demand and is included in premier collections around the world - including the RHS Lindley Library, the Shirley Sherwood Collection and the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation and numerous private collections in Europe, USA and Australia. Jonathan Cooper represents her in the UK and the works in this show feature single blooms of spring flowers - tulips, poppies and hippeastrum.

Colour is Fiona Strickland’s signature approach to botanical watercolour. Her attention to detail and technical virtuosity in the use of transparent washes - used to build her vibrant paintings - highlights her skill in handling colour. Strickland's emotive response to the visual elements of colour, tone, texture and movement in the plant world is captured in her very personal approach to botanical painting.

Note also that Fiona Strickland's second solo exhibition "Tulipa" at Jonathan Cooper - which was due to be held this May - will now be held between 4th - 26th September 2020. It will feature 18 paintings in watercolour on vellum. I'll be writing more about this in due course.

Parrot Tulip (Tulipa Rococo) by Fiona Strickland - (Watercolour on Fabriano Artistico HP 640gsm) 27 x 21ins (68.6 x 53.3cm) (artwork size) £9,000

Rosie Sanders (six works) - Rosie lives and works in Devon and is well known for creating large to very large paintings of intense colour in watercolour on a variety of paper (Arches, Saunders Waterford and Richard de Bas). In London, her works is available from Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery and the works in the exhibition are priced between £3,800 and £34,000. She is a self-taught artist who started as a freelance botanical artist in 1974. Since then she has won five RHS gold medals and researched, written and illustrated a number of books including one on Roses and another on The English Apple. She exhibited with the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation in 1992 and her work was in the very first exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew (and a number of others since). Her work is included in numerous collections and she has been commissioned to produce paintings for both the Queen and the Queen Mother.

Now That April's Here by Rosie Sanders (Watercolour on Saunders Waterford 300gsm paper) 54.25 x 70ins (138 x 178cm) (artwork size) £34,000

Beverley Allen (six works) - was born in Sydney in 1945 and is now one of the leading botanical artists in Australia. has exhibited annually at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney ‘Botanica’ Exhibition since 1999 and internationally including New York, Washington, Chicago, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Kyoto and London - winning prestigious awards. Her paintings are included in the Highgrove Florilegium and in the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens in both Sydney and Kew Gardens, the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute in Pittsburgh. Her paintings in the exhibition are in watercolour on Arches paper, mostly at 50 x 40cm (£3,800 - £8,500)

White Bat Flower (Tacca integrifolia) by Beverley Allen (Watercolour) 24.41 x 22.44ins (62cm x 57cm) (artwork size) £8,500

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Flowers and Fruit - solo show by Kathy Pickles

23/9/2018

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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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TOP TIPS from RHS Gold Medal Winners 2018

14/8/2018

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Today I have some of the Tips I received from my interviews with the RHS Gold Medal Winners at last month's RHS Botanical Art Show.

AND

Later this week you will also have tips from the RHS Gold Medal Winners in 2017 too! This is because although I drafted most of it last year for some reason I didn't finish the post and publish it!

This is a LONG POST with lots of content - so you might want to get a hot drink and a notebook before you start to read!

It's been my habit, for some years, to ask each of the Gold Medal Winners who speaks reasonable English to tell me what would be the three tips they'd like to pass on to people aspiring to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Show. Some include ones I've heard before - but good tips are always worth repeating.

I have however omitted

tips relating to painting and art materials as these tend to become repetitive and have been covered in previous tips posts (see end for reference)
tips related to the actual transport of material and how to get your exhibit to stick to the display boards - see my two previous posts last month (listed at the end).

TIP: Focus on what you are passionate about

AGM Dryopteris: species and cultivars of Dryopteris ferns with an Award of Garden Merit - Laura Silburn GM (2013, 2014)

Recommended by Laura Silburn and various artists. More than one artist told me this - in various ways. Variations include:

Be yourself
Know your subject really well
Love your subject
Choose something that inspires you

It is so much easier to complete a major project - such as a portfolio for an RHS Botanical Art Show if you are in love with your subject matter.

TIP: Being a grower helps a lot!

Simon Williams - Nepenthes

Recommended by Simon Williams Nepenthes 
Simon Williams told me he has been growing carniverous plants since he was 16 - and loves them. He's invested in heated greenhouses. The advantages of being a grower are that you get to see your plants through a complete life cycle and can watch them through every season.

TIP: Keep a sketchbook

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