SBA Plantae 2023: Award Winners

22/5/2023

Today's post is about the botanical artists receiving awards from the Society of Botanical Artists and Sponsors at Plantae 2023. The annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists took place last week at the Mall Galleries in London.

It includes images of the artwork receiving awards and more information about the artists (links to their websites are embedded in their names).

It follows on from

For every award I'll be linking to the botanical artist who received the award and including some brief bio details and an image of the artwork which merited the award.

BELOW the various awards are divided into three categories

Society of Botanical Artists Awards
Sponsor Awards (Monetary)
Sponsor Awards: sponsored by art materials companies

NOTE: The Plantae 2023 Catalogue sold out and is being reprinted. It should be available from the shop on the SBA website in about two weeks.

Society of Botanical Artists Awards

These are awards which originate within the Society of Botanical Artists and members past and present. Often as a memorial to a particular member

Joyce Cumming Presentation Award
Legacy from Joyce Cuming (a sterling silver Almoner’s plate) - for a beautiful botanical piece; Certificate for the winner | Chosen by the SBA Council
(7) Prunus by Hee-Soon Baik SBAF

Hee-Soon Baik SBAF lives in Korea. Hee-Soon previously exhibited in Plantae 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. She also won the Koran National Arboretum Director General's Award at the Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition in Korea (at the Korea National Arboretum) in 2018.

She has also told her story of her studies and how her career as a botanical artist has developed when elected to as a Fellow of SBA.

"I am not an art major, but I have always been interested in plants. I observe plants, compare how they differ from other plants, look for data, and start drawing when I have some confirmation.

It was 13 years ago when I started to care about Botanic art. It was a time when interest in the importance and preservation of nature spread in Korea.
My interest in plants led to drawing plants, I had to study plants, and I had to learn drawing techniques and skills. I was always worried about how to zoom in and about accurate observation and sketches. There was no place to teach professional Botanic art, so I took a few lectures on drawing plants, painting and exhibiting.

Then I got to know the Learning Course of SBA in the UK, applied for DLDC Course 15, and took a 30-month course.

Luckily, I received the Society of Botanical Artists "PLANTAE 2020" Certificate of Botanic Merit among my Portfolio paints.

After that, I found out that my painting skills had improved a lot without realizing it, and I won several awards in Korea and gained self-esteem.

I have been commissioned by the National Arboretum of Korea to draw native plants, and the paintings are circulating at arboretums and botanical gardens nationwide in Korea Also, my personal paintings are sold as goods at shops in the Natural History Museum in Korea."
SBA Facebook Page

Leaves by Izabela Wolska-Kuśmider SBAF

Margaret Granger Memorial Silver Bowl
Certificate for the winner + Name engraved on the Silver Bowl
For the best work or body of work by a member elected in the last two years | Chosen by Council
Four Wet Autumn Leaves by Izabela Wolska-Kuśmider SBAF
(top row Alnus glutinosa; Bottom row: Quercus robur - image is take from the catalogue as the leaves were separated in the exhibition.) You can see how they were exhibited below.

Izabela Wolska-Kuśmider is Polish and lives in Warsaw. She studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology. She graduated from the SBA's Distance Learning Diploma Course with Distinction. Iza is a Fellow of The Society of Botanical Artists (SBA) and a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA)

Paintings by Mary Anne Aytoun Eliis (Elm Tree) and Izabela Wolska-Kuśmider SBAF (leaves)

Presidents Award
Certificate for the winner | Chosen by the current President(s)
(66) Oak by Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis

Many people were surprised by Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis's paintings of trees in the exhibition. They were very large, they were very detailed and they were also very expensive! I gather they divided the visitors. Many loved them while there were some who felt they had no business being in a botanical art exhibition. To which my response would be:

trees are plants too
go and view the hundreds of paintings from around the world by Marianne North in the gallery named after her at Kew Gardens. She always included habitat and painted many trees in context which makes them more meaningful.
go and read my page about 'What is botanical art?"

Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis is a leading British painter (hence the expensive price tags). Her work takes its inspiration from the natural world and in particular from the fields, woods and hedges near my home. What's unusual about it is that she paints in egg tempera, mixing the colours and applying them in many layers and glazes intermixed with intense passages of detailed pencil drawing, watercolour and pen and ink

The John Waterman Award
Judged by Charlotte Brooks and Helen Allen

The John Waterman Award has three placements:
a top prize of ≈, a second prize of £500 or a third prize of £250, and the Jackson’s Art award with a £100 voucher prize.

1st (£750) - Guy William Eves (67) - Yew Tree - see Exhibiting Excellence blog post for profile
2nd (£500) - Christina Mucha (225) - Mulu, Essence of Borneo
3rd -(£250) - Carolyn Jenkins (147) - Graptosedum 'Francesco Baldi'

(First Place) Yew Tree by Guy William Eves

Mulu, Essence of Borneo (watercolour) by Christina Mucha

Christina Mucha is based in Singapore.

Graptosedum 'Francesco Baldi' by Carolyn Jenkins

Carolyn Jenkins lives in London and is an award-winning botanical artist and a professional gardener. Painting plants and flowers in watercolour brings together her love of art and gardening. She is an RHS Gold Medal winning artist - winning Gold and ‘Best Exhibit’ in 2011.

She studied

art and graphic design at St Martins School of Art in London and Bath Academy of Art.
for a diploma in Botanical Painting at the English Gardening School for which she was awarded ‘Distinction’ and ‘Best Student’.

For several years she has worked as an illustrator for publishing, advertising and graphic design companies contributing to several publications. Her most recent work includes her book, New Ideas in Botanical Painting Published by Batsford Books. She also illustrated the book: ‘H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Highgrove, A Garden Celebrated.’

Suzanne Lucas Memorial Award in Recognition of Services to SBA
Recognition for a person who has given outstanding service to the Society,
In memory of Founder President Suzanne Lucas; winners' names are inscribed in the Memorial Book named after the first President of the SBA.

The Suzanne Lucas Memorial Award for 2023 has been awarded to Pamela Henderson who has been a stalwart in providing administrative support for both the SBA and the DLDC for many years, although she now focuses on just the DLDC.

Sponsors' Awards (monetary)

The Making A Mark Award
About a new perspective on botanical art. The winner needs to be somebody who fulfils one or more of the following

a first time exhibitor at the exhibition who impresses
people who bring a fresh and different approach to botanical art and illustration
artwork demonstrating a genuine new perspective on how to portray habitat
artwork about plants which don't often get illustrated
drawing excellence - maybe in less used media

Prize: £100 plus an interview for Botanical Art and Artists News
Judged by Katherine Tyrrell | Botanical Art and Artists (for criteria see this blog post)
(Body of work: 46, 47, 48 and 49 ) Four Etchings by Charlie Davies

Two of the four etchings by Charlie Davies in Plantae 2023

Last year I had a long debate with myself about which of two people should get the Inaugural Award. In the end I gave the inaugural award to one and bought an artwork from the other. This year both artists were back and the one who didn't win the award last year had four artworks selected for the exhibition - one of which was awarded the Exhibiting Excellence for work in another media.

Charlie Davies is a second-time exhibitor. She became a printmaker in 2016 after she gave up her job in order to pursue art on a full-time basis. The same year she also signed up for a beginners etching course at Oxford Printmakers (OPC) and was taught the basics of etching including Drypoint, hard and soft ground and aquatint. She now loves soft ground etching and is now a member of both Oxford Printmakers and a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists. Her work can be seen by two art galleries who represent her at Cymbaline art gallery in Princess Risborough and in Wychwood art gallery in Deddington, North Oxfordshire. Plus her work has been exhibited at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea; she exhibits regularly at Oxford Artweeks and she has a shop on Etsy.

I'm a big fan of printmaking and would like to see more people doing it - hence the prize! Plus she caught my eye last year and I've bought her work last year and this year. What I like about her artwork is that it is grounded in the views of plants I see every day on my pre- and post-surgery get fit walks. It's well drawn, it looks natural and it's an etching! She's also an example of somebody who makes a decision to become an artist and then works hard at making it a career - making a mark - which is also something I admire.

If she agrees, there will be a blog post following an interview with her on this news blog.

Sponsors Awards - by art materials companies

Jackson’s Art Prize
Prize: £100 Voucher for art materials from Jackson's Art Materials
(30) Verity Clark - A Fyne View

Verity Clark is a first time exhibitor (via the open entry) and not a botanical artist as such as she has wider interests in art generally. This drawing of seaweed in the foreground of the shores of Loch Fyne on the west coast of Scotland was completed using pencils and panpastel on pastelmat.

William Cowley Parchment and Vellum Makers
Prize £80 voucher for vellum from Cowley's
Helleborus x hybridus - Lauren Lusk
(watercolour and graphite on natural calfskin vellum)

Lauren Lusk submitted via the Open Entry and her painting is small.
I have few details about her other than that she is a mother and Rachel de Thame's daughter. This is her Instagram account and she's in the middle of setting up a website.

St Cuthberts Mill
Prize: 20 sheets of Saunders Waterford HP Paper
(43 and 44) Pod V and Pod VI by Toni Dade

Toni Dade has lived and worked in a very rural part of the Algarve in Portugal for the last 17 years.

Toni completed a Natural History Illustration course in the 90's and since then has painted, illustrating, exhibited and sold her artwork on a regular basis. Latterly (since 2017), she has focused on botanical illustration.

She was elected to Fellowship of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2019.

Toni Dade with two Magnolia Pods

Toni now likes to develop series of paintings. In 2021, she won an RHS Gold Medal for her exhibit- Pomegranate: Punica granatum after she had plenty of time to watch the seasonal changes of the pomegranate tree.

I'm a big fan of those who use their exhibit to display the life cycle of a plant. You can see her paintings on her social media sites - Facebook / Instagram)

Vintage Paper Company, Orkney
Prize: Handmade Sketchbook in presentation box
(6) Corydalis sp. by Julia Assenbaum SBAF

Another large painting by Julia Assenbaum SBA who:

a Master of Science - Plant Science (University of Vienna),
she has a Diploma in Botanical Illustration from the Botanical Garden of Edinburgh; and she is
an SBA Member.

Four colour pencil drawings by Diane Frank SBAF

Faber Castell Prize
For an outstanding work in a pencil medium. Prize: 120 Polychromos Pencils
(67-80) body of work - Diane Frank SBAF

Kabocha Squash
Blush Pear
Green Pepper
Red Onion

I cannot find any information about Diane Frank online.

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