Two botanical art exhibitions - in the UK and USA

Today I have news of two upcoming exhibitions of Botanical Art in the UK and USA

• UK - Florum: Florum 2012 (8th - 15th September 2012)
• USA - Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation: Portraits of a Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium (21 September - 16 December 2012)

Below you will find more details of the exhibitions and how you can see them.

Stachyurus praecox 1 [Stachyurus praecox Siebold & Zuccarini, Stachyuraceae (stachyurus family)],
colored pencil on paper by Wendy Hollender, 2008, 12 x 14 inches,
© 2008 Brooklyn Botanic Garden, All Rights Reserved.

Florum 2012

Regular readers of this blog will recall my review of last year's Florum exhibition - see MAKING A MARK: Exhibition Review: Florum 2011 - in Sevenoaks

Florum 2012 will again bring a fantastic display of botanical inspired works to Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve from September 8th to 15th.  The exhibition will be open daily from 10am to 5pm.

This year’s exhibition showcases the work of 60 artists working in different media, many of whom are internationally recognised for their interpretation of plants and the landscape.  Visit www.florum.co.uk for a preview and a full list of participating artists.

A Final Peony by Elizabeth Smail

The Exhibition this year is paying Tribute to its founder - the late Elizabeth Smail FLS, FSBA - who died in May 2012.

Kent based artist Elizabeth Smail, known to many as “Liz”, was well known for her work with the Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve and her role in establishing Florum in 2003 as an annual exhibition. Her vision, enthusiasm and determination has ensured Florum’s smooth operation and success for the past nine years. With her love of botanical art and many years of teaching experience, Florum was Elizabeth’s favourite project. She introduced new artists within the exhibition every year and chose contributing artists with care and expertly envisaged each finished exhibition. She encouraged artists to create masterpieces that were “ broader than botanical.”

Established botanical exhibitors will include:

• work in watercolour and pencil by Susan Christopher-Coulson, Christina Hart-Davies, Alister Mathews, Gael Sellwood and Siriol Sherlock along with 
• paintings by Michael Chaplin, Kate Penoyre, Wendy Cranston and Richard Tratt. 
• prints by Helen Hanson, Wendy Cranston and Sue Scullard, 
• jewellery by Louisa Crispin and Katherine Lawrie and textiles by Cas Holmes

Where:  Kent Wildlife Trust’s Sevenoaks Reserve, Bradbourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks, TN13 3DH. (Free parking)Tel 01732 456407

When: 8th to 15th September 2012: Open Daily 10am to 5pm
FREE ADMISSION

Note: Florum donates a proportion of the profits to Kent Wildlife Trust’s Sevenoaks Reserve.

Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation: Portraits of a Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium

The "Portraits of a Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium" showcases 48 American botanical artists who have been developing a florilegium to create a lasting archive of watercolors and drawings of the plants growing at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG). (For those interested in the history of the Florilegium - see A History of Botanical Art - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers)

This selection of original artwork, on loan from the BBG's permanent collection, will be displayed with a sample of historical printed volumes representative of the florilegium tradition from the Hunt Institute's Library collection.

Talented botanical artists are invited to join the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society and produce a determined number of paintings of plants from the garden for the archive. The society artists are revitalizing the popular 17th–19th-century tradition of illustrating the plants available at a specific time and growing in a specific place.

The 48 members of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society included in this exhibition are Francesca Anderson, Bobbi Angell, Mary Chambers Bauschelt, Chiara Becchi, Leslie Berge, Diane Bouchier, Wendy Brockman, Harriet Carotenuto, John Cody, Christina Davis, Monika E. de Vries Gohlke, Nan Dedrick, Kevin Duggan, Jean Emmons, Margaret Farr, Marilyn A. Garber, Carol E. Hamilton, Gertrude Hamilton, Paul Harwood, Wendy Hollender, Gina Ingoglia, Martha G. Kemp, Patricia Kernan, Judith Kunhardt, Libby Kyer, Dianne McElwain, Kathy Miranda, Angela Mirro, Carol Ann Morley, Adele Rossetti Morosini, Peter K. Nelson, Kate Nessler, Derek Norman, George Olson, Rose Pellicano, Kelly Leahy Radding, Lynne K. Railsback, Dick Rauh, Eleanor Lea Rohrbaugh, Mary Ryniec, Manabu Saito, Constance Sayas, Alice Tangerini, Jessica Tcherepnine, Virginia Tuttle, Catherine M. Watters, Carol Woodin and Eleanor B. Wunderlich.

Artist demonstrations 

On 6 and 7 October (between 1 to 4 p.m.) there will be demonstrations of watercolor techniques used in botanical art by four regional artists who are dedicated to painting from nature and sharing their knowledge through teaching. The demonstrations will take place in the gallery, and one of the curators also will be present to answer questions and talk about the current exhibition.

• On Saturday, 6 October, Sue Wyble and Donna Edmonds will demonstrate a method of layering a limited palette of transparent watercolors to achieve a variety of colors. 
• On Sunday, 7 October, Carol Saunders and Christine Hutson will demonstrate various wet and dry brush techniques, including limning, used to achieve fluid color and intricate form. 

Exhibition details

Where: 5th floor of the Hunt Library building at Carnegie Mellon University, 4909 Frew Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
When: 21 September – 16 December 2012 T Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–noon and 1–5 p.m.; Sunday, 1–4 p.m. (except 18 and 22–25 November 2012).
Because hours of operation are occasionally subject to change, please call or email before your visit to confirm. For further information, contact the Hunt Institute at 412-268-2434.
FREE ADMISSION