The late Liz Smail's sister who presented the award said that Liz had always emphasised colour and composition when teaching her students. She then confessed to knowing little about art - but made sure she used the two imperatives about colour and composition to guide her in choosing an artwork to receive the Award for the first time. She did well!
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| The Elizabeth Smail Memorial Award “Colour mutation - Rosa mutabilis” (£995) by Susan Christoper Coulson Coloured Pencil |
- very good weather - we were out all weekend!
- the Press preview for the big Autumn exhibition at Tate Britain yesterday
- not forgetting - I mislaid the catalogue which had all my notes - including the vital ones which say "feature this artist as well as the listings of artists, titles and prices! (I live in dread of doing this. I've never yet done it but have one or two close calls - and this was one of them!)
However I do want to emphasise that all botanical art lovers in the South East only have until Saturday 15th September to see the Florum Exhibition in Sevenoaks. I gather sales have been brisk - however there are lots of very attractive high quality prints as well as originals.
Can I suggest you take a look at last year's review - see Exhibition Review: Florum 2011 - in Sevenoaks - for what I like about this exhibition, plus tips which other art societies might want to copy, as these are essentially unchanged.
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| View of part of the exhibition - there's lots to see what you can see in this photo is only about a third of the exhibition! More views of work in the exhibition below |
Exhibiting Artists
Florum is unique amongst the botanical art exhibitions that I'm aware of in that it's an "invite only" exhibition - and that 'invite' is not limited to the strictly botanical illustrator.
The exhibition includes 333 pieces of artwork of various media - although the majority are paintings. You can see examples of work from some of the more than 60 artists who are exhibiting in three galleries on the website: gallery one; gallery two; and gallery three.
Many artists are also members of a variety of other groups including The Linnean Society, the Royal Watercolour Society, the Pastel Society, the Royal Society of Miniature Painters as well as the Society of Botanical Artists and/or the Society of Floral Painters (Society of Floral Painters blog).
Exhibiting artists use a variety of media and a variety of styles. You can see some examples above and below.
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| Artwork by Karen Birchwood Mixed media typically priced £285 |
There are a number of new artists this year - but I'm not sure which these are.
Karen Birchwood's paintings of flowers and gardens are very decorative and appealing to the eye. They also look very good when displayed with one another!
Karin is a former textile designer who is now a full time painter who participates in a lot of exhibitions and obviously has a faithful following. Her work is mainly in acrylic and mixed media, on canvas, board or paper.
She has preferences for a palette of particular colours - which you can see on in the garden/flowers page on her website - which have the happy knack of looking good with one another.
I love Wendy Cranston FSBA's paintings in gouache. The only thing that stops me from buying one is the fact I would have to buy two or three as I just love seeing them hung together! Her control of her media, composition within a square and colour palette are three of the reasons I like her work. That and that fact it doesn't look like anybody else's. I'd love to be able to show you her website - but I don't think she has one.
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| Gouache paintings of fruit and wisteria by Wendy Cranston FSBA work is typically priced at £195 |
Penny Stenning is a member of the Society of Botanical Artists - who wins Certificates of Botanical Merit - a Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, and also paints for the Eden Project. Her work impressed me - she has a meticulous approach to drawing her subjects. However the reason she's getting a mention is that she caught my eye with the composition and colour of two different works hung in different parts of the exhibition - her watercolour paintings of Sage and the weeds you can see below.
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| Some weeds of cultivation (£400) watercolour painting by Penny Stenning SBA |
Again Penny is an artist with no website - the link is to her page on the SBA website. If you're interested Penny teaches botanical illustration - details of how to find her curses are on the SBA members courses webpage.
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| Old Year, New Year (£330) - watercolour by Sue J Williams |
Sue J Williams SBA is also a Fellow of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and also caught my eye with a couple of pieces and Variations on a Theme. The latter because its format was something I had in mind for a piece of botanical artwork about alliums and it was interesting to see another artist's interpretation of how best to use it.
There is lots to like if you like printmaking in this exhibition. This year I was particularly struck by the simplicity and the complexity of Helen Hanson's Summer Fields.
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| Summer Fields (etching/aquatint £290) by Helen Hanson |
Links:
- Two botanical art exhibitions - in the UK and USA 22 Aug 2012
- Exhibition Review: Florum 2011 - in Sevenoaks 10 Sep 2011
A really great post Katherine. I can't make the exhibition myself this year, so many thanks for featuring so many of the really beautiful works that caught your eye.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this spectacular review Katherine - I haven't been able to get to Seven Oaks so your illustrated article as been very much needed (and enjoyed) by yours truly. I hope you manage to sort out your commenting problem on google soon. Many thanks again. J
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