29th April 2013 - Who's made a mark this week?

Zea Mays © Sharon Fox

The images in the exhibition this week are from the recent Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists.  There were so many blog posts with that and the RHS show at the same time that I decided in the end to leave my usual 'these are the ones which caught my eye' post until later - and am instead incorporating them into this post (and have more to post!)

Interestingly I subsequently learned that one of these was by Sharon Fox, a student of Fiona Strickland GM SBA AMBA.  Then I found out that Fiona had eight students last year and six had work accepted into the show.  So if you're an aspiring botanical artist living in Scotland you might want to find out about Fiona's classes!

This coming week I'm in hospital having a permanent lens replacement in my left eye which should begin to resolve the current problems with my eyes.  I'm in and out the same day (Thursday 2nd May) despite having a general rather than local anaesthetic.   However I'm not too sure what my vision will be like in the immediate aftermath and how that will affect computer work.

I've then got the next one on the 23rd May and then hopefully I'll have the prescriptions for my new glasses for close work by the beginning of July.

I'm very much looking forward to getting new eyes!

However I'm not looking forward to the eye drops!  I've been shown how to do it but am still fighting my huge eye phobia.  Tips for getting drops into my eyes post-op are very welcome.  So far I've managed to get as far as taking the top off my practice bottle of stuff for dry eyes and actually looking at what I need to do.......

Artists and Art Blogs

Artists on television

• "Rain, Steam and Speed" by JMW Turner - was featured last night at the end of a really good programme on BBC4 which looked at how Turner recorded the technology and activities of the Industrial revolution in the UK. This is the link to it on iPLayer - The Genius of Turner - Painting the Industrial Revolution (available until 9:59PM Fri, 3 May 2013)

Artists at the Theatre

• Jonathan Jones (the Guardian) asks and answers his own question Is Ai Weiwei still an artist? - given the fact he's now a book, a play and a film as well.

Botanical & Natural History Art

• I love the idea of edible botanical illustration - as exemplified in Lizzie Harper's post Edible Botanical Illustration – Eat what you draw

Drawing and Sketching

My last sketch without glasses and with dodgy eyes - you can read more about my recent visit to Sissinghurst - and see a photo of me sketching in Sissinghurst - from 3rd hottest to 2nd coldest! and The Rose Garden at Sissinghurst - late Spring

The Rose Garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden (22 April 2013)
11" x 16", pen and sepia ink and coloured pencils in Moleskine Sketchbook
copyright Katherine Tyrrell

Painting

I recently read Lori McNee's post about When My Serious Painting Became A Joke On Facebook.  I liked the quote

“To succeed in life you needthree things. A wishbone, a backbone and a funny bone.”
Reba McEntire

Plein Air

• Robin Purcell's painting "Curve of the Earth " won a Honorable Mention Prize in the 2nd Annual Plein Air Salon Competition
• James Gurney (Gurney Journey) has highlighted Marc Dellesios one minute videos 
• My friend Louise Sackett (Plein Speaking )came back from the Plein Air Convention in Monterey having spent too much money and an account of what it was like Monterey Plein Air Convention 2013

Portraiture

• Here's a slideshow of the Readers' Art submissions to the Guardian's Readers' Art competition about self-portraits

Who painted this?

• There's a mantrap in Who painted this? #26. It's snaring about 40% of the people who have responded so far
• Congratulations to Alastair Fraser who was the first person to get the correct answer to 
  Who painted this? #25

Art Education

• Stapleton Kearns provides an education about closed corner frames in A visit to the frame makers.  This is PS Art Frames of Rhode Island who feature in his post and who produce custom art frames for fine art.

Art Competitions

• Turner Prize 2013: Tate Britain announced the Turner Prize 2013 shortlist. The four artists shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2013 were announced by Tate Britain this week. David Shrigley was a bit of a surprise. In recent years the exhibition has been travelling and for 2013, the prize exhibition will be on show in Derry-Londonderry starting on 23 October 2013

• The Telegraph has a slideshow Turner Prize 2013: nominees in pictures
• The Guardian takes the view that Turner prize 2013: a shortlist strong on wit and charm
• The Independent commented on David Shrigley’s fine line between art and fun nominated for Turner Prize

Self Portrait with Lace Collar

© Sophie Ploeg

• BP Portrait Award: Here's my post about the BP Portrait Award 2013 - The Shortlist.  Congratulations to Sophie Ploeg on having her self portrait with lace collar  selected for the exhibition.  It was also very interesting for me because I had discussions with Sophie earlier this year about possible options for her entry to the competition.  The exhibition runs from 20 June - 15 September 2013, in the Wolfson Gallery (Admission Free)

• Sunday Times Watercolour Competition - the call for entries for the 26th annual competition has gone out and here's my annual overview of the criteria for artwork and arrangements for the call for entries - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2013 - Call for Entries

• Jerwood Drawing Prize 2013: Here's my overview of the Call for Entries - Jerwood Drawing Prize 2013: Call for Entries

Art Exhibitions

Major Art Galleries & Museums - Future Exhibitions

• Last Sunday I published a summary of the major Art Exhibitions in London: April - June 2013
• News this week that Peter Doig is to have have a major retrospective exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh this summer according to an article in The Guardian (Peter Doig: a free spirit captured in Scottish National Gallery's retrospective). No Foreign Lands: Peter Doig is at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, from 3 August to 3 November.
• The National Portrait Gallery has announced that it's having an exhibition of Laura Knight Portraits 11 July - 13 October 2013.  You can read more about Dame Laura Knight on my website About Dame Laura Knight - British Artist. Laura Knight (1877-1970) was the first woman artist to be made a Dame of the British Empire.
• 
  
• The Shirley Sherwood Gallery in Kew Gardens is gearing up for a new exhibition - Rory McEwen The Colours of Reality.  We're lucky to get accounts of
• what's happening via Jessica Shepherd's blog Inky Leaves - see Changes at the Gallery.  I gather  will be quite something.
• Impressions from somebody who saw his work a long time ago - this post by Coral Guest is about her memories of an exhibition some 40 years ago - The Rory McEwen Retrospective and the Legacy Exhibition at Kew

Art Societies

A corner I liked in the SBA Annual Exhibition

I've been having a bit of a botanical art bonanza of late.  Here's my catch-up for anybody who missed it.

• RHS Botanical Art Show: These are:
• my Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners
• plus their Ten Top Tips for winning an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art.
• Society of Botanical Artists:  
• These are the Prizewinners at Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2013
• These are the Other prizewinners at the SBA Annual Exhibition 2013
• Sandra Wall Armitage SBA has been elected as the new President of the Society of Botanical Artists.  She was previously the council member for the Society of Botanical Artists responsible for PR & marketing and is also a Director of the retail arm of the Society

Slipper Orchid by Lynne Proudfoot

Here's the rest of the news about art society exhibitions

• The National Watercolour Society in the USA has published its call for entries and 2013 Annual Prospectus Web
• The Royal West of England Academy has an exhibition about drawing - Drawn continues until 2nd June

Drawn aims to raise the profile of drawing, presenting it as both an autonomous discipline and an interdisciplinary tool.

• The Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters opens at the Mall galleries on Thursday 9th May and closes on the 24th May at 1pm.  Announcements about prizewinners will be made on the 8th and it will be interesting to see who has won the new £20,000 Self Portrait Prize
• I'm pleased to see I shall be seeing  Astrid Volquardsen's pastel work at the Annual Exhibition of the Pastel Society in June 

Art Business & Marketing

The Artist Statement (and writing online)

• I came across an Infographic which I thought seemed very helpful to those developing or revisiting their artist statements. Is my artist statement done? has a pathway approach to  working out whether or not your Artist Statement is both completed and accessible.
• I'd like to suggest that Alyson Stanfield's post Finish Your Writing on Art Biz Blog is also very pertinent to those finalising any sort of statement about their artwork or art career.
• At the same time Artpromotivate articulates the various ways in which, in its opinion,  artists can write online and succeed in creating the sort of situation which can see their art career go down the tubes.  Make sure you read  How Artists Can Ruin their Reputation Online and then read the comments.

Commissions

• Stapleton Kearns advises about commissions - Negotiating commissions for paintings - and is adamant that you must get half up front and that this is always non-refundable.

Communication & Marketing

• For all those marketing their art via Facebook, you may well want to have a read of this Guardian article Facebook loses millions of users as biggest markets peak.  The Guardian followed up with an interactive post Facebook's user exodus: our readers tell us what's wrong

Getting Funding for your Art / a Gallery / an Exhibition 

Artquest provides five audio guides to artists paying their bills and getting their artwork together

• Audio Self Assembly: Negotiation, talk by Emily Speed - and this is the associated blog post The Fine Art of Negotiation
• Audio Self Assembly: Crowdfunding talk by Marc Wilson
• Audio Self Assembly (Fundraising): by Artquest
• Audio Self Assembly (Fundraising): talk by Hannah Liley
• Audio Self Assembly: Print on Demand, talk by AND Publishing

Displaying your Art

• The Arts Business Institute provides advice about 6 Booth Display Mistakes that Can Ruin Your Show

Art Economy 

• Wouldn't it be nice to have enough money to make it really worthwhile considering the arguments and counterpoints expressed in ArtInfo's Does Investing in Art Make Sense? A Look at Both Sides of the Debate

Art Materials

• Vivien Blackburn (paintings prints and stuff) has been road testing a new sketchbook and writes succinctly about Using the new Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook and it is now available in the UK!

Techies

• Try putting https://www.facebook.com/messages/other/ in your URL line and see what comes up. You may find a lot of messages you didn't know you'd received! Why do some messages end up in this "other" folder? I've no idea! Thanks to Cathy Johnson for the tip.

and finally.......

I came across a post which highlighted this chap - who has been drawing pictures on his kids sandwiches for years and years - and of course photographing them all! Now  he's got  1,111 photos, 1 video and 524,793 views

Plus a feature on the Flickr blog - Dad illustrates kids sandwich bags with imaginative drawings
and a feature on the Sharpie blog - David Laferriere

So there you go - fame starts with a Sharpie marker and a plastic bag...................

Is my artist statement done?

I like this Infographic Is my artist statement done? about working out whether or not your Artist Statement is both completed and accessible.

I've added this resource for artists into What should an Artist's Statement contain? on my website Art Business Info for Artists

Is my Artist Statement done?
Designed by Dana Jeri Maier

Browse more infographics.

[NOTE: Who's made a mark this week will be tomorrow]

Who painted this? #26

Six months completed of this challenge and it continues to bring new people on board each week!

Who is this handsome chap and which artist drew him?

Who painted this? #26

How to participate in "Who painted this? #26"

PLEASE make sure you read the rules before posting a comment - and ONLY POST ON THIS BLOG what you think is the answer.

Click this link to read THE RULES for participating in this challenge (this saves having to copy them out for each post!).

In short:

• use your brains not software to find the answer
• search using words only on a database of images
• leave your answer as a comment on this blog
• if correct it will not be published until the next post - which provides the answer
• if wrong it will be published
• do not leave the answer on Facebook!
• the winner - who gets a mention and a link on/from this blog - is the first person to give me a completely correct answer for ALL the things I want to know

Who Painted This #25 - The Answer

Jerwood Drawing Prize 2013: Call for Entries

The UK's Largest & Longest Running Drawing Competition

On Monday this week, the 'Call for Entries' for The Jerwood Drawing Prize 2013 was published.

the Jerwood Drawing Prize has established a reputation for its commitment to championing excellence and exploring the boundaries of contemporary drawing practice within the UK.

It focuses on:

• UK based artists - both emerging and more established artists
• recognising the range and diversity in contemporary drawing practice
• celebrating excellence in drawing as demonstrated by contemporary artists

It was established in 1994 to promote excellence in drawing practice in the UK and is now in its 19th year and is the largest and longest running OPEN Drawing Competition - and exhibition - in the UK.

Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012
Second Prize - Ta - iL 28, Bada Song

Some people might be surprised by what the Competition counts as drawing. In 2010 I wrote a post about Contemporary Drawing Practice in response to some comments on this blog.

Exploring the boundaries of contemporary drawing practice in the UK

Details of the 'Call for Entries' are below - along with all the links to the relevant information you need if you would like to think about and/or enter one or more of your drawings in the competition.

BP Portrait Award 2013 - The Shortlist

This year, in a change from previous years, only two artists have been shortlisted for the £30,000 BP Portrait Award 2013 and both have painted portraits of sons and daughters.

Notably both paintings show full figures and not just heads or heads and upper torso alone and it's blatantly obvious that the artist knows the sitter(s).  I'm speculating that we may be calling this the year of the return to the truly observational painting - from life.  Those aspiring to enter next year's competition should take note!  These key points about the nature of the portrait required for this competition are ones I highlighted in my Call for Entries post back in December (see BP Portrait Award 2013: Call for Entries)

Artists shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award

In previous years we have had four artists shortlisted for the first three prizes plus the Young Artists Award.

However this year the prize money has been redistributed so that the first prize money has been increased and the Third Prize has been eliminated.  This means the prizes for the BP Portrait Award are now as follows:

• BP Portrait Award Winner -  £30,000 cash prize a commission worth £5,000, to be agreed between the National Portrait Gallery and the artist.
• BP Portrait Award Runner up - £10,000 
• Young Artist Award - £7,000
• BP Travel Award 2013 - £6,000

Those in the running for the Young Artist Award (for the work of a selected artist aged between 18 and 30) and the BP Travel Award will find out at the Awards Evening on 18 June who the winner is.  This makes sense to me as in recent years as it's usually been possible to tell who is the winner of the Young Artist Award in advance purely on the basis of age!

As always the panel of judges saw all the original paintings entered. The jury for the awards were:

• Sandy Nairne, Director, National Portrait Gallery (Chair)
• David Dawson, Painter and Photographer
• Sarah Howgate, Contemporary Curator, National Portrait Gallery
• Victoria Pomery, Director, Turner Contemporary
• Ali Smith, Author
• Des Violaris, Director, UK Arts & Culture, BP

Both the artists shortlisted for the 2013 BP Portrait Award 2013 have painted their children. They are:

• John Devane for The Uncertain Time and 
• Susanne du Toit for Pieter.

John Devane - The Uncertain Time

'The Uncertain Time' 
1720 x 2490mm, oil on canvas

© John Devane

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2013 - Call for Entries

The Call for Entries for the 26th year of The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition - the top open watercolour competition in the UK - has been published.

the competition celebrates all works produced in water-based mediums, whether abstract or figurative, contemporary or traditional.

This prestigious competition is one of the top art competitions in the UK and is open to both amateur and professional artists who are invited to compete for prizes worth a total of £18,000.

Viewing the 2012 Sunday Times Watercolour Exhibition 
at the Mall Galleries, September 2012

This post tells you about:

• who can enter
• what you can enter
• the time table
• the exhibition

The deadline for submissions 5pm on the 10 June 2013.

Read on to find out more about:

• how to enter the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
• where you can see the Exhibition in London and around the UK .

I've listed my blog posts about this competition in the last FIVE years at the end of this post.  Click the exhibition reviews to see the calibre of entries selected for previous exhibitions.

Entry for the 2013 competition is ONLINE.

Artists are invited to submit up to four works.

Sunday Times Watercolour Competition Prizes

The prestige value of The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition is in part due to value of the top prize prize available.  £10,000 goes to the person who wins first prize.

Prizes in 2013 include:

• 1st Prize (£10,000),
• 2nd Prize (£6,000),
• the Smith & Williamson Cityscape Prize (£1,500), and
• the Vintage Classics Prize for Cover Art (£500 and a commission to create the cover art for a Vintage Classic).

Who can submit entries

Art Exhibitions in London: April - June 2013

This is my second monthly blog post about Art Exhibitions in London - ones on now and ones coming up.  This post broadly covers a three month period from April - June 2013.

The exhibitions highlighted are:

• major exhibitions in major art galleries and museums in LONDON. (Plus other places if I have the time).
• major art competition exhibitions - typically those which are listed in my page on Major UK Art Competitions in 2013
• major art society exhibitions 

The Guitar Player (c. 1670-1672) by Johannes Vermeer
Oil on canvas, Height: 53 cm (20.9 in). Width: 46.3 cm (18.2 in)
Collection: Kenwood House
This painting is moving to the National Gallery
for the Vermeer and music exhibition.

Major Art Galleries and Museums in the UK

Courtauld Gallery

Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN

• Until 27 May 2013 - Becoming Picasso: Paris 1901 - has received rave reviews. Watch an introduction to the exhibition of paintings by a 19 year old precocious Picasso by Curator Dr Barnaby Wright.
• 20 June – 8 September 2013 Collecting Gauguin: Samuel Courtauld in the '20s.  The Courtauld holds the UK’s most important collection of works by the Post-Impressionist master Paul Gauguin - which was assembled by pioneering collector Samuel Courtauld.

Dulwich Picture Gallery

Gallery Road, London, SE21 7AD

• Until 19 May 2013 - Murillo & Justino de Neve: The Art of Friendship 
• 12 june - 22 september 2013 - A Crisis of Brilliance Nash, Nevinson, Spencer, Gertler, Carrington, Bomberg: A Crisis of Brilliance, 1908-1922.  I guess one might call this the exhibition of the book!

A major exhibition to watch out for later in the year is Whistler in London

Who painted this? #25

Who painted this? #25

You probably need to try and work out where this is and what time of year it is.  There's a few clues so take a good look!

How to participate in "Who painted this? #25"

PLEASE make sure you read the rules before posting a comment - and ONLY POST ON THIS BLOG what you think is the answer.

Click this link to read THE RULES for participating in this challenge (this saves having to copy them out for each post!).

In short:

• use your brains not software to find the answer
• search using words only on a database of images
• leave your answer as a comment on this blog
• if correct it will not be published until the next post - which provides the answer
• if wrong it will be published
• do not leave the answer on Facebook!
• the winner - who gets a mention and a link on/from this blog - is the first person to give me a completely correct answer for ALL the things I want to know

Who Painted This #24 - The Answer

Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners

Every year I go to the RHS Botanical Art Show and every year I try to interview all the Botanical Artists who won Gold Medals.

• Below you can read the interviews from those who won Gold Medals at the 2013 RHS Botanical Art Show.  
• Plus see images of the artwork and artists who were not featured in my earlier post Ten Top Tips for winning an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art.

Key themes

The key themes for me this year were very evident very quickly

• The first is the perennial one - which is that Gold Medal Winning botanical artwork ALWAYS stands out.  For those aspiring to win Gold it's worth reflecting on what it takes for your artwork to be "stand out".  Often it's a clear and consistent theme which looks good on the display panels and doesn't look like anybody else's work.
• First time exhibitors do win Gold Medals.  In this instance 50% went to first timers.  I suggested in my last post that feedback from the RHS suggested that aming for a Gold Medal Standard for your first entry is absolutely essential if you want to exhibit more than once!
• Painting flowers nicely isn't enough. There's a clear and strong botanical science theme running through the stories of many of the new Gold Medal Winners.  Dissection and the portrayal of the complete plant and life cycle should be high on the agenda of any aspiring Gold Medal winner
• Personal connections with plants they were portraying came through strongly with a number of the gold medal winners.  You've got to at the very least love the plant you paint!
• a number of artists made a point of highlighting how much they owe to their teacher.  It's certainly worthwhile making sure you get top instruction if you are able to.
• you don't have to be good at everything but you generally need to be good at something in addition besides painting!  That might be plant collection - or finding a good grower, great presentation or great dissection. Keep adding to your repertoire and you strengthen your case to win a Gold.
• I think Fabriano should be sponsoring a prize at this show given the number of times their paper gets a mention!

The other thing to note is how many of the gold Medallists are first timers.  They're listed below by order of surname.

Gülnar Ekşi

Plants from the forests and woods of Chile 

GOLD MEDAL 2013 awarded to Gülnar Ekşi GM

ccopyright: images - Gülnar Ekşi; photo - Katherine Tyrrell

Gülnar Eksi GM is from Turkey and is currently completing her PhD in Botany at Ankara University.

All her paintings have been sold to the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh - and they are to be published in a book about Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile 

She commented that the feedback she had from the judges suggested they particularly liked the colour she had achieved and the three dimensional quality of her paintings.

I asked Gülnar what materials she used.
Her paper is Fabriano 5.  For her absolutely stunning pinks she uses Winsor & Newton Colours and in particular Permanent Rose, Opera Rose, Permanent Magenta and Alizarin Crimson.

She showed me an area of leaf shine and said she never ever lifts paint out. She never paints the area and then just uses water to blur the edges

Other prizewinners at the SBA Annual Exhibition 2013

Every year the Society of Botanical Artists awards Certificates of Botanical Merit to those whose work is judged outstanding in terms of strict botanical illustration.  Other artists are highly commended for their artwork with respect to the Joyce Cuming Award

Certificate of Botanical Merit

The eight artists who this year were awarded Certificates of Botanical Merit are listed below.  There are links in the names of artists who have websites or a page about them on the SBA website.  If the artwork is on their website I have also linked to that as well

Name	Title	No.
Karen L Bailey AssocSBA	Agapanthus umbellatus ‘Albus’ Seed head	24
Gill Cann AssocSBA	Chinese Lanterns	102
Sheila Etchingham SBA	Veltheimia bracteata Forest Lily	197
Norma Gregory SBA	Rheum	253
Asako Kuwajima SBA	Prunus x yedoensis	377
Robert McNeill Assoc SBA	Abies koreana ‘Carron’	445
Sally Pond DipEGS(Dist)	Brambles	514
Ann Sheppard	Acanthus	570

You can see photographs of some of the award-winning work below.  However, I cannot emphasise enough that photographing the work in no way does it justice!  I'm not sure why (very bright lighting?) but for some reason I'm having a lot of problems processing my photographs this year so that the colour is even back to the colours seen in the exhibition.

The only way to appreciate botanical artwork properly is to visit the Annual Exhibition - which is at Central Hall Westminster until Sunday 21st April. (Admission free)

Agapanthus umbellatus ‘Albus’ Seed head
watercolour (£225)
© Karen L Bailey

Rheum
watercolour and graphite (£1,375)
© Norma Gregory

Norma Gregory is a Fellow of Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society. She also won

• the The Margaret Granger Memorial Silver Bowl for a body of work. Her Coltsfoot was highlighted in my last post Prizewinners at Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2013
• and an RHS Gold Medal in 2011 when I interviewed her - see RHS Botanical Art Show & Five Gold Medal Winners when she was also displaying another perspective on rhubarb.  Norma has three Gold Medals in total.  This is from my interview with her 2011 - and note when she started doing botanical art.

Norma is a natural history artist who only started doing botanical art in 2006. She won her very first Gold Medal the same year which is some feat! Norma's display was all about roots and root vegetables. I'm always very drawn to those who display the less showy parts of plants and Norma had a really great series of paintings about roots - I absolutely loved the rhubarb (see above)!

Brambles
Watercolour (£500)
© Sally Pond

Sally says this about her painting on her website

This painting illustrates the abstract qualities of a bare, winter, bramble hedge. It shows the fierce strength of the thorns and the subtle colour and arc of the canes, finding a stark beauty in the leafless hegderow.

Abies koreana 'Carron' 

watercolour (£5,500)

© Robert McNeill Assoc SBA

Robert McNeill won a Certificate of Merit for his Abies Koreana 'Carron' in addition to the Suzanne Lucas Memorial Award.

This is his third botanical painting in watercolour.  Apparently the tree - which is a a fir native to the higher mountains of South Korea - grows in his garden in Scotland.  It's a composite of angles which does not look like a composite, however each angle demonstrates the twisted growth pattern of the leaves along each shoot.

Highly Commended for the Joyce Cuming Award

The other Award which attracts name recognition is the Highly Commended status in relation to the Joyce Cuming Award

Name	Title	No.
Julia Blower	Chrysanthemum ‘Tom Pearce’	66
Shevaun Docherty AssocSBA	Ripening Date	173
Valerie Dugan SBA	Ornamental Corn	178
Rosemary Lindsay SBA	Shoo-Fly Plant	403
Kate Nuttall SBA	Greater Reedmace	470
Akiko Sato	Pokeweed	560
Julie Whelan DipSBA	Honeysuckle with male ruby-throated Hummingbird	672

Here are images of some of the works which were highly commended

Chrysanthemum ‘Tom Pearce’
Watercolour (£800)
©  Julia Blower

Phoenix dactylifera - Ripening Dates
watercolour (£450)
©  Shevaun Docherty DipSBA (Dist.), Assoc SBA

The dates back to when Shevaun was living in Egypt - which is when I first got to hear from her two years ago - see Botanical Art under fire (about botanical art while a revolution is going on outside the window).  Since then she has moved back to Ireland, gained her Diploma in Botanical Illustration with Distinction in 2012 and this year has been busy with other botanical artists in Ireland starting the Irish Society of Botanical Artists.

Pokeweed
watercolour (£700)
©  Akiko Sato 

Julie Whelan with President Vickie Marsh standing next to her Highly Commended Work
Honeysuckle with male ruby-throated Hummingbird

watercolour (£330)
©  Julie Whelan

Julie has a wonderful take on the Language of Flowers - and the role birds play in pollination which she explains on her blog.

One more blog post will complete this year's review of the Annual Exhibition which continues until Sunday at Westminster Central Hall - opposite Westminster Abbey - until Sunday, 21 April 2013. It's free to enter and is open every day between 11am to 5pm including Sundays.

2013 Exhibition Links:

• Society of Botanical Artists http://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/
• Making A Mark - Certificates of Botanical Merit at SBA 2012
• Making A Mark - Society of Botanical Artists: "The Language of Flowers" - Call for Entries outlines the requirements of those submitting entries to this open exhibition

Makingamark's Botanical Art Resources

• Makingamark's Botanical Art Compendium
• Botanical Art - Resources for Artists
• A History of Botanical Art - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
• The Best Botanical Art Books

15th April 2013 - Who's made a mark this week?

For any of you who missed this post in the first week of April - Making A Mark notches up 2 million visits !  This blog has also had well over 3 million page views.

Thank you all for reading my blog! :)

[Note: this was supposed to be yesterday's blog post and then I heard the awful news about the bombs in Boston and couldn't settle to finishing this - so there will be two posts today!]

On to the feature item this week..........

Those who enjoy Maggie Smith in her roles over the years - and latterly in Downton Abbey - might like to know that she has now been painted for the nation by one of my ex-tutors James Lloyd.  You can now see a contemporary portrait of her in everyday dress - out of character - in Room 35 in the Ground floor Lerner Contemporary Galleries at the National Portrait Gallery, London. Admission free.

Dame Margaret Natalie ('Maggie') Smith by James Lloyd
© National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 6955)
Oil on canvas, 1902 x 1202mm (74 7/8 x 47 3/8 inches)
commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery
with the support of J.P. Morgan
through the Fund for New Commissions, 2012

It is a large canvas but I don’t think it’s flashy. I was after a certain understated grandeur. The background is quite stark, and apart from the patterned floor there is little colour bar the neutral greys and browns. This directs the concentration on to the warm flesh tones of the face. And with a face and character like Dame Maggie Smith’s that’s definitely more than enough
I learnt that Dame Maggie had been reluctant to have her portrait painted in the past, and at my first meeting with her, her opening words were, “Poor you”. This was quite the opposite from my own feelings, and everyone to whom I mentioned the commission was extremely envious (I lost count of the number of people who offered to make tea during the sittings!)’.

James Lloyd

Artists and Art Blogs

Art on Television

Here in the UK we've recently had insights into two diverse artists - and I can't quite believe I'm writing about the two of them in the same sentence!

Ten Top Tips for winning an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art

Would you like to win a Gold Medal for your Botanical Art?

• Have you ever wondered whether your artwork is good enough to submit to the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition
• Have you got the stage where you've started to wonder about the logistics of what's involved in submitting an entry?

If the answer to any of these is 'Yes" read ON - and you'll learn a thing or two - or ten!

I paid two visits on Friday and Saturday to the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition at the RHS Lindley Hall on Friday and Saturday.

I met eight ladies who had all won RHS Gold Medals - you can see images of some of them and their work below.  In this and my next post I'm going to be sharing what I learned - starting with...

10 Top Tips for Winning an RHS Gold Medal for Botanical Art

Prizewinners at Society of Botanical Artists Annual Exhibition 2013

I attended the Private View of the 28th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists on Thursday and since then it's been back to back botanical art - because just down the road we've also had the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition - with eight Gold Medal Winners!

I'm just about to start writing up the exhibitions visited and artists I've spoken to in the last three days - but given the fact I'm still suffering from the 3rd attack of the dreaded lurgy this might be a bit slow.

• I'm starting with this post which will focus on the prizewinners and those demonstrating over the next week.
• There will be a follow up post about the exhibition generally and highlighting those who got Certificates of Botanical Merit and were Highly Commended
• I'm also probably doing a couple of posts on the RHS Show simply because the art was fabulous and the tips about how to get a gold medal were just as good!

Society of Botanical Art - 2013 Awards

Vickie Marsh led the Awards ceremony.  This is her last year as President of the SBA.

The theme of this year's exhibition is "The Language of Flowers" is being held at its normal venue - Westminster Central Hall - opposite Westminster Abbey - until Sunday, 21 April 2013. It's free to enter and is open every day between 11am to 5pm including Sundays.

SBA President Vickie Marsh at the Awards Ceremony

Below are the people who won major awards in this year's exhibition.

Who painted this? #24

I'm immersed in botanical art exhibitions right now so it seemed appropriate to make this week's image a specimen of botanical art.  Especially since I listed intently to a lovely lady from South Africa tell me this afternoon how difficult it is to paint the stems of this type of plant!

I think you might need to work out what this is before you start looking!

Who painted this? #24

How to participate in "Who painted this? #24"

PLEASE make sure you read the rules before posting a comment - and ONLY POST ON THIS BLOG what you think is the answer.

Click this link to read THE RULES for participating in this challenge (this saves having to copy them out for each post!).

In short:

• use your brains not software to find the answer
• search using words only on a database of images
• leave your answer as a comment on this blog
• if correct it will not be published until the next post - which provides the answer
• if wrong it will be published
• do not leave the answer on Facebook!
• the winner - who gets a mention and a link on/from this blog - is the first person to give me a completely correct answer for ALL the things I want to know

Who Painted This #23 - The Answer