RHS Botanical Art Show 2015 - Selected Artists

One of the exhibitions I cover extensively every year is the RHS Botanical Art Show.

• This post lists the botanical artists selected for the 2015 Exhibition 
• Please note the exhibition's dates have changed this year and it's much earlier on 27-28 February 2015 at RHS Lindley Hall in Westminster.

Part of the 2014 RHS Botanical art Exhibition

Selected Artists 2015

These are the artists who have been selected by the RHS to exhibit at this show (which is not the only RHS Show at which botanical art is exhibited - but it is the main one). 

We seem to have more artists overall but fewer artists from the USA, Australia, South Africa and Korea.

Note: Any international artists planning to sell their artwork at the exhibition need to be aware of the new EU rules about VAT which started on 1 January 2015 (of which more anon - but the bottom line is you need to be registered for VAT in the UK)

Australia

• Deirdre Bean GM (2012) - Australia's mangroves: living on the edge The mangroves are the subject of Deirdre's post graduate studies in Natural History Illustration. Deirdre has paintings in public collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, USA, and in the Florilegium collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.

France

• Vanda Adamson - French hedgerow flowers and fruit

Italy

• Lucilla Carcano GM - Autumn Walks: the patterns of leaf colour during the season Lucilla has been painting botanical art since 1994. In 2006 she won both an RHS Gold Medal and the Best in Show Award at the exhibition in Birmingham.

Japan

Japan has a major contingent of artists exhibiting this year.

• Hideo Horikoshi - Traditional Root and Tuber Crops in Japan
• Yuko Inujima - Flower and fruit
• Mayumi Ishii - Contemporary Roses in Japan
• Kimiyo Maruyama - Trees of Pinaceae in Watercolour. Her Pinus palustris was exhibited at the Botanical Art in the 21st Century exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in 2014 and was described as follows. My guess is we may well see this in this exhibition too.  Her work was also exhibited at Kew in The art of plant evolution at Kew Gardens' exhibition of botanical paintings

Kimiyo Maruyama’s Pinus palustris is a feat of attention to detail; a painstakingly painted watercolour which leaves you enraptured at her patience and skill.

• Ikuko Matsui - Study of Flower Ikuko is a member of the Japanese Association of Botanical Illustration
• Masako Mori - Persimmon Masako has exhibited at the 14th International Exhibition, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
• Keiko Sekiya - Pumpkins and Squashes Keiko exhibited at the 13th International Exhibition, The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
• Kumiko Takano - Climbing Plants

Thailand

• Sansanee Deekrajang - Tropical Climate Plants  Sansanee was born in Thailand but now lives in West Lothian. She won a Silver Gilt at BISCOT 2014.  She has also exhibited at the Margaret Flockton Award in Australia in 2013.
• Waree Sawangarom - The Magnificent Garden Tree Waree is from Amphoe Muang Nonthaburi, Thailand. You can also find her work on Etsy.

Turkey

Gulnar Eksi at the RHS Botanical Art Exhibition 2013

• Gulnur Eksi - Plants from the Woods and Forests of Chile. This is a project currently being undertaken at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh chileanplants.rbge.org.uk - the book of all the botanical art completed to date goes on sale in 2015. You can read my interview with Gulnar in 2012 in this post - Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners

UK

• Kate Barling - Six varieties of apples, grown in a Devon garden
• Pearl Bostock - Bedgebury National Pinetum Signatory trees Pearl is the founder member and Chairman of the Florilegium Society at Bedgebury National Pinetum, Goudhurst, Kent which has the most complete collection of temperate conifers. I was wondering when I was going to see some botanical artwork connected to Bedgebury!  She's also a member of the group of botanical artists called Amicus Botanicus who invite me to their exhibitions.
• Jessie Carr - In Depth Seed Studies  According to her Facebook Page, Jessie's exhibit is now titled 'Exposing the Nature of Nurture'. She lives in Cornwall.
• Guy William Eves - The Black and White of Colour. Guy is a fellow of The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and has had work exhibited at The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, USA
• Leigh Ann Gale - The Diversity of Clematis Leigh Ann completed her completed her diploma in botanical illustration at the English Gardening School, Chelsea Physic Garden and is a member of the Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society
• Nicola Macartney - All Glory is Fleeting - Papaver Flowering Nicola is a graduate of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Diploma in Botanical Illustration - a course that has a lot of RHS Gold Medals associated with it. She started her studies in 2008 and completed the Diploma - with Distinction - in 2012.
• Jill Mayhew - Inside the Fruit Cage - a Collection of Soft Fruits Jill is a member of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society and has a painting included in the Highgrove Florilegium.
• Claire McDermott - Michaelmas Claire studied RHS Horticulture - Plant Morphology /microscopic work at Harrow College and then Botanical Illustration at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Francesca Ross - Crab Apple Varieties from RHS Garden Hyde Hall.   Born in Devon and currently lives in Essex - hence the Hyde Hall connection.
• Fran Thomas - Plants of the Coast and Islands of the Firth of Forth - Fran is from Scotland and did her Diploma at RGBG. She won a Silvery Gilt at this show in 2014
• Kathy Pickles GM - Fritillaria and Helleborus. Kathy has exhibited five times and an RHS Gold Medal on each occasion. She won her first Gold Medal in 1991. Her artwork has been acquired by and is in the collections of The Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew and Edinburgh, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh and the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
• Peta Stockton GM - Acacia Plants – Bark and Thorns. Peta won her RHS Gold Medal in 2006. Originally from South Africa, Peta now lives in Sevenoaks in Kent.  She has work in the collections of Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society in London, the Hunt Institute of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and the Shirley Sherwood Collection.
• Margaret Walty - Orchid Hybrids Maraget lives in the south of Scotland and is a professional painter
• Jenny Webster - Going to Seed - Jenny was awarded a Diploma with distinction from the Society of Botanical Artists in 2009 and won an RHS Silver Gilt medal in 2012. She's a member of the London Chelsea Physic Garden group of painters. She's a member of the Leicestershire Society of Botanical Illustrators.
• Amanda Willoughby - Heavy metal-tolerant plants of abandoned lead mines in the North Pennines and the Peak District.  Amanda has won two previous RHS Medals for "Rare and Endangered Cornfield Flowers" and "Plants of the Urban Wasteland"

More Exhibits and Demonstrations

In addition the show will include exhibits and demonstrations from the following artists and societies

Artists

• Susan Christopher-Coulson - Susan is the Vice President of the Society of Botanical Artists and has won many awards. She works in coloured pencils and will be demonstrating techniques for drawing suitable objects for botanical art and how to create special effects.
• Hannah McVicar - Hannah is an illustrator and printmaker. She is bringing her Portable Artist Printmaking Studio to the show to demonstrate how she works. 
• Julia Trickey - I normally see Julia at these shows winning Gold Medals for her artwork (see this post and this post). This time she be a range of botanical art techniques in her capacity as a botanical art tutor. Her instructional DVDs and other merchandise will be available to purchase. 

Florilegium Societies

Two of the Florilegium Societies in the South East are exhibiting paintings in their collection together with information and advice from artist members

• Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society - 2015 marks the 20th Anniversary of the Society and their exhibit will include paintings from the Chelsea Physic Garden collection, information about their upcoming book and a chance to purchase prints, cards and post cards of their work.  
• Hampton Court Palace Florilegium Society - The Society’s aim is to record plants grown in the gardens at Hampton Court Palace, with particular emphasis on the Palace’s unique plant collections such as the Queen Mary Exoticks. A selection of original pieces will be shown, plus artists will demonstrate the skills required to paint for the Florilegium. 

Note: If you're not familiar with florilegium you might find this post interesting as it defines what is a florilegium and describes their history - Volume 1 of The Highgrove Florilegium is published