An Abundance of Botanical Art over the next few weeks

This last few weeks, last weekend in particular and the next few weeks from the end of May through June are - for me - dominated by BOTANICAL ART.  

This post is about a very busy time for botanical art and artists - and me - with three major exhibitions (two in London) involving international botanical artists and illustrators during May, June and July.

So far we've been 

• celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society (CPGFS) - of which I'm the Treasurer - and holding the AGM (Accounts and Treasurer's Report)
• getting ready for the a display by CPGFS at the exhibition for the 40th anniversary of the Society of Botanical Artists (see below)

Botanical Art Worldwide 2025

Last weekend was The Worldwide Day of Botanical Art - with lots going on around the world. I was at Kew Gardens. (see Over 1,000 attend Worldwide Day of Botanical Art 2025 at Kew Gardens)

View of the part of the activities in the Nash Conservatory at Kew Gardens last Sunday

 

These three are multiple RHS Gold Medal winners

and renowned botanical artists and teachers

About to give the final talk of the day at Kew last Sunday

(L to R) Lucy T Smith, Scientific Botanical Illustrator at Kew Gardens and author of Botanical Sketchbooks: An Artist's Guide to Plant Studies

Ann Swan, a legend in botanical art in coloured pencils, so many people have been taught by her

Julia Trickey who developed a completely novel response during Covid and Julia Trickey Talks just seems to get bigger and better!

This week I've been putting a new page together for my Botanical Art and Artists website covering The Second World Wide Exhibition of Botanical Art 2025. 

• 31 countries around the world - in North and South America, East and West Europe, Africa, Australasia and Asia - all got together and coordinated a celebration of botanical art at the same time
• all celebrating with events and activities on The Worldwide Day of Botanical Art on Sunday 18th May 2025
• organised by a number of botanical art societies and other groups - led and managed predominantly by women (Yay!)
• see Botanical Art Worldwide 2025 - Exhibitions and Events in the UK
• SUMMARISED by me on ONE PAGE of my website!! (See link above. It took 3 days!)

All the Countries participating in Botanical Art Worldwide 2025
- with new countries this year highlighted

Plantae 2025 - Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists

Next week sees the opening of Plantae 2025 - the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists - in all three galleries of the Mall Galleries. 

It opens to the public on 28th May and continues daily until 7th June 2025. (10am - 5pm)

It's going to be momentous, not least because....

So that's two PVs to attend and an exhibition review to write!

Being a very educational focused society (they run their own Diploma Course) they've also got a lot of different Demonstrations and Talks events during the course of the Exhibiton (which will take place in the East Gallery) and I'm also delivering a talk (I've done the outline but I've still got to finish it)!

See SBA Plantae 2025 Demonstrations and Talks on Eventbrite

Below is my talk - about The Dragon's Den of Grant Applications - which follows on from my Chairing the Panel for the very first £10k SBA Fellow Grant last year.

The RHS Botanical Art Show

Then a short breather before I'm off to the Saatchi Gallery for The RHS Botanical Art and Photography Exhibition (13th June 27th July) in the three large galleries on the ground floor.

It's a unique exhibition where people don't enter one (or maybe two artworks) but 

• first have to qualify to be able to enter artwork for the exhibition
• then get five years to prepare their submission
• followed by entering an entire suite of six artworks on a theme related to plants - preferably with a strong botanical theme. It's very much an exhibition for botanical artists and illustrators and NOT for conventional flower painters per se (should anybody have perked up at the idea of entering their flower paintings!)

That's when I'll be heavily involved with meeting all the botanical artists who will arrive from all over the world - and interviewing all those who have won a Gold Medal. 

It's usually a minimum of two visits and probably three - which include photographing and videoing the exhibition to show people around the world what the standard of art looks like.

I'm pleased to say I first started covering RHS Botanical Art in 2007 when it was a few stands at the back of the RHS Lindley Hall during one of their plant shows.  After which I was hooked and carried on covering it every year - and before long I started noticing that the exhibition kept getting bigger and bigger.....

Ten years ago I created a website dedicated to Botanical Art and Artists (now #1 for this topic in the world) - and this highlighted a lot of information about the shows. 

You can read more about The RHS Botanical Art Show in the dedicated sections on my website 

• RHS Botanical Art Shows
• ARCHIVE: RHS Botanical Art Shows 2007-2024
• Exhibit Titles at RHS Botanical Art Shows
• Tips from RHS Gold Medal Winners

It turns out that showing people what exhibitions look like - and telling them how to find the details of how to enter has a very significant impact on how many artists start entering!  

I highly recommend that art societies around the world think long and hard about whether they show enough pictures of exhibitions to people - if they want more visitors...

The exhibition has grown and grown - and I now very much emphasise to people that you need to aim for a Gold Medal at your very first attempt. It has to be your very best art - and it needs to look like it was a major project!  

(You may have seen my article "Going for Gold" in the June copy of The Artist Magazine)

...and at the end of all of that I'll probably need a long rest - before I switch into portrait mode for the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2025.... which I've also been covering since 2007...

EXCEPT, I've got my pre-assessment interview for my Reverse Shoulder Replacement operation at the beginning of June.......

.......so somewhere in the middle of all of that there might be my next operation - and THEN I'll be doing some of this swanning around with my left arm in a sling for six weeks!!