Cedric Morris at Philip Mould Gallery

I gather that a number of people have now been to see "Garden to Canvas - Cedric Morris and Benton End" at the Philip Mould Gallery at 18-19 Pall Mall (immediately opposite the Reform Club!) until 18th June 2025 - and liked it very much!

Garden to Canvas - Cedric Morris and Benton End

I saw it on Tuesday morning this week. The oil paintings are well worth viewing in terms of an artist who loved his plants and loved painting them. They also have enormous impact.

Benton End - his house and garden were also home to the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing established in 1937, which Lucian Freud joined in 1939.

Guest-curated by James Horner, Head Gardener at Benton End, the exhibition brings together works that have played a key role in the revival of Morris’s historic Suffolk garden.

Benton End, a sixteenth-century house near Hadleigh, was the home of Morris and his lifelong partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). From this remarkable setting, the pair ran the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing – a place where art, horticulture, and community thrived side by side. With its free-flowing spirit, open-minded ethos, and rejection of academic conventions, Benton End became a haven for creative freedom. Many artists, including a young Lucian Freud, acknowledged that it was here where their true artistic identities first took root.

The works to revive the garden have been ongoing for some time and there's about another year to go. We have mentally made a date to visit Benton End - now a subsidiary of the Garden Museum - in Spring 2026 when hopefully the garden renovation will be complete and the irises will have returned and blooming again. Plus also see where Lucian Freud started out on his artistic career.

More oil paintings of flowers from the garden of Cedric Morris at Benton End

I'm putting an album of my photographs of the paintings in the gallery on Facebook and will come back and insert a link when I've done that

However I highly RECOMMEND that you download the excellent catalogue from the website and salivate over the paintings and the story of Cedric Morris in front of your computer.

CLICK HERE to download the exhibition handbook

See also 

• Benton End House & Gardens – Garden Museum
• Facebook - Benton End
• Instagram - Benton End

PS You can also see drawings and paintings by some early 20th century artists in the display in the basement - including 

• a wonderful painting of Tenerife by Cedric Morris (who will have been there for the plants!)
• a drawing by Augustus John. A snip at ££38,500

"Flowers - Flora in Contemporary Art & Culture" at the Saatchi Gallery - extended!

I'm never very sure why some art society selection panels have been somewhat sniffy about paintings of flowers. I've certainly encountered that view in the past (I think they ranked just above paintings of cats!). I guess this was associated with times when those running societies were somewhat sniffy about the participation of women...

However, anybody doubting the popularity of flowers should have been in Chelsea recently. Absolutely HORDES of people have been to see Flowers - Flora in Contemporary Art and Culture at the Saatchi Gallery (£20 entry or £12 if you like me are pensioner age)

Due to the popularity of this exhibition, pre-booking is strongly advised. Visitors are welcome to turn-up on the day, but may be turned away once the capacity for each ticket session is reached.

I've been meaning to go and see it but wanted to avoid the hordes at the beginning and weekends and holidays - and then forgot that it was supposed to finish on 5th May! 

So I scooted along yesterday morning before the hordes wanting to see it before it "finishes" on Bank Holiday Monday.

EXCEPT it's so VERY popular that the exhibition is reopening from 30th May to 31st August 2025.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the incredible response to Flowers. Visitor numbers and feedback have been exceptional, with audiences of all ages sharing feelings of joy, nostalgia, and wonder. We look forward to welcoming new audiences over the summer period, and those returning to enjoy the exhibition again.”

Which means it's on at the same time as the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show for those who really like flower paintings!

About the Exhibition

It's very much a mulit-media exhibition - examining all the different ways flowers have been presented in visual culture and artefacts.

FLOWERS spans a wide array of media – including large-scale installations, fine art, photography, sculpture, fashion, film, literature, and music – offering a multifaceted exploration of the flower as artistic and cultural muse. The exhibition invites visitors of all ages to engage, learn and reflect on their personal response to flowers, with each section of the exhibition revealing different instance of flora through art, culture and our everyday lives.

It's a very curious exhibition. I'd love to be certain about the business model behind it - which I think I've worked out. Let's just say there's an element of commercial which is not very evident unless you observe and take a little time to think - and read a few exhibit labels.

Anyway, back to the exhibition.

I was glad I went. I saw some things I've never ever seen before. 

About Shirley Trevena RI

Shirley Trevena is extremely well known - internationally - as a watercolour painter. This is a video about Shirley talking about how she became a painter and her approach to making art in watercolour. 

Shirley is also: 

• a member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours. She was elected inn 1994 and served as a committee member for 8 years.
  
• an ex-local government officer who worked in Planning (I never knew that before!) 
• who used to be "just a holiday painter" - who started painting in watercolour while on holiday in Cornwall
  
• resigned her planning job nearly 30 years ago to become a professional full time artist
• Draws using the same pen as me (yay for the Pilot G-TEC-C4)
• credits the film "A Bigger Splash" - about David Hockney - as providing inspiration for her and proved that there were no rules
• started painting floral paintings - for which she is perhaps best known

Flowers by Shirley Trevena

• now she focuses more on still life - but also paints other subjects
• Comments in the video about
• how she uses her iPad to help her make decisions about the development of her painting 
• her approach to drawing and painting and
• how she breaks rules, alters perspective and features patterns.... 

She written three art instruction books about her approach to painting in watercolour

• Breaking the Rules of Watercolour (2012)
• Vibrant Watercolours (2006) 
• Taking Risks with Watercolour (2004)

She has also made several instructional DVDs. 

If you want to pep up your watercolours, I suggest you take a look!

Lachlan Goudie on Charles Rennie Mackintosh - on iPlayer

On 5th June 2018, BBC Scotland broadcast a programme on Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928) - Mackintosh - Glasgow's Neglected Genius.

The three ages of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

This is because 2018 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Glasgow architect, designer and artist - who was born on 7 June 1868.

On 16th June 2018, his iconic 'work of art' - the Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art  - which comprised both the architecture of the building and its internal fixtures and fittings and helped give him an international reputation - was completely gutted in a massive fire (see yesterday post ANOTHER Major Fire at Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art)

However, let's not forget that Charles Rennie Mackintosh made a lot of art in his lifetime and most of it is celebrated in this programme.

You can view the programme on BBC iPlayer for the next 18 days.  Below you can find my short summary and review  of what the programme covers.

BBC iPlayer

Lachlan Goudie does a great job of following the life of Charles Rennie Mackintosh from his studies and first job, via

• his serious design commissions in Glasgow 
• for the Art School - in two stages. Near the beginning of the film there is video of the 2014 fire and then of Lachlan visiting the rebuilding of the part of was destroyed in the 2014 fire. It's very poignant to realise that everything you see in the film is now gone. However it includes images of the Library as it was and the studios and the various design features on and within the building

I'd never realised before that the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art
was built in two stages - this is a drawing after the first stage

Pics of Glasgow School of Art - now (pre June 2018) and then

• other schools and churches, 
• houses (e.g. Windy Hill and The Hill House) and 
• tea rooms (eg Willow Tea Rooms) while working for the practice of John Honeyman & Keppie (from 1901 Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh) during the Mackintosh years 1889 to 1913

• the unique interiors, murals and furniture he created for himself and others. I had not idea how far and wide these were. I was particularly intrigued by his influence on design and interiors on continental Europe

Lachlan Goudie in one of the recreations of a Mackintosh interior - complete with furniture

• his withdrawal from Glasgow after a nervous breakdown - and an unsuccessful start of his own independent practice

• his stay in Walberswick - and his drawing and paintings (with Margaret) of wild flowers - for a German Client (just before the first World War) - such a pity they didn't feature more of these in the programme. You can read more about this period in his life on my web page about 20th century botanical artists and the slim but beautiful volume by Pamela Robertson. See also my 2007 blog post Flowers in Art... and Charles Rennie Mackintosh which comments in detail on his practice when drawing and painting flowers

• to living in the South of France in Collioure and Port-Vendres - you can see his wonderful watercolours of places he visited and painted in The CRM Trail and  Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Rousillon (one of the sign boards features in the BBC film). These are some of my favourite watercolours of all time. The compositions are amazing, while the draughtsmanship is masterful and the colour palettes are true to the place and yet well co-ordinated. However I learned from the programme that Mackintosh wasn't averse to moving some of the features in the landscape if they made for a better painting - and illustrated what had happened in the painting of the watercolour below. For more about these superb watercolours I recommend you read Charles Rennie Mackintosh in France: Landscape Watercolours by Pamela Robertson and Philip Long.

The Fort (1924) by CR Mackintosh

• and finally to living in some poverty in London - where he continued to paint flowers -prior to his death

Part of one of Mackintosh's late paintings of flowers

For those interested in his drawings you can access all his sketchbooks as part of the Hunterian Collections at the University of Glasgow

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Previous blog posts about Charles Rennie Mackintosh

• Flowers in Art... and Charles Rennie Mackintosh (2007)
• I've nominated Charles Rennie Mackintosh for the £20 note

About the 2014 and 2018 Fires

• Major fire at Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art
• Ash to Art - over £500k raised for Glasgow School of Art Fire Appeal
• The Mac after the Fire - an Archive, an Appeal and guess WHO!
• ANOTHER Major Fire at Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art

Watercolour paintings of flowers sell well

Flower paintings are hugely popular with the public. Watercolour paintings of flowers also sell well - particularly when executed by experts.

I find it such a pity that leading open exhibitions of watercolour paintings (by the RWS, RI and Sunday Times Watercolour Competition) don't include more paintings of plant life in general and flowers in particular.

I'd love to know why there's a dearth of flower paintings in watercolour shows - when some of the best watercolour painters in the country paint flowers!

I can't help but think that this is down to one of three reasons

• Panels of Judges who don't like, don't understand or don't rate flower or botanical paintings - and don't care what the public like!
• Well regarded flower painters and botanical artists who don't enter open exhibitions and art competitions for watercolour paintings - because their work doesn't get a good reception. (I've heard this story so many times re experiences in the past)
• Or it just doesn't occur to artists who paint flowers to show their work outside a friendly environment - which is typically one which involves a lot of women! (I spend a lot of my time encouraging those who create artwork about plants and flowers to enter open exhibitions and competitions - and those that do generally do well, except when they come up against a panel of judges who make some very odd decisions eg STWC in 2017.)

My own view is it's probably a combination of the above.

This will never change until great flower painters who produce excellent work start entering the open exhibitions of other art societies and art competitions.

Here are two exhibitions in London this week.

Watercolour paintings by Rosie Sanders

The first is the Rosie Sanders: Secret Letters Exhibition at Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery just off the Fulham Road in Chelsea. (Prices are between £3,800 and £18,000). 16 out of the 26 paintings had sold when I visited on Tuesday this week. More will have sold before the exhibition closes on Saturday.

This is a video of my walk round the exhibition on Tuesday this week.

Rosie is yet another female painter who ALWAYS paints what she loves and ALSO knows how to create and present work which sells (see blog posts at the end re other women who've had virtually sell out shows in the recent past)

As a result Rosie has a solo show at this gallery every 1-2 years. (Note: Jonathan also shows other artists covered on Making A Mark in the past - who have won the BP Portrait Award and the ING Discerning Eye competition)

It's simply not the case that watercolour paintings don't get shown by galleries or, alternatively, don't find buyers (see yesterday's post). The issue is the image that is created and the expertise used in creating that image....

The second exhibition is Changing Seasons - the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists which has its Private View today and opens to the public tomorrow until Saturday 21 October. It's open every day 11am to 5pm and I'm expecting to see some excellent work.

However most of these artists will never dream of showing outside group shows organised by those who understand their work.

I'm off to see this exhibition shortly (it's at Central Hall, Westminster - opposite Westminster Abbey) and will be highlighting prizewinners and reviewing the exhibition on my botanical art news blog on my website Botanical Art and Artists later this week.

[Note: This website is fast catching up with Making A Mark in terms of traffic - because that's how popular this sort of art is!]

Those who are smart can do both exhibitions in one day this week!

More women artists who know how to paint what they love and sell it!

Three more women artists who have organised and held their own solo shows and sold virtually all the work

• Rosa Sepple (President of the RI) - Rosa Sepple sells 50+ paintings in 4 days!
• Jessica Shepherd - Jessica Shepherd paints leaves and sells!

plus another botanical artist who has had a very successful solo show of watercolour paintings of flowers in Chelsea Fiona Strickland exhibition at Park Walk Gallery

All the artists share an ability to understand that they have to create their own future. Others can help them - but they have to make it happen!

Compilation - Van Gogh's Sunflowers on Facebook Live

This is a catch-up for those who missed the Facebook Live event when five Van Gogh sunflower paintings were reunited from five museums around the world yesterday.
(see my earlier post for what this event was about Five Van Gogh Sunflower paintings on Amazon Live on 14th August 2017)

Below are links to the videos on Facebook. Each post is also embedded. The links go to the Facebook Pages and relevant posts of each of the participating museums

Enjoy the FIVE VIDEOS BELOW - and take a look at my comments at the end.

• the National Gallery (London) - Sunflowers 1888 - VIDEO

Want to see some very big flower paintings?

I've had any number of people tell me over the years that flower painting isn't really serious art.

For example, I've come across a fair few chaps who select work for their art societies who don't seem to take it very seriously. Granted there's a rather lot of amateurs producing some not very good flower paintings. However, I think most of us could agree that it's possible to say the same thing about landscapes, still life and portraits!!

So why does flower painting get shut out of 'serious' art exhibitions?

Jacqui Pestell MBE and Sharon Tingey GM with their Corpse Flower
- technically this is an unbranched inflorescence - and it's the biggest in the world

I know

• I see more skilled use of watercolour by botanical artists than I do in some of the paintings selected for major exhibitions of watercolour art. However, art isn't all about skill is it?
• from discussions last year with the Marketing Director and Marketing Manager of Fabriano Paper (see A Meeting with Fabriano about Hot Press Paper) that 

botanical artists are very demanding when it comes to testing watercolour paper.

However, anybody who wants to see what the women and a few men who paint plants and flowers can do and have been getting up in recent years should get themselves down to Kew and view the artwork on show.

"British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection" opened at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew on Saturday.

I was at the PV on Monday night, spent Tuesday processing photos and writing blog posts and will be back there back again tomorrow to take a good long hard look at all the paintings in the exhibition.

Rosie Sanders with five of her paintings

You can see more of Rosie Sanders GM's work at

• the Jonathan Cooper Gallery in Park Walk, Chelsea or 
• on her website (prices if you want to do a commission) or 
• in her new book Rosie Sanders' Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art (affiliate link). 

If you're visiting the Mall Galleries in the near future, her book was sat top middle of the Featured Books stand last time I was in!

The image at the top of this post is one I've now included on two Facebook Pages. One was prefaced by this comment...

Anybody out there who has any 'namby pamby' concepts about "flower painters" needs to change them!
The women of botanical art paint life-size - even if that means BIG!

This lifesize painting of the Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) - painted very fast last summer as it reached peak flowering and while it was at its stinkiest (it's also known as "the Corpse Flower") - is by Jacqui Pestell MBE (on left), Sharon Tingey GM (on right) and Işık Güner GM (teaching in Morocco at present) who at the time of painting were all artists and tutors for the Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.  It's been donated by Shirley Sherwood to the Kew Collection.

This is how they painted it.

Titan arum painting (Kew exhibition, 2017) from Wild Leaf Reels on Vimeo.

Finally, Coral Guest GM who describes herself as "just a flower painter" who got an awful lot of other women painting large watercolours of plants with her book about Painting Flowers in Watercolour: A Naturalistic Approach (Art Practical) (affiliate link)

She paints large plants from bulbs at their actual full grown lifesize - and some of them are pretty big! At the same time some of the detail is absolutely delicate and exquisite. Check it out and see for yourself!

Coral Guest with five of her paintings in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

The exhibition is on at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art in Kew Gardens until 17th September 2017. It's open every day until 10am to 5.30pm

There's a lot more very fine art by very fine artists in the show - of which more later.... [UPDATE - see British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - a review and a timeline ]

More of my blog posts about this exhibition

• British Artists in the Shirley Sherwood Collection - an exhibition at Kew
• British Botanical Artists - photographed with their paintings

13th Florum Exhibition in Sevenoaks - a review of art and artists

Artwork at Florum 2016

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the Private View for the 2016 Florum Exhibition on Friday evening. It's not just that it has some wonderful artwork and the best ever hors d'oeuvres (better than professional caterers!) - but the people who organise and the artists who participate in it are such nice people!

It's therefore very sad to report there will be no Florum in 2017. This is prompted by

• the fact that the Society of Botanical Artists are having to change their exhibition to the autumn next year and that means two exhibitions involving too many of the same people too close together.
• the decision by a number of members who have been running it for many years to take a break. Will they be back or will there be a new set of members on the organising committee? - we'll just have to wait and see!

So we shall wait and see whether Florum resurrects itself and if so whether it's at a new time of year and maybe at a new venue with new organisers. Who knows?

I sincerely hope it will keep going as it's a delightful exhibition and sales are always very brisk!

Review of Florum 2016

The aim of the exhibition is to create artwork inspired by plant life. It's emphatically not a "strictly botanical" exhibition but that makes it all the more appealing to a wider range of visitors.

The exhibition maintains its normal high standards although I think I might be right in saying there are fewer works being exhibited this year. I do know that last year there was a surge in larger works creating a complete nightmare for those designing the hanging - and this might be the reason.

The strength of the exhibition lies in its diversity

• one room places an emphasis on botanical art in all its different forms 
• the other room includes artwork which is stimulated by flowers, gardens and the landscape - anything which involves plant life. Work includes diverse media from miniatures to jewellery to fine art prints, textile art and paintings in various media

I'll be putting a slideshow together of the exhibition. However this takes a little time to prepare so below you'll see some of the images from the exhibition. You can see more photos of the artists with their artwork on my Botanical Art and Artists Facebook Page (which you can see irrespective of whether you have a Facebook account - however you can only comment if you are on Facebook).

Exhibition details

Venue: Kent Wildlife Trust Sevenoaks Reserve,
Bradbourne Vale Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 3DH

Dates: 10th - 17th September 2016 (daily)

Times: 10.00 - 5.00

List of exhibiting artists

The exhibition includes a number of new artists. Each artist's name contains a link to their website or a site related to the artist. The list is interspersed with artwork by the artists - and photos of the artists with their artwork!

RHS London Botanical Art Show 2016 - Medal Winners

Below you'll find the names of the people who won medals at the RHS London Botanical Art Show today. 

You can find out more about them and their exhibits in my previous post about RHS Botanical Art 2016 - Selected Artists

Well done to the RHS Organisers for having the list of medal winners available as a pdf file on their website by the time I got home!

Best Botanical Painting by Julie Nettleton

Best in Show

• Best Botanical Art Exhibit: Tillandsia – Mariko Aikawa 
• Best Botanical Painting: Xanthorrhoea resinosa Pers., Grass Three with Antechinus Stuartii, Brown Antechinus – Julie Nettleton

Gold medals

Paintings of Tropical Climate Plants by Sansanee Deekrajang

• Mariko Aikawa Tillandsia 
• Sansanee Deekrajang Tropical Climate plants 
• Akiko Enokido Classical Camellia Japonica 
• Sarah Howard Horn of Africa Aloes 
• Hiromi Hyogo Leguminous plants 
• Julie Nettleton Xanthorrhoea sp., Grass Trees 
• Simonetta Occhipinti The Citrus of the Medici Family 
• Chiyoko Ohmi Paulownia tomentosa 
• Roger Reynolds The Tip of the Branch 
• Sandra Sanger Orchids: Paphiopedilum & Australian Natives 
• Lidia Vanzetti Grapes of Piedmont 
• Margaret de Villiers Ericas of the Western Cape Fynbos 
• Esmee Winkel The Orchid 

Four of Roger Reynolds's paintings of "The Tip of the Branch"

Silver-Gilt 

• Betsy Rogers-Knox Milkweed Through the Seasons 
• Carol Hartley Euphorbia for temperate gardens 
• Iceni Botanical Artists Breckland Wildflowers - Heaths and Grasslands 
• Mark Isaac-Williams The Invasive Chinese Banyan Tree 
• Mayumi Hashi Botanical Garden of Padova 
• Norma Gregory Edible Beauty - Leaves 
• Sally Pond Alliums 
• Yoko Urano Orchids 

View of the RHS London Botanical Art Show 2016
The new arrangements for the display of the art worked extremely well

Silver

• Amanda Petty Biblical Boys 
• Carolyn Jenkins Hydrangeas 
• Hiroko Jibiki Squash 
• Janice Peers A Bulb for All Seasons 
• Jean Webb Close Encounters of the Botanical Kind 
• Lyn Campbell Trilliums 
• Maggie Niagassas Strelitzia reginae 
• Pamela Moodie 5TR Patterns of Growth 
• Sarah Morrish Twigs & Buds in Winter - from Trees & Shrubs of Ancient Hedgerows Silver 
• SoYoung Sin Korean Endemic Plants
• Verene Kutter The Genus Anemone L. in Central Asia 

Bronze 

• Margaret Bickerton 39 Stretton Farm Road Church Stretton Shropshire SY6 6DX Artichokes

I'll be writing more about the exhibitors and the lessons I learned after I visit again tomorrow.

My new website about Botanical Art and Artists has more information about:

• how to apply to exhibit at the RHS Botanical Art Exhibitions
• tips and techniques from RHS Gold Medallists

RHS Botanical Art 2016 - Selected Artists

Thirty five botanical artists have been selected by the RHS Picture Committee to exhibit at the dedicated RHS Botanical Art Show 2016 in the Lindley Hall in the City of Westminster on 26-27 February 2016. This is the largest number of botanical artists in one RHS Botanical Art show during the time I've been visiting.

Below you can find

• A list of the artists exhibiting in 2016 organised by the country of origin and/or where they live. 
• The subject matter for their exhibit is also listed. Some of them sound absolutely fascinating.
• I've added comments about the individual based on what I know about them or what I can glean from their website or other related sites.  These are intended to give you an idea about what sort of things people exhibiting botanical art with the RHS might get up to when not preparing for this exhibition. I hope budding botanical artists might find this information useful!  (TIP: when planning to exhibit make sure you have a website and that it's up to date!)

This was the RHS Botanical Art Show in 2015 - this year the stands have been changed.

Selected Artists

I recognise quite a few names and have indicated those who I know who have already been awarded an RHS  Gold Medal. I'm also including photos of those individuals I've previously met at Botanical Art Show when winning a gold medal!

It's going to be a great show - and I predict a stiff competition! Looks like we might have a lot of orchids to look at.

Australia

• Julie Nettleton: ‘Xanthorrhoea sp., Grass Trees’. Xanthorrhoea is a genus of majestic Australian native plants which can grow for hundreds of years.  I'm particularly looking forward to meeting Julie. She's a hugely talented artist and her amazing painting of Banksias was the 'exhibition image' for the 14th International Art Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation.  A slice through this drawing is the banner image for her website. I'm guessing, based on her website, that her exhibit will be related to her current project - and it looks as if the paintings will be spectacular!

Currently I am working on a major project to produce a monograph of significant Australian native plants growing in the North Head Sanctuary, Manly. The site is one of Australia’s last remaining pockets of bushland known as Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub. Here a rich diversity of native heathland plants grow on ancient, nutrient poor aeolian sands. It is classified as an endangered ecological community so the recording and celebration of what survives is important.

• Sandra Sanger GM (2010, 2013): ‘Orchids: Paphiopedilum and Australian Natives’. I met Sandra - who is based in Melbourne - when she won Gold in 2013. Sandra was also Highly Commended by the judges of the 2014 Margaret Flockton Award.  I know older artists will be interested in the fact that Sandra only started doing botanical art after she retired!

Hong Kong (China) 

• Mark Isaac-Williams: ‘The Invasive Chinese Banyan Tree’. From a seedling to a 500 year old house tree, Ficus microcarpa is relentless.  He exhibited at the 17th Annual Filoli Exhibition, USA in 2015

Italy

• Simonetta Occhipinti: ‘The Citrus Fruits of Medici Family’. A study of the ancient collection of citrus fruits which were first grown in the Medici family's Villa in Castello, near Florence, and in the Giardino di Boboli (Palazzo Pitti) in the centre of Florence, at the end of the sixteenth century. Simonetta does not appear to have awebsite and I couldn't find any information online. However I did find a very interesting website about the Medici Citrus fruit and more about the fruit on this nursery site!

The collection of Medici citruses has survived to the present day, despite the many events that took place through the centuries, and is preserved in Florence, in the garden of the Villa Medicea di Castello and the Boboli Gardens. This collection is of particular botanical and historical interest and consists of about a thousand potted plants, large and small, old and young, but in all cases extremely valuable, as they are all descendents of the Medici cultivars.

• Lidia Vanzetti GM (Italy): ‘Grapes of the Piedmont’ I had the pleasure of meeting Lidia in 2011 when she won a Gold Medal. She also exhibited at the 13th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt.

Call for Entries: Society of Botanical Artists' Annual Exhibition 2016

The process, fees and timescales have changed for the call for entries for the 2016 Annual Exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists

These are explained below. However the key changes to note are:

• non-members can submit digital entries this year
• the fees charged have changed and are now much simpler
• the timescale has changed - non-members wanting to use the new digital entry process need to note that digital submission closes on 15th January.
• physical entry via the normal Receiving Day on 22nd February is still available to non-members if digital entry is not possible

The Annual Exhibition will be in the Aldersgate Room of Central Hall Westminster, Storey’s Gate, London SW1H 9NH between 15th and 23rd April 2016. There are a number of prizes (I got an Hon.Mention last year on one of them!) plus eligible works can be considered for a Certificate of Botanical Merit which is usually assessed by a botanist.

The theme of the exhibition is 'Shape, Pattern, Structure' all important aspects of the diversity of growth habit and the range of shapes and colours in plants and flowers

The lovely artwork for the exhibition flyer is A Passion for Peonies by Billy Showell

What follows is my overview and digest of the terms and conditions of entry for the 2016 exhibition. You can the digital entry form and more information on this page on the website.

Please note that any errors of interpretation are mine and that all those submitting to the exhibition should rely on the formal SBA paperwork not line!

Eligible artwork

Who can enter?

There are no constraints on age or where you live with respect to who can enter. Every year, the exhibition includes artwork from international artists.

Application for membership via exhibition: There are special conditions for those wanting to apply for membership or associate membership and details of these conditions can be found on the second page of the Terms and Conditions leaflet.

To become an Associate member, an artist must establish a record of accepted work showing a consistent standard: the minimum period required to establish this record is two years which means that the artist must have submitted five works and had ALL five works accepted for two consecutive years: that is ten out of ten works accepted in total over two successive years. 

International Artists

One of the members of the SBA offers a service such that unframed pictures may be sent which can be framed in the UK (see terms and conditions page 4 for further details)

The Society will not take responsibility for payment of any importation charges or duties.

Artists who are not normally resident and taxable in the UK can submit work but will need to register for VAT if the work sells at the exhibition.

For those unfamiliar with the process this is my blog post about VAT for non-UK artists and UK exhibition organisers. 

What can you enter

All work entered must be for sale - so don't enter anything which you want to hang on to for another exhibition!  You won't get any physical work back until 25 April irrespective of whether or not it is selected for the exhibition.

All work must be completely original and produced by the person who signs the submission form.  Any copies of any work of any other artist, either living or dead, could result in prosecution.

Eligible artwork is as follows

• 2D Works: paintings, drawings or miniature work. Acceptable media includes: watercolour, pencil, coloured pencil, pastel, oil, gouache, mixed media, 
• 3d Works: sculpture, , glass engraving, ceramics, jewellery, carving, metal-work, etc etc. 
• Media excluded: No photography or digital work will be considered for the time being. 
• Style: works can reflect habitat and environment as well as adopting the more conventional style of traditional botanical illustration and plant portraiture, 
• Size: The size of the subject matter may be life-size, reduced or enlarged. However the maximum size of work is 48" on the longest length of the exterior frame size
• Maximum number of works: You can enter up to five works but only four works by non-members will be hung

The expectation is that all work will be presented in a professional manner. The detailed requirements can be found in the terms and conditions in the section on Presentation and labelling of work.

How to enter

To enter you need to submit the work, the entry schedule and a fee.  

Financials

The SBA had have had - until this year - a very complex system of fees - for entry and hanging with variations in what was charged depending on the size of the entry and what was accepted for exhibition. It must have been a nightmare to administer!

This year the fee is uniform for all entries and covers both submission and hanging fee

Minimum Price and what it applies to

Last year the SBA introduced a minimum price for artwork above a certain size.  This continues this year. I assume the objective is to eliminate medium/large works with low prices - which are inappropriate in a London exhibition.

• If a hanging work measures more than 15" on its longest framed dimension the minimum price must be at least £350
• The minimum price of £350 does not apply to hanging work measuring less than 15" on the longest length of the frame, or to miniatures, 3D-work or etchings. 

Price including VAT

• If an artist is personally registered for VAT, then the VAT due on the selling price of the works should be included in the catalogue price.

Fees

Fees are based on the size of the longest length of exterior dimensions

• A non-refundable digital pre-submission fee is £15 per work, payable on line on submission. 
• No other fees will be charged

Commission

Commission is charged as follows:

• 42 per cent on ALL work related to the exhibition i.e. 
• on the catalogue price on sales at the exhibition 
• OR resulting in any way from the exhibition ie. copyright, commissions for work, licenses, prints and reproductions of any kind
• 10 per cent on work resulting at any time from enquiries to, or recommendations by, the Society, or commissioned through the Society. (i.e. unrelated to the exhibition)
• all works sold are subject to 42% commission
• any work commissioned as a result of the exhibition is subject to a 42% commission

Payments for sold work

• payments for sold work will be made within two months of the end of the exhibition

Digital submission

This year, the SBA are inviting non-members to use a digital submission process. I understand that the process will be mandatory from 2016 for both members and non-members so it's an excellent idea to give it a go this year - and to note the difference the process makes to the dates and timeline for entries

The other main advantages for those using this process are that: IF your artwork is NOT accepted then you save money due to no need to frame and no need to spend money on transport or a courier to submit work on the Receiving Day

There are major benefits for international artists if they can get the work to the UK and framed for the Receiving Day after the results of the digital pre-selection are announced on 31 January.

The process is:

• complete the submission form - on http://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/apply-for-2016/
• upload the image 
• pay the submission fee via PayPal (which means you can use a credit card)

What type and size of image?

Actual image - the form requires

• Actual image size: size requested in the entry is the ACTUAL size of the real image (i.e. height x width in cms)
• Actual media: this must be stated eg watercolour

Digital image to be submitted:

• Digital format: supplied in jpeg format (NOT tif, gif or psd)
• Digital image size: longest length - 1000 pixels wide (NOTE: Smaller images will be rejected)
• Digital file size: no limit stated
• Digital resolution: no more than 150 dpi 
• Digital file name: must identify artist and artwork

Receiving day

SBA 2016 Receiving Day is 22 February 2016. Entries will be booked in at the Aldersgate Room at Westminster Central Hall. The SBA provides a list of couriers you can use.

This applies to

• all work by members 
• plus all work digitally pre-selected plus any work from non-members 

All works must be presented - unwrapped - with the printed out digital entry form or the paper entry schedule (and £15 fee for those unable to submit digitally)

Couriers bringing multiple works will be allowed to unpack in the Gallery. 

Timeline

Submission and selection

• 15 December 2015 Digital pre-selection starts 
• 15 January 2016 Deadline for digital submission (nearly 4 weeks from today)
• 31 January 2016 Notification of results of digital pre-selection. You then have three weeks to get your work framed and transport or a courier organised
• 22 February 2016 Receiving Day for pre-selected works from 11am to 4pm 
• 23 February 2016 Selection of work (at Central Hall Westminster)

Exhibition

• 14 April 2016 Private View from 11am to 7.00pm 
• 15 to 23 April 2016 Exhibition open 11am to 5pm including Sundays 
• 25 April 2016 Collection of unaccepted and unsold work from Aldersgate Room, 10am to 3pm. Artists must bring their own packing.

Note there is only one collection date for both unsold and unaccepted work. Hence the advantage of using the digital selection process if there are other places you'd like to show your work.

Queries

Note that the General conditions of entry provide the name and contact details for Mrs Pamela Henderson, Executive Secretary SBA who looks after a lot of the entry process. Any queries should be addressed to her.

Fiona Strickland wins The Hort's "Best in Show" Award at 18th Annual International

Last night, at the Awards ceremony for the 18th Annual International Exhibition of the American Society of Botanical Artists and The Horticultural Society of New York, Fiona Strickland was presented with the The Hort’s Best in Show Award.

The award was for her wonderful watercolour painting of Rhododendron 'Horizon Monarch'.

Rhododendron 'Horizon Monarch' by Fiona Strickland

Watercolour 77 x 91 cm

© Fiona Strickland

You can read the story behind the painting on the ASBA website.

I do very much appreciate the trouble that both artists and the ASBA go to, to provide both illustrations and the 'backstory' explanations of the artwork in the show - especially for all those of us who will not be able to see it in person.

Here's a short extract from what Fiona had to say which explains why very many botanical artists will be very keen to see this painting.

I was fascinated by the thought of using the technique of negative painting to paint the ‘white’ hairs on the bud scales (painting the background between the hairs leaving the white paper to describe the hairs). I had painted hairs on other paintings but had used body paint for this and wanted to improve my range of application techniques and experiment with a new approach. The challenge in this instance was to communicate this surface to the viewer whilst conveying the form convincingly, taking account of the changing underlying colour of the bud scales, and the effect of the light on them and on the very fine hairs.

The remainder of this post includes short extracts from just a few of the backstories to illustrate how much information is shared in terms of techniques and different approaches to creating botanical art

Below you can read about:

• who won the awards
• the details of the exhibition
• the selected artists, the plants they portrayed and follow links to their websites if so inclined.

Awards

The is the complete list of awards

• The Hort’s Best in Show Award: Rhododendron ‘Horizon Monarch’ by Fiona Strickland
• ASBA Eleanor Wunderlich Award: Dragon Arum Dragon Arum Dracunculus vulgaris by Betsy Rogers-Knox 
• Helen Gray Garber Award: Turnips. Brassica rapa by Asuka Hishiki 

Turnips. Brassica rapa
© Asuka Hishiki

The back story reveals how Asuka was able to paint from observation and complete her painting!

In the three turnip painting, I ended up using three different turnips to complete just the one on the left, so it is a fusion or mash-up of three different turnips. I started to paint the rainbow leaf, and while finishing it, the rest went bad. So I took a second turnip to finish the turnip root and base stems coming out of it. A third turnip covered the rest. How do I work? I have a kind of photoshop program in my head. I cannot create a new part of a turnip from scratch, but by referring to existing subjects, it is easy for me to merge and blend the parts in my head

• Cheap Joe’s Award: Pincushion Protea Leucospermum cordifolium by  Estelle deRidder
• Susan Frei Nathan Fine Works on Paper, LLC Award: Collections: Abelmoschus, Platanus, Rhexia, Physalis, Hibiscus, Ipomoea, Clematis, Scabiosa, Vitis, Rosa, Hemerocallis, Mimosa, Iris, Smilax, Allium, Aquilegia by Lara Call Gastinger
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden Award for Print or Drawing: Iris germanica by Melissa Toberer 

Iris germanica
graphite
© Melissa Toberer

• Honorable Mentions: 
• Ovuliferous Scale Bunya Pine Araucaria bidwillii by Mali Moir, 
• Elecampane Inula helenium by Rosalind Allchin, 
• Trillium in a Whirlwind Trillium sessile by Carol Woodin

Exhibition

Image: © 2005 Alexander Viazmensky | Cortinarius sp. (Mushrooms)

This exhibition is a highly prestigious showcase of contemporary botanical art by leading artists from around the world.

This year it is being held at the 1stdibs gallery on the 10th floor New York Design Center, 200 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY.

The exhibition opened on  November 4th and continues until December 20th 2015.

The Selected Artists

Florum - The Slideshow

I promised more visuals of the Florum 2015 Exhibition which closes tomorrow at 5pm. Here's a slideshow of the exhibition as some incentive to get down there and take a closer look tomorrow!

This is a slideshow of the two parts of the exhibition. I think I've got it all with the exception of the jewellery which I forgot to photograph.  The slideshow works on the basis of walking around the exhibition in both rooms.

You can see who the participating artists are in my previous post Review: Florum 2015.

Florum Exhibition 2015 - the opening view

I was going to write a longer post but this slideshow has taken two days to make off and on (the first time I've tried making a big slideshow using Photoshop Elements 13) and two hours to upload to YouTube - so I'm a tad pooped!

The last day of the exhibition is tomorrow.