There is nothing worse than discovering that something is not right when 50%, or even worse 90% of the painting is completed. It is actually a waste of time to rush this early stage.
creating wonder using the very simple - such as a beetroot!
I think that drawing and painting onion skin gives me more pleasure than almost anything else.
To depict in art the richness of an older face with all the signs of age is so much more interesting than the perfection of the skin of a super model. It is the same with plants – the dying leaves of the pear tree gives the artist so much more scope to explore the ravages of time.
NOTE: Zoneone Arts aims to ​is to provide online interviews that showcase the full range of contemporary arts and crafts happening in Australia and across the world.
You can find out more about other contemporary Australian botanical artists on my website.
The 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the Hunt Instutute of Botanical Documentation includes 43 artworks by 43 artists who are citizens of 15 countries.
Below you can find the names of the artists organised by country - with links to their websites embedded in their names - plus a brief comment about the artist.
Image: Soft Tree Fern, Dicksonia antarctica [Dicksonia antarctica Labillardière, Dicksoniaceae], watercolor on paper by Laurie Andrews (1936–), 2008, 76.5 x 56.5 cm, HI Art accession no. 8078, reproduced by permission of the artist.
Opening Hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–noon and 1–5 p.m.; Sunday, 1–4 p.m. (except 20 November and 24–27 November). However hours of operation are occasionally subject to change, so you're advise to call or email before your visit to confirm. For further information, contact the Hunt Institute at 412-268-2434.
​Links embedded in their names go their website or another site which tells us something about their work.
Photograph of some of the artists selected for the 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Hunt Institute's Opening Reception. Photo courtesy of Fiona Strickland.
Back row (left to right): Lugene B. Bruno, Curator of Art at the Hunt, Carrie Roy (Curator Assistant), Heidi Snyder, Dolores Diaz, Hye Woo Shin, Lauren Sahu-Khan (two people with heads turned away), Seung-Hyun Yi.
Laurie Andrews - her painting of a Dicksonia Tree Fern is the image being used for this exhibition's marketing.
Jean Dennis - Her current passion is the documentation of the entire Brachychiton genus of trees and large shrubs (including includes Bottle and Flame trees) native to Australia, and New Guinea. She travels widely in Australia’s remote areas to paint and catalogue the rare plants.
Anne Hayes - Became interested in botanical art after after attending the annual show of the Society for Growing Australian Plants in 2010. She is a Artist, Painter, Illustrator and Designer specialising in botanical subjects.
The Society of Botanical Artists is again exhibiting at the Palmengarten in Frankfurt as it has in the past - on a biennial basis. Their fourth exhibition opens today (21st of October 2016) and continues until the 20th November, from 11am to 5pm.
If you can visit I have a detailed listing on the European Exhibitions page on this website.
The theme for this year's exhibition is based on plants found by plant hunters and collectors, past and present. This year the exhibition will contain contemporary artwork by members of the SBA and a selection of historical artwork and plant illustrations on loan - mainly from the late 18th and early 19th century.
It goes without saying - but I will(!) - that the Society of Botanical Artists have a fabulous team of volunteers (both members and significant others) and a well oiled process for delivering the artwork and getting it all set up and looking great in time for the preview!
It's an essential component of any botanical art exhibition which aims to operate at a professional level and this one looks great! I only wish I were able to see it in person.
Fiona Strickland's first solo show The Vital Moment at Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery in Chelsea opens to the public today (20th October) and continues until 12 November 2016.
I visited yesterday afternoon and had a close look at the paintings on display. You can see images and details of the paintings by clicking The Vital Moment link above.
Fiona's very fine botanical paintings in watercolour are painted on either Fabriano Artistico or Kelmscott Vellum. I've only seen her large works before and it was interesting to see her new range of smaller works done on vellum - two of which I particularly liked. So much so I kept going back for another look at Almost Over and Open Absalom.
Below is a slideshow of images in the exhibition which give you a sense of the relative size of some of the paintings. (Click the 'play' button).
I was very impressed by the presentation of the paintings and their walnut frames.
The vellum has been gallery wrapped which gives it the appearance of a an oil painting. The watercolour paper is not matted and rather than being float mounted it is very flat and I suspect is dry mounted. It certainly looks very contemporary and unlike the traditional presentation of watercolours.
Both paintings and their presentation are obviously appealing to the collectors as five have sold before the exhibition had formally opened!
I've been following Fiona Strickland's amazing artwork since I saw her very first exhibition at the Society of Botanical Artists. You can read my interview with back in 2012 - see A 'Making A Mark' Profile of Fiona Strickland. This includes an explanation of her working practices.
Below you can read what the Gallery has as her bio and the background to this exhibition.
Strickland trained at the Edinburgh College of Art under Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, who instilled in her a dedication to composition and mastery of negative space that continues to inform her practise. Of equal influence in Strickland’s work is her passion for and fascination with the Golden Age of Dutch art, and a major inspiration for this exhibition is the seventeenth-century Tulip Book of Jacob Marrel, which she recently studied at the Rijksmuseum. Indeed, the tulip in its myriad of forms will be a key focus of the show, which will include many varieties grown by Strickland in her garden in Scotland, such as the English Florists’ Tulips beloved of fellow artist Rory McEwen, whose paintings Strickland first encountered while a student in Edinburgh.
Today is the 34th anniversary of the death of Rory McEwen (age 50).
the publications in which you can see his botanical paintings - some of which are catalogues for exhibitions of his work. You can buy (as I have) some of the books from dealers in old books which are out of print.
I have a NEW WEBSITE PAGE about the Hunt ​International Exhibitions of ​Botanical Art & Illustration which I've been working on for some time.
an alphabetical list of ALL the artists who have exhibited in a Hunt International Exhibition in the last 15 years BY COUNTRY (This is what took the time!) That's from the 10th (in 2001) to the 15th (in 2016).
What this means is that rather than listing the artists by exhibition, they are listed by where they live (or lived at the time of the exhibition - a few have since moved).
Now does that list surprise you?. I guessed the first four places correctly and wasn't sure which would come fifth!
I'm going to be using the listing of artists who've exhibited at the Hunt along with the listings of RHS Gold Medal Winners as another key source for developing my lists of important contemporary botanical artists and illustrators by continent.
I certainly don't have everybody listed as yet who should be! I'm working my way around the world, adding me people in gradually over time. (I'm about to start a major update of the Japanese section).
​This new list of people who have recently exhibited at the Hunt is going to help a lot!
I recently transferred to this website a page about Basilius Besler and his development of the iconic Hortus Eystettensis - see About Basilius Besler (1561-1629).
Unlike most people I'm covering in botanical art history, Besler was NOT a botanical artist. Hhe was responsible for the development of a very important book - the Hortus Eystettensis published in 1613 - rather than the artist who created the illustrations for its pages.
The book is a florilegium and records the creation of all the known plants grown in the first botanical garden in Germany - created for the prince bishop of Eichstatt in Bavaria - and the only one at the time outside Italy.
why Linnaeus rated it so highly.
where the garden at Eichstatt is and how you can visit that garden today.
plus links to further information and where you can see its botanical illustrations online.
Title Page of the "Hortus Eystettensis"