Blarney Castle Gardens, Through the Artist’s Eye’ 

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Blarney Castle Gardens, Through the Artist’s Eye‘ is a celebration of contemporary artists who will be exhibiting their works inspired by the gardens through the ages and the seasons.

In 2023 and 2024, 22 artists visited and were inspired by Blarney Castle Gardens, and their works form the latest of a series of exhibitions, the brainchild of Seamus O’Brien, Head Gardener, National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh. Under the title ‘Through the Artist’s Eye’, exhibitions have previously been held at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin showcasing Kilmacurragh, Co. Wicklow; Tourin House and Gardens, Co. Waterford; Burtown House and Gardens, Co. Kildare; and Birr Castle Demesne, Co. Offaly.

The exhibition will open on Tuesday August 27th at 6pm. It will feature more than 30 works by renowned artists including Peter Curling, Lynn Stringer, Yanny Peters and our very own head gardener Adam Whitbourn.

The exhibition opens on August 27th and to the public on August 28th until September 29th and will be open during Blarney Castle estate opening hours (www.blarneycastle.com).

Ann Kane Autumn Blackberry Leaf
Fionnuala broughan. In the Pinery. Pinus Montezumae
Lynn Stringer The Vietnamese Garden at Blarney Castle
Mary dillon Rhododendron Blarney Castle
Niamh Harding Miller Gunnera Manicata Giant Rhubarb
Nicola Morrin A Fragile Strength
Olwyn-Burke Pterocarya fraxinifolia
Olwyn Burke Pterocarya fraxinifolia
Tara-Lanigan-OKeeffe Great White Cherry
Tara Lanigan O’Keeffe Great White Cherry
Yanny-Petters Prunus shirotae

AGM & Sceitse / Irish Botanical Sketchbooks

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Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Sunday 14th Pari, 1:30pm, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin for Member & Friends.

Sceitse will be on display upstairs in the Visitors Centre, National Botanical Gardens, Glasnevin.

Saturday 13th April:
10:00am to 6pm
Sunday April 14th:
10:00am-1:00pm 3:00 pm-6:00pm
The exhibition will be closed to the public during the AGM

CRAINN NA HÉIREANN EXHIBITION

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This major project ‘Crainn na hÉireann – Ireland’s Native Trees’ was conceived two years ago with the title ‘Delighting in the Detail’. Choosing twenty-two of Ireland’s native trees, our artists were invited to illustrate Irish trees in the four seasons, enlarging the smallest details of their annual cycle. One of the skills of the botanical artist is the enlargement and detailed representation of botanical details which distinguish a particular species. This scientific detail requires an understanding of botany, close observation, reproduction to scale, and the ability to faithfully reproduce colour and texture. The challenge is to represent the botany accurately in a visually pleasing and informative composition. The almost seventy paintings in this exhibition are the culmination of months of labour and the unique perspective of each artist. From botanical plates to beautifully detailed tree portraits, the exhibition comprises a variety of styles, mediums, and approaches, all of which aim to bring attention to Ireland’s unique heritage of native species. The ISBA invites the viewer to immerse themselves in a new appreciation of the trees we know and love and which are intrinsic to our land and culture.

Deborah Lambkin – Holly
Sylvia Linehan – Crab Apple
Claudia McManus – Rowan
Eileen Fair – Ash
Olwyn Burke – Alder
Betty Christy – Hazel
Greta Pertl – Birch
Lynn Stringer – Aspen
Elaine Moore Mackey – Wych Elm
Betty Christy – Aspen
Mary Dillon – Crab Apple
Blath Ni Mhurchu – Alder
Noeleen Frain – Arbutus
Shevaun Doherty – Ash
Nayan Sandur – Prunus

RHSI Bellefield Snowdrop Weekends

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RHSI Bellefield Snowdrop Weekends

The RHSI are delighted that Angela Jupe’s garden, now RHSI Bellefield, will be open for visitors on two February weekends.

Friday 17th to Sunday 19th, 11am to 4pm.

Friday 24th to Sunday 26th, 11am to 4pm.

This event marks the start of a very exciting project for the RHSI as we take over as custodians of the gardens with Paul Smyth as Head Gardener. RHSI Bellefield will be a focus for Irish gardening and Irish gardeners, open for the public to enjoy and offering training and education to support the art and practice of horticulture.

For more information press the link below

bellefield snowdrop leaflet (1)

ISBA AGM

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The Annual General Meeting of the Society will take place on Saturday the 11th of March at 12 noon. This will again be conducted online via Zoom. We are delighted to welcome artist Pamela Taylor, as speaker at the AGM. Pamela’s work focuses on painting trees and her talk is, by all accounts, very interesting and pertinent to our ongoing project.

People’s Choice Award in the Botanical & Floral Art Exhibition at Bord Bia Bloom 2022.

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Read more →

Field of Vision

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Read more →

ISBA Workshop with Sarah Morrish – An Overview of Measuring and Transfer Techniques for Botanical Subjects

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Topic: ISBA Workshop with Sarah Morrish – An Overview of Measuring and Transfer Techniques for Botanical Subjects
Date: Saturday, 12th February
Time: 2pm to 5pm approx
Free to members in good standing only.
Unlimited attendance of said Members
Workshop description: Sarah will introduce you to measuring and scaling up methods that can be used with actual Botanical specimens and images of subjects. She will also give guidance on the use of scale bars, supplying a PDF handout for you to refer to after the workshop. Niamh Harding Miller will present on scaled enlargements using a grid.
Questions will be invited via the written ‘chat’ function only and addressed at the end of each section. 
A recording will be made available after the workshop for participants in the ISBA project.

Botanical Art Talks

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Happy New Year to Everyone.
Take a look at a talk by Julia Trickey and many more.
Press the Link below to access the talks

NEW ISBA PROJECT LAUNCHED – IRELAND’S NATIVE TREES’

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NEW ISBA PROJECT LAUNCHED – IRELAND’S NATIVE TREES’

As life begins to return to normal, the ISBA is thrilled to have launched our new project “Irish Native Trees – Delighting in the Detail.” 

On September 26th we met to launch our new project, which will run until 2023, offering members plenty of time to gather information, make sketches and create beautiful paintings. Focusing on the small details that characterise each of Ireland’s 22 native trees in each distinct season, our artists have undertaken a comprehensive illustration project which will culminate in an exhibition at the National Botanic Gardens in 2023.
As the title, “Delighting in the Detail”, suggests, we will endeavour to draw attention to the smallest of details of our native trees, which often go unnoticed. The result will be a visually exciting, botanically accurate collection of paintings which, we hope, will renew interest and joy in our native species and allow our audience to get to know them intimately in all their detail and in every season.

Further updates will be forthcoming here so do keep in touch. Artist members should contact isba.hon.secretary@gmail.com for project brief, tree choices etc.

For information on membership, please go to www.irishbotanicalartists.ie/membership.

Our previous project, SCEITSE, was somewhat curtailed due to the pandemic. However we are delighted to report that the original works will be exhibited alongside this exhibition and our book, SCEITSE – Irish Botanical Sketchbooks, as well as our other publications, is available to buy at www.irishbotanicalartists.ie/shop.

Illustration: Betula ‘White light’ by Fionnuala Broughan
Photographs by: Niamh Harding-Miller

Image of two sketchbook pages by Noeleen Frain

Launch of SCEITSE – Irish Botanical Sketchbooks

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Friday 20 November 2020: the Irish Society of Botanical Artists proudly launch our new book: SCEITSE – Irish Botanical Sketchbooks

The culmination of a two-year project, SCEITSE – Irish Botanical Sketchbooks celebrates the complex journey of botanical artists as they collect information and prepare to illustrate a particular plant. This includes ‘visiting’ plants in their habitat or in gardens, to see them in their natural or intended setting. The sketchbook pages in this collection show the breadth of information a botanical artist may collect, from plant features and measurements, to colour notes and descriptions of the setting.

Irish botanical artists are fortunate to have access to unique and diverse gardens, both public and private, in which to glean information and complete research for their paintings. We have included beautiful pictures and writing from the gardens in which we worked for this project, hoping to celebrate our island’s horticultural treasures and to encourage visitors to seek them out.

Image of two page spread of Foreword by Susan Sex

Foreword by Susan Sex

Do visit our shop to see how you can order your copy of this limited edition. You can also buy our previous publications while stocks last.

Image of two sketchbook pages by Noeleen Frain

Sketchbook pages by Noeleen Frain

The ISBA is a not-for-profit Society and your support allows us to continue our work all over the islandof Ireland, encouraging and promoting botanical art and artists. We welcome both Artist and Friend memberships: visit our Membership page for more details.

For further enquiries, please email isba.committee@gmail.com

A photo of Hand Fan for Habitats by Yanny Petters

Yanny Petters works acquired for national collections

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We’re so pleased to say that Irish botanical artist and ISBA member Yanny Petters has recently had two  of her pieces acquired for national collections.

Yanny’s painting ‘The Plants We Played With’ has just entered the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland (NGI) having recently featured in the ‘Drawn From Nature’ exhibition at the NGI . The painting was first exhibited with the Olivier Cornet Gallery in VUE at the RHA in 2015 as part of Hopscotch, an exhibition about childhood memories.

Image of the Yanny Petters painting, The Plants We Played With

Yanny Petters, The Plants We Played With

As well as that, Yanny’s ‘Hand Fan for Habitats’ (a verre églomisé piece) has been purchased by the National Museum of Ireland for their permanent collection. This piece featured in the 2020 Sculpture in Context exhibition, normally held on site at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, but this year held online.

A photo of Hand Fan for Habitats by Yanny Petters

Yanny Petters Hand Fan for Habitats

 

You can find out more about these works of Yanny’s on the Olivier Cornet Gallery site here:

The Plants We Played With

Hand Fan for Habitats

 

image of book cover and sketch of agapanthus

SCEITSE – IRISH BOTANICAL SKETCHBOOKS launch 20 November

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We are delighted to announce the launch of SCEITSE – IRISH BOTANICAL SKETCHBOOKS on Friday 20 November 2020.

This exciting new publication seeks to de-mystify and celebrate the complex journey of botanical artists as they collect information and prepare to illustrate a particular plant. This includes ‘visiting’ plants in their habitat or in gardens, to see them in their natural or intended setting. The sketchbook pages in this collection show the breadth of information a botanical artist may collect, from plant features and measurements, to colour notes and descriptions of the setting.

As botanical artists in Ireland, we are fortunate to have access to unique and diverse gardens, both public and private, in which to glean information and complete research for our paintings. We have included beautiful pictures and writing from the gardens in which we worked for this project, hoping to celebrate the island’s horticultural treasures and encourage visitors to seek them out.

Since its formation in 2014, the Irish Society of Botanical Artists has burgeoned into a thriving, lively and reciprocal group of botanical artists. The Society has undertaken three ambitious projects, staging successful exhibitions and producing three wonderful books, Aibítir – The Irish Alphabet in Botanical Art (2014), Plandaí Oidhreachta – Heritage Irish Plants (2016) and Éireannach – Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland (2018) For each book, our artists created finely detailed and finished portraits and illustrations of both cultivated and wild Irish plants. An enormous amount of work went into each painting as each artist sought to identify and illustrate the key features of their chosen plant and portray it in a beautiful way. The resultant collection of paintings in the ISBA books is of an extremely high standard and has been lauded in botanical art and botany circles.

SCEITSE – IRISH BOTANICAL SKETCHBOOKS is now available to pre-order from our shop at a reduced price of €20.00. Orders will be shipped soon after the launch date of Friday 20 November.
The normal retail price (from 20 November 2020) is €25.00. Trade prices available.

For further enquiries, please email isba.committee@gmail.com

Sceitse – June Update

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We’re now accepting all submissions for our sketchbook project, please see the recent email from Elaine about how to send your sketchbook pages.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, we will need a lot of time to put the project together, so we’re asking members to make sure that we receive their pages by the end of June.

Small works will not be required until just before the exhibition, probably in October.  They need not be directly related to the sketchbook page, but must be botanical and must not have been exhibited at the NBG previously.  All small works should be framed by the artist.

Irish botanical artist awarded Margaret Flockton Award (Sydney, Australia)

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We’re delighted to report that Irish botanical artist and ISBA member Deborah Lambkin has won a prestigious international award from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.

The Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, has awarded the Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in scientific botanical illustration to RHS Orchid Artist (Irish Botanical Artist), Deborah Lambkin.

The award was for her drawing of a new species of Gastrodia orchid from Madagascar which was chosen from 63 illustrations from 46 artists from 21 different countries.

Ink drawing of Gastrodia orchid. Copyright 2020 Deborah Lambkin

A new species of Gastrodia orchid from Madagascar, illustrated by Deborah Lambkin

The Margaret Flockton Exhibition is a yearly exhibition held at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and showcases work from the world’s leading scientific botanical illustrators. The exhibition is now in its 17th year and attracts submissions from artists worldwide. Deborah is the first Irish artist to ever participate in the event.

The award commemorates the contribution Margaret Flockton made to Australian scientific botanical illustration. The Maple-Brown Family and the Foundation and Friends of the Botanic Gardens sponsor this annual, international award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration.

Visit the exhibition online here: 2020 Margaret Flockton Award exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

painting of apples by George Du Noyer

Irish botanical art at the National Gallery of Ireland this Spring

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Free exhibition Drawn from Nature opens on 7 March 2020

Drawn from Nature: Irish Botanical Art opens at the National Gallery of Ireland on 7 March 2020 and runs until 21 June 2020. Admission is free.

Pioneering Irish artists are at the heart of the National Gallery of Ireland’s new free exhibition Drawn from Nature: Irish Botanical Art. From William Kilburn to Lady Edith Blake, the exhibition celebrates artists who made significant contributions to art, science, and our understanding of the natural world.

Curated by Patricia Butler (Guest Curator), assisted by Janet McLean (National Gallery of Ireland), Drawn from Nature features art spanning almost 300 years, from the 1720s to 2019. Contemporary artists include ISBA members Mary Dillon, Shevaun Doherty, Deborah Lambkin, Siobhán M. Larkin, Margareta Pertl, Yanny Petters, Susan Sex, Jane Stark, Lynn Stringer and Holly Somerville.

A volume of designs by William Kilburn (1745-1818) will be on display for the first time in Ireland as part of the exhibition. One of the most eminent calico printers of the 18th century, Kilburn was born on Capel Street in Dublin and later settled in London.

Works by painter and geologist George Victor du Noyer (1817-1869) will also be on display, including studies of mushrooms and apples which he documented for the Ordinance Survey and the Geological Survey.

painting of apples by George Du Noyer

George Victor Du Noyer (1817-1869)
Engl. King. King. Musk. Turnip. Black annat. Winter Rose, 1837
Courtesy of the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin

Over 15 women artists are highlighted in the exhibition, including Ellen Hutchins, known as Ireland’s first female botanist. Hutchins discovered many seaweeds and mosses before her death in Cork at the age of 29.

Many of the drawings, watercolours, prints, and books will be on display for the first time at the National Gallery of Ireland during the exhibition. Works from public and private collections include selections from the National Botanic Gardens (Glasnevin), National Museums Northern Ireland, Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew) and the V&A (London).

Janet McLean of the National Gallery of Ireland commented:

While many Irish botanical artists ventured across the world, others barely stepped beyond their townlands. This exhibition highlights how they are bonded by a common curiosity in nature and a compulsion to record it.

It celebrates centuries of looking closely, drawing carefully, and treasuring the complex beauty of plants.

Guest curator Patricia Butler, author of Irish Botanical Illustrators & Flower Painters, on which this exhibition is based, commented:

There is currently a vigorous revival of interest in botanical art worldwide and this exhibition pays tribute to the extensive and distinctive Irish contribution to the area. I hope that visitors to the Print Gallery in the National Gallery of Ireland will enjoy exploring the work of over 30 artists ranging from the relatively unknown to the widely acclaimed.

See nationalgallery.ie for more details and check our calendar of events on this website for two interesting talks related to the exhibition: Talk & Tea: Irish Botanical Art and Irish Contributions to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine.

New year, new decade, lots of news

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We’re well into 2020 already – a new year and a new decade. Our Sceitse/Sketchbook project is going well and the hand-in day has been planned to coincide with our AGM on 21 March. Visit our project page for updates.

Members, don’t miss the AGM, when our guest speaker will be Yanny Petters who’ll talk to us about her working methods for making her paintings on glass.  The Shirley Sherwood Gallery, in Kew Gardens in London, is currently running an exhibition called Modern Masterpieces of Botanical Art which includes Yanny’s life-size portrait, on glass, of a teasel!

In April we’re delighted to host Sarah Morrish who will travel over from the UK to provide two one-day workshops to members on Pen and Ink methods in botanical illustration.

Also in 2020, the National Gallery of Ireland is holding an exhibition called Drawn from Nature, which provides an interesting historical perspective on botanical art in Ireland over the centuries, right up to contemporary work (including some ISBA members):

Take a closer look at Irish botanical art in Drawn from Nature. Spanning almost 300 years, artists include William Kilburn, Ellen Hutchins, George Victor Du Noyer, Lady Edith Blake and Wendy Walsh. These pioneering men and women have made significant contributions to art, science and our understanding of the natural world. Inspired by Patricia Butler’s book Irish Botanical Illustrators and Flower Painters, the exhibition features prints, drawings and illustrated books from public and private collections in Ireland and the UK.

Curator | Patricia Butler (Guest Curator), assisted by Janet McLean (National Gallery of Ireland)