SCEITSE – IRISH BOTANICAL SKETCHBOOKS launch 20 November
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
Irish botanical art at the National Gallery of Ireland this Spring
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.
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
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)
Sceitse: November Update
We hope you had a lovely summer and that you’ve all been busy working on your sketches for our latest project!
Get-together 23 November 2019
If you’d like to get together with other members, meet up for coffee, or if you have some questions about the Sketchbook Project, you can meet with members of the Sketchbook Committee and the ISBA Committee for chat and advice in the Curvilinear room from 2.30 to 4.00pm.
Sketchbook key dates!
Pages for sketchbooks are to be handed in at our AGM which will probably be held in March 2020.
We have a date pencilled in for the Sketchbook exhibition: it will be held in November 2020 in the National Botanic Gardens. This exhibition will showcase the botanical artist’s sketchbook.
Small works at the exhibition
As you know members who participate in the Sketchbook project will also be invited to hang one piece of finished work at the 2020 exhibition. The work should be no larger than 500mm x 550mm framed.
Sceitse/Sketchbook – updates
All members should have received updated guidelines for our Sceitse project through the post. We’ve also added these guidelines to our Sceitse project page and you can find a link there to download and print them too.
Sceitse/Sketchbook – our new project: Workshop supports
Our new project is underway and all members have been informed through our AGM and in correspondence since. We held one workshop for members in the Spring, given by ISBA member Noeleen Frain (many thanks for Noeleen for a great day!) and we’re holding another now in early Summer: Claire Ward comes to us from Wales and will conduct a workshop in the National Botanic Gardens Curvilinear Room on Thursday 16 May. The cost is €35 and places are limited to 12. There are still some places available, check the event listing for more details, including how to apply.
Opportunities for ISBA members
Spring is in the air, and along with the lengthening days and warmer temperatures, we’re receiving new opportunities for ISBA members.
Firstly, the call is open for entries to Botanical and Floral Art at Bloom. The deadline is 29 March 2019. You can keep up to date on Facebook or on the Bloom website.
We’ve been contacted by a number of different organisations/galleries here in Ireland with queries about possible collaboration. Below we’ve listed three such opportunities. We’re leaving it up to members to contact any of the organisations themselves. If you do decide to contact them and all goes well, do let us know!
Old Weir Lodge Hotel, Killarney – Contact: Niall O’Donoghue
email: info@oldweirlodge.com
This is a small hotel in Killarney which is currently being renovated. They would like to feature some prints of native plants on their corridor walls. Ideally the prints would be similarly sized (approx A3 portrait or square).
Excel Exhibition Space, Tipperary – Contact: Carissa Farrell
email: carissafarrell@tipperary-excel.com
Carissa is the Venue Director of the Excel in Tipperary Town which has a gallery and would be very interested in holding a group botanical art exhibition in 2019.
Shanbally House and Gardens – Herb Dispensary
Also in Tipperary, Shanbally House and Gardens is currently under restoration. As part of their work they plan to create a small herbarium and they would like to collaborate with botanical artists–who have an interest in medicinal herbs–to create some artwork that will showcase in the house, can be sold in the house and made into cards/notepaper etc. They would like the artwork to complement the work they are doing of growing, promoting, preserving and processing these healing plants. We’re in contact with Shanbally House at the moment with a view to their providing a tour for interested members in the summer. Once dates have been arranged, we’ll announce the event here on the website and will be in touch directly via our members’ email list.
A busy summer!
Our Éireannach exhibition was scarcely over when the 6th Annual Botanical and Floral Art Exhibition took place. The exhibition was, as always, held in the Visitor Centre in Phoenix Park, at the heart of the Bloom in the Park festival. Well done to all who entered, many of whom were ISBA members, and many thanks to Éanna Ní Leamhna who opened the exhibition in such style! You can find out more at the Botanical & Floral Art in Bloom Facebook page. Congrats to all who exhibited and to the medal winners! You can see the list of awards here, and you can read a review of the medal winners on the Botanical Art and Artists blog here.
Éanna Ní Leamhna and Elaine Moore Mackey at the opening of Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom exhibition
A selection of the paintings
… and more of the paintings, some from as far away as South Korea!
When the Bloom exhibition closed, many of the paintings headed over to the Claregalway Botanical Art Expo, held in the beautiful setting of Claregalway Castle, during its annual Garden Festival. Many thanks to the ISBA members who ferried paintings safely across the country in both directions!
A bright room in a medieval castle – a lovely space of a Botanical Art Expo
Botanical Art of a very high standard featured in the expo
Summer activities were rounded off with a stand at the RHSI Summer Garden Show at the end of July, which didn’t leave a lot of time before our Autumn activities start, with two workshops in August and another in October. See our Calendar for more details.
Botanical Art Worldwide and Éireannach
Our exhibition ran in the National Botanic Gardens for three weeks, we held a very successful Open Day on the 18th, we published a beautiful and informative book, Éireannach, to accompany the exhibition, we ran videos of the other exhibitions from around the world… to read more and see selected moments from the celebrations, visit the update on our Botanical Art Worldwide page.
AGM, Orchids, Éireannach, Courses, Bloom… Busy Times!
March and April have been very busy times for the ISBA; our AGM in March saw our chair for the last two years, Jane Stark, step down, passing the baton (or should that be the paintbrush) to Lynn Stringer. Jane didn’t sit back though as she has spent most of her time since then on the design, layout and typesetting of the book that will accompany our Botanical Art Worldwide exhibition: Éireannach: Celebrating Native Plants of Ireland. To find out more about the progress of the project, and how to buy the book, check the latest update on our Éireannach project page.
April sees us hosting An Evening Celebration of Orchids in Botanical Art , part of a series of orchid events at the National Botanic Gardens in April, including an exhibition of paintings by Deborah Lambkin and Margareta Pertl, both ISBA members. Check out the event on our calendar page.
If all these events have whetted your appetite to learn more about the practice of Botanical Art, two of our members are providing tuition in two very different locations in April and May. Yanny Petters will hold a two-day course in Wicklow in April and Jane Stark a five-day course in the Burren in May.
May will see our Éireannach exhibition open on the 5th, with an open day on the Worldwide Day of Botanical Art on the 18th.
And in June, there will be an exhibition of Botanical Art at Bloom. Those who submitted their work for this exhibition should hear by the end of April whether their submissions have been accepted.
Éireannach artists and plants announced
Many thanks to our judges who worked hard to choose the paintings for the upcoming Éireannach exhibition, part of Botanical Art Worldwide. The judges have chosen 48 plants, painted by 43 artists.
Many thanks too and well done to all the artists who have taken part in the project so far. We have a lovely array of native Irish plants that will feature in the exhibition and the accompanying book, including such treasures as the Large-flowered Butterwort, which features in a painting by Holly Somerville:
Large-flowered Butterwort, Pinguicula grandiflora, Leith uisce, by Holly Somerville
Here is the list of selected works, sorted alphabetically by the last name of the artists. We’ve repeated the list below, sorted by common name of the plant in English. You can also download the list as a PDF.
| Artist | Plant, English | Plant, Latin | Planda, Gaeilge |
| Hazel Beehan | Marsh Thistle | Cirsium palustre | Feochadán corraigh |
| Janet Bockett | Marsh-marigold | Caltha palustris | Lus Buí Bealtaine |
| Fionnuala Broughan | Hawthorn | Crataegus monogyna | Sceach gheal |
| Ann Burn | Wood Anemone | Anemone nemorosa | Lus na gaoithe |
| Heather Byers | Cowslip | Primula veris | Bainne bó bleachtáin |
| Marcella Campbell | Great Willowherb | Epilobium hirsutum | Lus na Tríonóide |
| Michael Campbell | Bloody Crane’s-bill | Geranium versicolor | Crobh stríocach |
| Giulia Canevari | Hazel | Corylus avellana | Coll |
| Grainne Carr | Elder | Sambucus nigra | Trom |
| Betty Christie | Wild Carrot | Daucus carota | Mealbhacán |
| Janet Colgan | Creeping Jenny | Lysimachia nummularia | Lus an dá phingin |
| Janet Colgan | Navelwort | Umbilicus rupestris | Cornán caisil |
| Jo Cummins | Shepherd’s Purse | Capsella bursa-pastoris | Lus an sparáin |
| Diane Davison | Ash | Fraxinus excelsior | Fuinseog |
| Sally de Bromhead | Red Clover | Trifolium pratense | Seamair dhearg |
| Marie de Lacy Clancy | Crab Apple | Malus sylvestris | Crann fia-úll |
| Mary Dillon | Honeysuckle | Lonicera periclymenum | Féithleann |
| Shevaun Doherty | Common Knapweed | Centaurea nigra | Mínscoth |
| Noeleen Frain | Ragged Robin | Silene flos-cuculi | Lus síoda |
| Noeleen Frain | Pyramidal Orchid | Anacamptis pyramidalis | Magairlín na stuaice |
| Niamh Harding Miller | Hart’s tongue | Phyllitis scolopendrium | Creamh na muice fia |
| Tim Hatatip | Thrift | Armeria maritima | Rabhán |
| Ann Kane | Bird’s-foot-trefoil | Lotus corniculatus | Crobh éin |
| Mary Killion | Wild Pansy | Viola tricolor ssp. Tricolor | Goirmín searraigh |
| Tara Lanigan O’Keeffe | Sea Bindweed | Calystegia soldanella | Plúr an phrionsa |
| Siobhan Larkin | Bramble | Rubus fructicosus | Dris |
| Sarah Lewtas | Sea Holly | Eryngium maritimum | Cuileann trá |
| Claudia McManus | Rowan | Sorbus aucuparia | Caorthann |
| Sandra McTurk | Strawberry-tree | Arbutus unedo | Caithne |
| Ida Mitrani | Sessile Oak | Quercus petraea | Dair ghaelach |
| Elaine Moore Mackey | Foxglove | Digitalis purpurea | Lus mór |
| Elaine Moore Mackey | Round leaved Sundew | Drosera rotundifolia | Drúchtín móna |
| Patricia Morrison | Guelder-rose | Viburnum opulus | Caor chon |
| Helen Noonan | Bush Vetch | Vicia sepium | Peasair fhiáin |
| Rita O’Mahony | Primrose | Primula vulgaris | Sabhaircín |
| Yanny Petters | Wild Strawberry | Fragaria vesca | Sú talún fiáin |
| Oonagh Philips | Maidenhair Fern | Adiantum capillus-veneris | Dúchosach |
| Liz Prendergast | Blackthorn | Prunus Spinosa | Draighean |
| Nayana Sandur | Common Spotted-orchid | Dactylorhiza fuchsii subsp. fuchsii | Nuacht bhallach |
| Susan Sex | Marsh Helleborine | Epipactis palustris | Cuaichín corraigh |
| Joy Shepherd | Tufted Vetch | Vicia cracca | Peasair na luch |
| Helen Simmons | Harebell | Campanula rotundifolia | Méaracán gorm |
| Holly Somerville | Large-flowered Butterwort | Pinguicula grandiflora | Leith uisce |
| Jane Stark | Lords-and-ladies | Arum maculatum | Cluas chaoin |
| Jane Stark | Common cotton grass | Eriophorum angustifolium | Ceannbhán |
| Lynn Stringer | Meadowsweet | Filipendula ulmaria | Airgead luachra |
| Lynn Stringer | Yellow Horned-poppy | Glaucium flavum | Caillichín na trá |
| Alison Walker | Water Avens | Geum rivale | Machall uisce |
| Plant, English | Artist | Plant, Latin | Planda, Gaeilge |
| Ash | Diane Davison | Fraxinus excelsior | Fuinseog |
| Bird’s-foot-trefoil | Ann Kane | Lotus corniculatus | Crobh éin |
| Blackthorn | Liz Prendergast | Prunus Spinosa | Draighean |
| Bloody Crane’s-bill | Michael Campbell | Geranium versicolor | Crobh stríocach |
| Bramble | Siobhan Larkin | Rubus fructicosus | Dris |
| Bush Vetch | Helen Noonan | Vicia sepium | Peasair fhiáin |
| Common cotton grass | Jane Stark | Eriophorum angustifolium | Ceannbhán |
| Common Knapweed | Shevaun Doherty | Centaurea nigra | Mínscoth |
| Common Spotted-orchid | Nayana Sandur | Dactylorhiza fuchsii subsp. fuchsii | Nuacht bhallach |
| Cowslip | Heather Byers | Primula veris | Bainne bó bleachtáin |
| Crab Apple | Marie de Lacy Clancy | Malus sylvestris | Crann fia-úll |
| Creeping Jenny | Janet Colgan | Lysimachia nummularia | Lus an dá phingin |
| Elder | Grainne Carr | Sambucus nigra | Trom |
| Foxglove | Elaine Moore Mackey | Digitalis purpurea | Lus mór |
| Great Willowherb | Marcella Campbell | Epilobium hirsutum | Lus na Tríonóide |
| Guelder-rose | Patricia Morrison | Viburnum opulus | Caor chon |
| Harebell | Helen Simmons | Campanula rotundifolia | Méaracán gorm |
| Hart’s tongue | Niamh Harding Miller | Phyllitis scolopendrium | Creamh na muice fia |
| Hawthorn | Fionnuala Broughan | Crataegus monogyna | Sceach gheal |
| Hazel | Giulia Canevari | Corylus avellana | Coll |
| Honeysuckle | Mary Dillon | Lonicera periclymenum | Féithleann |
| Large-flowered Butterwort | Holly Somerville | Pinguicula grandiflora | Leith uisce |
| Lords-and-ladies | Jane Stark | Arum maculatum | Cluas chaoin |
| Maidenhair Fern | Oonagh Philips | Adiantum capillus-veneris | Dúchosach |
| Marsh Helleborine | Susan Sex | Epipactis palustris | Cuaichín corraigh |
| Marsh Thistle | Hazel Beehan | Cirsium palustre | Feochadán corraigh |
| Marsh-marigold | Janet Bockett | Caltha palustris | Lus Buí Bealtaine |
| Meadowsweet | Lynn Stringer | Filipendula ulmaria | Airgead luachra |
| Navelwort | Janet Colgan | Umbilicus rupestris | Cornán caisil |
| Primrose | Rita O’Mahony | Primula vulgaris | Sabhaircín |
| Pyramidal Orchid | Noeleen Frain | Anacamptis pyramidalis | Magairlín na stuaice |
| Ragged Robin | Noeleen Frain | Silene flos-cuculi | Lus síoda |
| Red Clover | Sally de Bromhead | Trifolium pratense | Seamair dhearg |
| Round leaved Sundew | Elaine Moore Mackey | Drosera rotundifolia | Drúchtín móna |
| Rowan | Claudia McManus | Sorbus aucuparia | Caorthann |
| Sea Bindweed | Tara Lanigan O’Keeffe | Calystegia soldanella | Plúr an phrionsa |
| Sea Holly | Sarah Lewtas | Eryngium maritimum | Cuileann trá |
| Sessile Oak | Ida Mitrani | Quercus petraea | Dair ghaelach |
| Shepherd’s Purse | Jo Cummins | Capsella bursa-pastoris | Lus an sparáin |
| Strawberry-tree | Sandra McTurk | Arbutus unedo | Caithne |
| Thrift | Tim Hatatip | Armeria maritima | Rabhán |
| Tufted Vetch | Joy Shepherd | Vicia cracca | Peasair na luch |
| Water Avens | Alison Walker | Geum rivale | Machall uisce |
| Wild Carrot | Betty Christie | Daucus carota | Mealbhacán |
| Wild Pansy | Mary Killion | Viola tricolor ssp. Tricolor | Goirmín searraigh |
| Wild Strawberry | Yanny Petters | Fragaria vesca | Sú talún fiáin |
| Wood Anemone | Ann Burn | Anemone nemorosa | Lus na gaoithe |
| Yellow Horned-poppy | Lynn Stringer | Glaucium flavum | Caillichín na trá |
An Evening Celebration of Orchids in Botanical Art
We’ll be hosting An Evening Celebration of Orchids in Botanical Art in association with the Dublin Orchid Fair at 6.30 pm Friday 20 April 2018, in the Visitor Centre of the National Botanic Gardens. The evening will feature a talk:
The RHS Orchid Committee and its artists: a history of the RHS orchid award paintings
A talk by Clare Hermans, Chairman of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Orchid Committee, author of many articles and co-author of Orchids of Madagascar and a research fellow of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
The talk was originally given at the World Orchid Conference held in Ecuador last November.
The talk will be followed by a wine reception and a tour of:
Three Threads – of the orchid tapestry created by Frederick William Moore – an exhibition.
Organised by staff of the National Botanic Gardens, it features archival material from the Library at Glasnevin, orchid paintings by Deborah Lambkin (an ISBA member and official artist to the RHS’s Orchid Committee), and a collection of orchid portraits that celebrate Frederick Moore, painted by Margareta Pertl (also an ISBA member). The exhibition runs from Saturday 29 March to Wednesday 25 April.
Coelogyne mooreana, by Margareta Pertl
There is no admission charge and all are welcome, but we would be grateful if those who wish to attend would email isba.committee@gmail.com and include the number of guests attending.
The Dublin Orchid Fair takes place Saturday 21st April and Sunday 22nd April and will be held in the Teak House at Glasnevin. This is the premier annual orchid event in Ireland, with a selection of species and hybrids for sale. It promises to be an exciting weekend for orchid lovers, gardeners and botanical artists alike.
Applications for the 6th Annual Botanical & Floral Art in Bloom Exhibition are now open!
The sixth annual Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom open submission exhibition will take place as part of Bloom 2018 from Thursday 31 May to the end of June 2018 at the Visitor Centre in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Please note the new extended exhibition time. The OPW Visitor’s Centre have kindly offered the exhibition space for the month of June so that the exhibition can remain in place after Bloom. This exhibition is a showcase for Irish botanical and floral artists and will include an exhibition opening on Thursday, 31 May at 6.00pm.
- The exhibition is juried
- Approximately 40 pieces of work will be shown
- Artists are invited to submit up to three pieces of work.
Medals may be awarded for works of particular merit by an independent judging panel.
We ask all applicants to please read the Criteria for Submissions before submitting an application. Applications may only be made via the online application form.
Applicants will be contacted after 27 April 2018 following review from the Judging panel.
If you’d like to keep up-to-date, check the Botanical & Floral Art in Bloom Facebook page.
Éireannach – Judging in January
Our judges are meeting on 29 January to assess all the submitted paintings, which are being safely stored in the Library of the National Botanic Gardens. The judges will decide which paintings will hang in the exhibition that takes place from 5 to 27 May in the National Botanic Gardens. As well as paintings for the exhibition, the judges will choose paintings for a digital slideshow which will be seen at other botanical art exhibitions all around the world. Many countries are taking part in Botanical Art Worldwide and we will be seeing some of their paintings at our own exhibition via the digital slideshow. Artists will be notified as soon as possible after the judges make their decisions.
We will produce a high-quality catalogue to accompany the exhibition and this is already in process. We hope to find sponsorship for the book. The exhibition will open with a wine reception on 5 May; we are awaiting confirmation of our guest speaker to open the show: watch this space! On 18 May, which is the Worldwide Day of Botanical Art, we will hold an open day and we encourage everyone to bring along family and friends and to spread the word. Zoe Devlin has kindly agreed to guide a wildflower tour of the paintings. The exhibition closes on 26 May and we’ll be taking down the paintings on 27 May. For more details, see our Éireannach project page.
Éireannach – Hand-In Day 18 November
Hand-In Day is close! We will be accepting painting submissions from 12:30-1:30pm on 18 of November 2017, before Charles Nelson’s talk, at the Lecture Theatre, National Botanic Gardens. For more information, check our Éireannach project page.
Awards and accolades!
Teasel for Finches, Copyright 2017 Yanny Petters
As all our members know, the ISBA is about supporting and encouraging all our artists and members as they practise and learn more about botanical art and illustration. Our projects and exhibitions to date have been based on this approach and we don’t generally feature awards as an integral part of our exhibition process.
But! we are always delighted when our members’ work is valued by their peers and by independent juries and in this post we’ve rounded up some of the awards and accolades received by our members over the last few months. We’re proud to see how well ISBA artists are doing both at home and abroad. Congratulations to all of them!
Most recently, Yanny Petters learnt that her Verre Eglomisé painting, Teasel for Finches–which was acquired by the Dr. Shirley Sherwood Collection last year–will be part of a new exhibition, ‘Abundance – Seeds, Pods and Autumn Fruits’ at Kew Gardens, London, from now until March 2018. Visit the Kew Gardens site for more information.
Earlier in the Autumn, Shevaun Doherty‘s painting on vellum of Prunus domestica ‘Victoria’ was awarded the Joanna Craig McFeely Cup for Botanical Illustration, a Certificate of Botanical Merit and a Highly Commended for the Joyce Cumming’s Award, all at the (British) Society of Botanical Artists annual exhibition in Westminster London in October. This same painting was awarded Best in Show and a Gold Medal earlier this year at Bloom in the Park Botanical Art exhibition (scroll down to see the other awards at Bloom).
Phormium tenax, Copyright 2017 Mary Dillon
Across the Atlantic, Mary Dillon was awarded the Best in Show by her peers at the American Society of Botanical Artists annual exhibition – “From Garden Gate to Golden Gate” for her painting of Phormium tenax for which she also received the Anne Marie Carney Award for best painting in an inaugural international exhibition.
Bloom in the Park , 2017 – Awards
Gold Medal
Shevaun Doherty – Prunus domestica ‘Victoria’
Siobhán Larkin – Gerbera x hybrida
Holly Somerville – Magnolia x soulangeana ‘Black Tulip
Silver Gilt Medal
Lynn Stringer – Chamerion augustifolium
Silver Medal
Holly Somerville – ‘Turning’
Nayana Sandur – Cocos nucifera
Prunus domestica ‘Victoria’ by Shevaun Doherty at the Bloom Botanical Art Exhibtion, June 2017
Bronze Medal
Siobhan Larkin – Papaver somniferum
Lynn Stringer – Rosa ‘William Lobb’
Shevaun Doherty – Citrus reticulata
Jane Stark – Sarracenia leucophylla
Best Painting in Show
Prunus domestica ‘Victoria’ – by Shevaun Doherty
And see also our post earlier this year about a collective ISBA entry being awarded a silver medal at the RHS Malvern show.
George Du Noyer at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork
Stones, Slabs and Seascapes: George Du Noyer’s Images of Ireland
17 November 2017–24 February 2018
An artist imbued with a keen appreciation of the sciences—particularly geology, botany and zoology, George Victor Du Noyer was born into a Huguenot family in Dublin in 1817.
Over the course of a half century, he travelled the length and breadth of Ireland, sketching and recording as he went. Thousands of drawings and sketches by him are preserved in the libraries and archives of institutions such as the Royal Irish Academy and the Royal Society of Antiquaries in Ireland. In the National Botanic Gardens are exquisite watercolours of Irish
apple varieties, roses and other botanical specimens.
Apples painted by Georges Du Noyer in 1837. Picture courtesy of National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin
In celebration of Du Noyer’s extraordinary achievements, and to commemorate the bi-centenary of his birth, the Crawford Art Gallery will host a major survey exhibition, featuring over one hundred and fifty watercolours and drawings. Opening in November 2017 and continuing until the end of February, 2018, the exhibition will be curated by Peter Murray, former Director of the Crawford Art Gallery, in collaboration with Petra Coffey and the Geological Survey of Ireland.
Although best known as a geologist, Du Noyer called himself ‘a labourer in the field of science’, and from an early age he laboured well: the two beautiful botanical paintings shown here are dated 1837, and so were painted when he was only twenty years old.
Fungi painted by Georges Du Noyer in 1837. Picture courtesy of National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin
As the name of the exhibition implies, the works on display will focus primarily on landscape, rocks and the sea, and it promises to be an exhibition of interest to many of us with an interest in the natural history and a wonderful opportunity to see a slice of Irish art and science history.
To find out more, visit the Crawford Gallery description of the exhibition.
A Grand Day Out: ISBA visit to Burtown House
The inaugural outing of the ISBA was a visit to Burtown House in May 2013, where we were privileged and delighted to meet Wendy Walsh, and were welcomed to Burtown by Wendy’s daughter Lesley Fennell. A group of ISBA artists returned to Burtown House on 13 May 2017 where Lesley made them very welcome and a tour of the garden and studios was enhanced by lunch in the newly opened Green Barn. Here, ISBA member and the Society’s Hon. Secretary Elaine Moore Mackey gives a brief overview of the lovely visit.
A small group of members were lucky enough to visit Burtown on Saturday 13 May and, while the weather wasn’t great, we made the most of the beautiful setting in which we could admire and learn about the work of Wendy Walsh, who lived at Burtown for the last years of her life.
The exterior of the studios where Lesley Fennell works, and where her mother, Wendy Walsh, painted right up to the end of her long life.
Lesley Fennell, Wendy’s daughter and an artist herself, took time to show us the gardens–which she manages with enormous talent and committment–as well as Wendy’s paintings which are exhibited in the Gallery at the Green Barn.
Some of Lesley Fennell’s portraits of her mother Wendy Walsh are on display in the gallery
A glimpse of the studio where Lesley works
Part of the woodland garden in Burtown
Lesley’s generosity and intimate knowledge of Burtown, her home for many years, allowed our group to experience this lovely place on an intimate level. Lesley knows every plant, every corner of the garden, and her enthusiasm for plants and of course, for painting, is infectious.
We were so grateful to her for making us welcome, and to see Wendy’s work up close was a real privilege. The unexpected gift of the visit was to understand and appreciate the long association of Burtown with painting. Lesley’s own studio, formerly that of her mother, is a living workplace and she extended a genuine invitation to our members to paint in the gardens.
I was personally touched by Lesley’s sensitive portraits of Wendy and her own work which celebrates Burtown, her passion for plants, and her home.
Irises outside the Green Barn
The carrot cake was also decidedly memorable!
To read about our first visit to Burtown in 2013, see this post: Wendy Walsh.
