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.

Éireannach goes west…

Paintings from our Botanical Art Worldwide exhibition, Éireannach, are currently on display at the North Mayo Heritage Centre. You can combine a visit to the exhibition–which runs until 31 October–with the upcoming Enniscoe Biodiversity Blitz:

To find out more check the Centre’s press release and the agenda for the day.

Protecting your Art – A Short Guide for Artist

Many thanks to June Wright for this post on something all artists should know more about – protecting our art! After graduating in Classical Animation in the early 90s, June began her animation career in Don Bluth Animation Studios in Dublin and has since worked in the US and Europe with many film studios over the years including Fox Animation in Arizona. She has also lectured in Traditional Animation and Digital Design. Currently, June is working as a Product Designer for clients based mainly in the UAE and Hong Kong, such as Legoland Dubai, The Louvre Abu Dhabi and the tallest building in the world ‘The Burj Khalifa’. She has been an artist all her life and loves botanical art and drawing portraits, using coloured pencil, graphite and  watercolour.


As an artist, when you create a painting, your intention may not be focused on its commercial value; however once you start to exhibit and sell your art, it is in your best interest to become aware of the potential positives (and not so positives) that may occur as a result of exposing your work to the grand public.

There can be a lot of confusion–still–on the ownership, legal aspects and expectations of how your work may be used. Therefore, in order to protect your art, it is important to know the fundamental guidelines both for protecting your original images and commercialising your work.

Selling Original Art – Who Owns What?

When you sell an original painting, it’s important for both you and your buyer to be aware that the ownership rights of the painting’s image do not transfer with the physical painting itself and unless it is specifically requested and agreed upon in writing between the artist and buyer before the sale, all rights remain solely with the artist. A painting is sold on the basis that although the buyer will own the original piece of art for their enjoyment, they will not own the rights to make any commercial gain from its image in the future. This is irrespective of whether the painting was bought from the artist’s own collection, through a reseller or gallery, or on a commissioned basis.

Following any sale of their art, the artist can still go on to create prints of the painting and use the painting’s image for further commercial purpose, as and however they wish. If the current owner of a painting wishes to reproduce the painting for any purpose commercially or non-commercially, they must first request written permission from the artist.

Reproducing your art in print format

If someone wishes to reproduce your painting in part or full, for example, within a book, magazine, online or on products, they must obtain written permission from you prior to doing so. It is solely at your discretion whether you choose to allow use of your images for payment or for free, however if you are unintentionally lax in protecting your art, not only can you lose out commercially, but your painting may be used in a way that may harm the integrity of the work or your reputation as an artist and what you stand for. You may have to consider whether it is most suitable to agree a one-off fee for a single-use permission or create a licencing agreement for more complex or larger-scale use.

Licencing your art commercially

If you are approached with a request to reproduce your art, especially for commercial purpose, it is normal to licence art for certain agreed usage. This will protect you from any unauthorised commercial use of your art. In most cases, it is normal that the artist agrees an initial licencing fee, plus royalties per sale of each item containing your image. A possible circumstance is where the image may be used, for example, on greeting cards, homeware, fabrics, prints etc.

Some artists may allow non-commercial use of an image for free (in which case, it is a good idea to make sure you receive an artist credit), but commercial use should be considered carefully in advance, in order to prevent the artist being poorly compensated, where no clear written terms were agreed by both parties prior to the handover of any imagery.

Terms between the artist (the licensor) and the individual or company requesting permission to use the painting’s image (licencee) should generally cover at least the following and should be agreed in writing and signed by both parties:

  • Fees agreed: initial upfront fee and/or percentage of royalties that will be paid per piece sold.
  • Permitted usage: most licences are limited to a certain amount of reproductions within any given specified format. For example, if you agree permission for your painting to appear only on mugs, another agreement would need to be further negotiated where the licencee wishes to later add the image onto plates.
  • Duration of licence for its specified use: you may want to limit the time of specified usage to a certain period or time-frame.
  • Territorial restrictions: whether the use is limited to one location or country, or whether it is allowed to be used worldwide.
  • Termination basis: for larger agreements, it could also be worth adding the basis in which the agreement can come to an end, such as a certain period of notice for either side.

Online Protection

Online, the potential for unauthorised downloading, sharing, or misuse of your paintings is fairly high. It is natural to want to share images of paintings online, whether it may be to contribute and participate in the larger art community and art groups, or to gain wider audience exposure and build a fan-base of admirers for your art through social media platforms etc., but no artist wants to see their art stolen or misused for the commercial gain of another, without prior consideration for its use. Although the internet proves to be the easiest, most cost-effective way to reach people with your art, this undoubtedly leaves you wide open for the misuse and theft of your intellectual property.

The fact is that no matter what lengths you go to, there is no 100% foolproof way to prevent images being saved and shared over the internet; but weighing it up, it’s usually better to take a couple of simple measures to minimise these risks, rather than to deny yourself such great opportunity of exposure to a world-wide audience for your work.

Watermarks

The easiest forms of reducing the misuse of your art online would be to add a copyright warning on or beside your image, or better still, add a minimally-invasive watermark over the image itself, before uploading it to the internet. This at least means that if an image is shared, your name is attached to it and at least travels with your picture which can have its own advantages, as it may even attract new viewers to your site to view more of your work.

There are many apps both for iPhone and Android that will allow you to easily place a watermark over your image. They allow you to experiment with suitable placement and opacity of your watermark, so that it won’t interfere too much with the enjoyment of viewing your paintings online. If you don’t like to obstruct your image at all though, you can still use these apps to add your copyright and contact details more discretely to the side of your image before sharing.

Resolution

It is often a fear for many artists–especially those less familiar with computing and digital imaging–that once you upload your images online people may just print out copies of your work. In addition to adding watermarks, a good way to enure your image is not going to be printed successsfully from the internet is to make sure it is only uploaded at 72dpi instead of full resolution of 300dpi required for full print quality. Many social media platforms will automatically compress your image on upload, meaning a low resolution image is all that is seen online. Although your image will still appear nice and clear for online viewing, once it is printed, it may be too pixilated to reproduce at any great quality.

Angles

Another good option, is to take a photograph of your work at an angle, for example, on your desk with pencils or paint brushes on or next to the painting itself. This means that viewers online can still admire your work, but again, can’t print it out for use as a straight-on image.

The above measures are often enough to show the average person that you are serious about protecting your images and may at least make them think twice before using your art without your permission.


Hopefully this has given somewhat of an introduction into how you can protect yourself from unauthorised copying or misrepresentation of you and your art and may have broken down some of the confusions and misconceptions associated with the commercial and legal side of being an artist. The information given is not intended as definitive legal advice, but as an initial guide to how you can begin to better implement the safe sharing and comercialising of your art. www.junewright.com


 

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 – Exhibitions, Book, Open Day

At last May has arrived and after a lot of work by our artists, mentors, framers, (and the committee!), our exhibition at the National Botanic Gardens will be officially opened this weekend on 05 May, by Dr Liam Lysaght, Director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Opening to the public on 06 May, the exhibition will run until the 27th. Forty-eight native plants, painted by 43 artists, will feature in the exhibition. The book that we’re publishing to coincide with the exhibition contains all the paintings, plus articles by Irish organisations involved with botanical, environmental and biodiversity issues, plus articles and paintings from the other 24 participating countries. On the 18th, which is the official Worldwide Day of Botanical Art, we’ll hold an open day at our exhibition, where artists will provide demonstrations of how they work; Zoe Devlin (Wildflowers of Ireland) will provide a tour of the exhibition, and there’ll be a chance to see paintings from all the other exhibitions from around the world. For more details, check our Éireannach page and our Calendar.

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:

Painting of large-flowered butterwort 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.

Painting of orchid, Coelogyne mooreana, by Margareta Pertl

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!

Painting of Teasel for Finches by Yanny Petters

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).

Painting of Phormium tenax byMary Dillon

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

Painting of Prunus domestica 'Victoria' by Shevaun Doherty

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.

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.

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.

exterior picture of studio

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.

interior of the gallery

Some of Lesley Fennell’s portraits of her mother Wendy Walsh are on display in the gallery

interior of studio, Burtown

A glimpse of the studio where Lesley works

stream and woodland in Burtown

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, Burtown

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.

ISBA Artists awarded Silver Medal at RHS Malvern Spring Festival

Featuring six artists showing six paintings of Heritage Irish Plants, the ISBA’s first collective entry to the RHS–at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival–was awarded a Silver Medal.

RHS silver medal award

A Silver Medal for the society’s first RHS exhibit. Congratulations to all six artists

Each exhibit is judged by a panel of experts according to specific criteria including: scientific accuracy, botanical information, artistic skill – draughtsmanship and painterly skills, as well as the overall presentation of the display and unity of the pictures. All six paintings must be executed to the same standard.

six paintings of irish heritage plants

The common theme of the six paintings was, of course, Heritage Irish Plants!

The six artists, and their plants, are:

  • Niamh Harding Miller; Erica cinerea ‘Ted Oliver’
  • Siobhán Larkin; Iris ‘War and Peace’
  • Rona Orchard;  Narcissus ‘Paradigm’ and ‘Greek Surprise’
  • Susan Sex; Dahlia ‘Aggie White’
  • Holly Somerville; Iris lazica ‘Turkish Blue’
  • Margaret Walsh Best; Narcissus ‘Soft Focus’

Well done and congratulations to all!

printed cards of the paintings

This was the ISBA’s first collective exhibit at an RHS show and a great way to bring the Society and our six artists to a wider and informed audience

All the paintings are of course featured in the Heritage Irish Plants, Plandaí Oidhreachta book; visit our projects page to find out more.