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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

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

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

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.

Sceitse: November Update

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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.

Éireannach artists and plants announced

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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

 

Éireannach – Hand-In Day 18 November

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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.

ISBA Artists awarded Silver Medal at RHS Malvern Spring Festival

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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.

A busy autumn for ISBA artists

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It has been a busy autumn for some of our members! Here’s a quick round-up of what’s been happening:

Botanical artists from around the world gathered in Pittsburgh in October for the Annual Meeting and Conference of the American Society of Botanical Artists. The event coincides this year with the 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration at the prestigious Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. We are delighted and proud that Ligularia dentata by ISBA artist and committee member Siobhán Larkin was selected for this important exhibition and we congratulate her.

Ligularia dentata by Siobhan Larkin

Ligularia dentata by Siobhán Larkin. (Photo: Shevaun Doherty)

Siobhán works in coloured pencil and watercolour, and recently won an award at the Irish Watercolour Society exhibition in Dublin.  Another ISBA artist, Shevaun Doherty, is among the artists invited to the ASBA Conference to demonstrate ‘Mastering Beautiful Bloom on Fruit in Watercolour’. Mary Dillon is also attending and spreading the word about botanical art in Ireland. Thanks to Shevaun and Mary for sending us photos.

hunt

Siobhan’s work on display at the Hunt Exhibition. (Photo: Mary Dillon)

Teasel_Petters

Teasel for finches, November by Yanny Petters

Congratulations also to ISBA member Yanny Petters whose Teasel for finches, November will join the prestigious art collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood at the Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew, London. The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art is the first gallery in the world dedicated solely to botanical art. This painting is part of Yanny’s very successful solo exhibition–“Come with me, I’ll show you something beautiful” / “Komm mit mir, Ich zeig’ Dir ‘was Schönes”–at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in Dublin, featuring her exquisite Verre Églomisé paintings. The exhibition continues until 6 November, so if you are in Dublin, do make a point of viewing the exhibition. You can see photos from the exhibition opening on Yanny’s Facebook page @YannyPettersBotanicalArtist

Another ISBA member, Ida Mitrani, is one of the artists whose work features in the Lines of Negotiation exhibition in the Lexicon in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown, running until 05 November. Congratulations to Ida, whose work Totality was bought by Dún Laoghaire Rathdown Arts Office for their public collection.

Totality by Ida Mitrani

Totality by Ida Mitrani

The second Art in the Garden exhibition took place in October (9th to 16th) in Tourin House, Co. Waterford (the first of these exhibitions was held in the National Botanic Gardens in 2014, featuring art work based on the Kilmacurragh Gardens).  Close to thirty artists had work in the exhibition, in various media; almost a third of the artists were ISBA members. The exhibition was opened by Patricia Butler, Art Historian (who wrote the forward for our own Aibítir catalogue). Well done to all!

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