Hillary Parker, ASBA member from the USA, will be in Australia in November 2012, teaching a botanical watercolor Masterclass called "Finding Your Artistic Voice Through Composition" to the RGB Melbourne Friends and is available to teach to other botanical watercolor art groups in southern regions of Australia during the week of Nov. 10-17, offering a variety of different topics and time ranges from something small such as a 1/2 or 1 day Lecture/Demonstration, to a 1 or 2 day workshop or Masterclass.
These are some really amazing botanical art pieces.
Artist Macoto Murayama uses an array of digital programs, like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and even 3-D modeling, to create highly visual works. By highlighting and separating specific pieces of the flora, Murayama wants to show the technical and almost mechanical aspects of these organic organisms.
See details at the website of Frantic Gallery
Entries for the 2012 Margaret Flockton Award are due on Monday 6th February 2012.
The award is run by the Friends of the Botanic Gardens Sydney and commemorates the contribution Margaret Flockton made to Australian scientific botanical illustration.
It is an interesting award in that only black and white illustrations are permitted and the focus is on producing a publication quality scientifically detailed illustration. Works are judged on accurate interpretation and portrayal of plant characters and diagnostic features, technical merit, reproducibility, composition and artistic merit.
See the website for further details.
There is a huge amount of stuff happening in Melbourne this week as part of the 18th International Botanical Congress. Botanical Artists might be particularly interested in this free talk:
Sister Water Lily meets the Big Bad Banksia Man
Speaker: Dr Peter Bernhardt - Saint Louis University, St Louis, USA
Date and time: Thursday 28 July 2011, 1830 - 2000
Venue: Plenary Hall, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Can a whimsical and largely discarded branch of illustration be used to reinvigorate botanical education? Peter and his co-author Retha Meier review the works of C.M. Barker (England), W. Crane (England), May Gibbs (Australia), J.J. Grandville (France) and M.T. Ross (America). All produced detailed illustrations featuring anthropomorphic flowers, stems and edible plants. The tragic J.I.I. Gerad (a.k.a. Grandville, 1803-1847) began this trend in floral fantasy to amuse a mature audience of sophisticated Parisians but his techniques were assimilated by later author/artists of children's books. Within little more than a century (1847-1952) their combined oeuvre reminded or taught viewers simple, amusing and often visually accurate lessons in plant morphology/identification, phenology, economic botany, plant-animal mutualisms and phytogeography. These drawings, often reinforced botanical information by employing visual puns and satirizing the old, European, 'language of flowers'. We could certainly use a little of this style today with the fundamentals of plant biology taught so infrequently in many countries. In particular, author/illustrator, May Gibbs (1879-1969) developed the art of 'people plants' to introduce generations of Australian children to plant diversity common to southeastern and southwestern Australia.
Peter Bernhardt is a Professor of Biology at and a Research Associate of the Missouri Botanical Garden (St Louis) and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. Research in the Bernhardt/Meier laboratory concentrates on flower evolution and the pollination systems of rare and threatened plants in North America, Australia and China. Peter is the author/co-author of 75 reviewed journal articles and four popular books on plant life including 'Wily Violets and Underground Orchids' (1989) and 'Gods and Goddesses in the Garden' (2008). He has a keen interest in how plants have been incorporated as characters in children's literature.
See IBC website for details.
Hunt Institute's fall exhibition, "Botany and History Entwined: Rachel Hunt's Legacy," runs from 16 September to 15 December 2011. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary with rare gems from the original collection of our founder Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt (1882-1963).
More information is available on the Hunt Institute website.
The XVIII International Botanical Congress will be held in Melbourne, Australian from 23 -30 July 2011. This is the biggest botanical show in town and there will also be a botanical art show to match.
The Eternal Order in Nature: The Science of Botanical Illustration Exhibition will showcase some of the finest botanical art in Australia. Thirty of the country's leading botanical illustrators have been invited to exhibit a body of work which focuses on a particular project and/or study of a plant species. The exhibition will also highlight some key Australian historical figures in botanical illustration whose works have provided a rich and important foundation for the continued growth of this discipline.
The botanical art show will be hosted by the Friends of the RBG and will be held at Domain House opposite the Botanic Gardens Melbourne from 18 July - 7 August 2011.
More information:
International Botanical Congress: www.ibc2011.com
Botanical Art Show: www.eternalorderinnature.net
December 5, 2010 – February 6, 2011
The botanical paintings and illuminations of 20 area artists will be displayed at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland. The artists, all members of the Botanical Art Society of the National Capital Region, have exquisitely painted selected subjects from the natural world. Orchids, peonies, flowering vines and arrays of spring bulbs will adorn the airy viewing spaces of the Visitor Center, along with trees, herbs, fruits, vegetables and the occasional butterfly or moth. All paintings are for sale and are portrayed in watercolor, graphite, colored pencil, or gouache, an opaque watercolor medium. The artwork chosen to represent this year’s show is Joan Ducore’s beautiful Rosax floribunda ‘Betty Boop.’ Joan holds a certificate in botanical art from the Brookside Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration.
Only 250 people live in Fish Creek near Wilsons Promontory, but the small town has more than its fair share of artists. On display are works by Celia Rosser, Tracy Lewis, and sculptor, Boyd Maddocks.
Andrew Rosser (Celia's son) and art director Winsome Richards discuss the exhibition at http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2010/09/30/3026340.htm
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation presents its "13th International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration" from 24 September to 17 December 2010. This exhibition will include 110 watercolors, drawings and prints representing the work of 72 artists from 15 countries. The Institute established the International series in 1964 with the hope of supporting and encouraging contemporary botanical artists. Every three years, the International series features the works of talented botanical artists from around the world. Please our Web site for more information (http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.
