Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art opens at Kew Gardens

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Other Botanical Gardens

Many works of botanical art never before seen by the public will be exhibited in the newly-opened Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Read more, or watch the video:

New botanical art museum to open via the BBC

New Gallery of Botanical Art, an RBG Kew press release

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:52 PM | Comments (0)

A Man of the Trees

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Plant Conservation

For more than thirty years, Tom Zetterstrom has photographed the natural beauty of the Berkshire Mountains near his home. Trees have been a favourite subject for the artist - whose works have been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery and the Getty Museum of Art. Mr. Zetterstrom may be know as much for his environmental activism as he is for his art. Noting the pressure of development on the wild lands in the region, the artist was inspired to work for environmental protection early on in his career.

Mr. Zetterstrom laments that the environmental work has taken on such great importance that he does not have time to devote to his art, but his work on both fronts will help preserve the beauty of the Berkshires.

Link: Canaan's Man of the Trees from the Litchfield County Times

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:53 PM

Joseph Prestele and Sons

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

Although he worked for such esteemed botanists as John Torrey and Asa Gray and artist Isaac Sprague, 19th century botanical artist, Joseph Prestele, is not well known. As a member of the Amana Society, Sprague did not sign his work, so it was often attributed to the printers who distributed it. The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation has prepared an exhibit of the life and work of Joseph Prestele and his three sons, Joseph Jr., Gottlieb and William Henry, who followed in their father's footsteps.

Continue reading "Joseph Prestele and Sons"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

In Search of Elephants in the Trees

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

The enduring presence and beauty of trees can inspire deep emotional connections to things and events that are part of our lives. Artists interpret the image of trees in many different ways; each finding a unique view to portray. Many artists capture the nature of the tree itself. Some artists use the natural forms of trees as a type of 'canvas' for their creativity.

Continue reading "In Search of Elephants in the Trees"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:17 PM | Comments (0)

Yahoo! Pick of the Day

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Botanical Resources

Once a day, Yahoo! editors pick one web site out of millions on the web as noteworthy.

On June 10, they picked UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research's Botany Photo of the Day: Yahoo! Picks - June 10, 2005 - Botany Photo of the Day.

While Botany Photo of the Day is a venture with participants from staff and researchers (read more about Botany PotD), it also owes much credit to two people: Tim Bray, who seeded the idea in a technology lunch we had at the garden; and Dr. Quentin Cronk, the garden's director, who has fostered a garden that allows seeds of ideas to grow.

If you agree with Yahoo! and think we're doing some noteworthy activities at UBC Botanical Garden, please consider reading Dr. Cronk's letter on the importance of plants and the role of botanical gardens.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:50 AM

The Unseen World of Plants

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

Modern technologies have expanded our view of the plant world. With magnification as high as 200,000x, scanning electron microscopes can transform the view of a grain of pollen from a simple speck to a highly-detailed textured form. Images produced this way reveal the unseen world of plants and with a bit of colourization become stunning 'botanical art'.

Continue reading "The Unseen World of Plants"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:56 PM

The Human Flower Project

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Botanical Resources , Sources of Botanical News

Flowers play an important role in the lives of people. They are prominent in art and cultural rituals; when words are inadequate, flowers help communicate feelings. Julie Ardery has created a website that tracks human involvement with flowers: the Human Flower Project.

Continue reading "The Human Flower Project"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:12 PM

Urban Plough

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

“In the 21st century, at the frontier, the urban and rural do not meet; they collide. My family has farmed the same land outside of Phoenix, Arizona for four generations and it will soon be developed. My art practice recounts my reactions to the changes in such landscapes, while also representing my attempts to reconcile the urban with the rural in times where many historical and cultural practices are in danger of being engulfed.”

So writes Matthew Moore, a modern American artist with an agricultural twist.

Link: Urban Plough, the art of Matthew Moore

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:24 AM

Lifelike Botanical Reproductions

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

The Field Museum displays one of the largest collections of plant models in the world. Plant models are crafted to exacting detail using a process developed at the museum.

Continue reading "Lifelike Botanical Reproductions"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:34 PM

The Art of Botanical Illustration

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

The Special Collections Department at the University of Delaware Library maintains a small site (from a 2001 exhibition) on the development of botanical illustration.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:45 AM

The History of the Flowerpot

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

An exhibit at the College of the Atlantic's Ethel H. Blum gallery presents the history of the flowerpot. Flowerpots made it possible to transport plants to new locations, provided a controlled environment for starting seeds and allowed tender plants to be grown indoors in northern areas. Although its history is associated with the development of horticulture, studies of the flowerpot have rarely been done.

Continue reading "The History of the Flowerpot"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:51 PM

Celebrate Biodiversity

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Plant Conservation

Celebrate Biodiversity is a group of biologists seeking to promote conservation of underappreciated species through awareness. The group develops attractive posters showcasing the diversity of organisms that deserve more attention.

Continue reading "Celebrate Biodiversity"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:45 PM

Scanners, Flowers and Art

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

Photographer Alex Waterhouse-Hayward is a supporter and good friend of UBC Botanical Garden (as an example, he donated his photographic talents as an item for the garden's recent Collectors' Plant Auction).

Alex has recently written an engaging article in The Tyee called Getting Rid of the Box. The piece details Alex's discovery and subsequent use of a flatbed scanner in producing digital images, accompanied with a brief history of photography and a small photo gallery of his work.

Continue reading "Scanners, Flowers and Art"

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:03 AM

Flower Mandalas

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

David J. Bookbinder, a Massachusetts artist, transforms images of flowers into mandalas. The results are visually arresting. The physical reality of the flower is maintained in the mandala, but manipulated to reveal new patterns “by painting with light”.

Continue reading "Flower Mandalas"

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 11:47 AM

Striking Images of Nature

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

Katinka Matson is a New York digital artist who produces incredibly detailed images of flowers and other natural objects using a conventional scanner. While most people think of flatbed scanners as useful devices for copying text or images from paper, Matson realized that the device was better at capturing depth than conventionally thought. This realization, combined with her aesthetics and sense of composition, results in striking images.

Continue reading "Striking Images of Nature"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:23 PM

Botanical Books Pillaged for Prints

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Other Botanical Gardens

Nicholas A. Basbanes, an author and obvious bibliophile, wrote a piece in The Boston Globe detailing the story of a book that was auctioned in New York and later discovered to have been destroyed for its illustrations.

Continue reading "Botanical Books Pillaged for Prints"

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:22 AM

Sydney Parkinson and the Endeavour Expedition

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Botanical Resources , Plant Explorers

The Natural History Museum of London, England has produced an excellent website devoted to the artwork of Sydney Parkinson. On a voyage of the HMS Endeavour (1768-1771) captained by James Cook and accompanied by Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, Sydney Parkinson illustrated 674 outline drawings and completed 269 paintings. Unfortunately, Parkinson died at sea during the voyage home, and his unpainted outline drawings were later completed by others.

Continue reading "Sydney Parkinson and the Endeavour Expedition"

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:13 PM

Using Chlorophyll as a Photographic Medium

Category(-ies): Botanical Art

Contemporary artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey use grass to make photographic images. The Artsadmin website suggests: "Processes of germination, growth, and decay shape and influence much of Ackroyd & Harvey's work, frequently reflecting both scientific and architectural concerns."

Continue reading "Using Chlorophyll as a Photographic Medium"

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:54 AM