Missing the colours and textures of your garden in the gray depths of winter? Without leaving your cozy seat indoors, you can take a trip on your tablet or computer to the website of the Society of Botanical Artists, based in the UK. Established in 1985, the Society of Botanical Artists highlights the work of practitioners in this specialized area of art and promotes “the protection, appreciation, conservation and nurture of plants and natural habitats of plant life with special reference to endangered species.” Source: SBA website: https://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/about/about-the-society/
The works of the Society’s member artists are featured under the “Artists” tab (note that you can expand the artist lists by clicking “View All Artists” at the bottom of the screen and then choosing individual names): https://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/artists/
Among the artists featured, Dianne Frank grew up in Canada and lived here until relocating to Oxford from Vancouver in 2001: https://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/artist/dianne-frank/ And Indonesian artist Eunike Nugroho’s artwork was featured on Canada Post’s 2018 “Spring” stamps: https://www.soc-botanical-artists.org/artist/eunike-nugroho/
Closer to home, the Ottawa Society of Botanical Artists is an active organization, putting on botanical art exhibitions at the Museum of Nature and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum and publishing an annual calendar. Check out their “galleries” section here: https://ottawasocietyofbotanicalartists.ca/galleries
Their “Botanica” section is a treasure trove of Ontario native plants (and some familiar non-natives, including an elegant coloured pencil depiction of orange ditch lilies by artist Jan Salmon).
Enjoy the colourful gardens on your screen created by the highly skilled craftspeople of botanical art!
Article by Kat Kinch