The Latest News and Updates from BSBA
July Meeting – Copperplate Calligraphy
With Maureen Hallahan This month we were delighted to welcome calligrapher Maureen Hallahan back to lead a beautifully paced workshop on copperplate calligraphy. Copperplate, long admired for its elegance, has a rich history in botanical illustration; its name originates from the traditional technique of etching designs onto copper plates for printmaking. Maureen guided us patiently through each stage of forming the letters, beginning with...
Visit to the Ashmolean Museum
July 11th 2026 Last weekend, a group of 14 BSBA members visited In Bloom at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, and we thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition Although a great deal of history was gathered into just a few rooms, it was beautifully presented and clearly created with great care and attention to detail. The role of plants and flowers in the world is vast, and the exhibition touched on so many facets: medicinal, economic, domestic, artistic,...
June Meeting – Shadow Colour Workshop with Laura Silburn
Everything we paint on a 2D surface needs shadow to create the optical illusion of a 3D image. Laura explained that shadows vary depending on the colour. Every object has a main colour plus lighter and darker tones. The first exercise involved adding Neutral Tint at various concentrations to each primary colour. This created a range of shadow colours. The exercise was then repeated, but the opposite colour on the colour wheel was added to...
April Meeting at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens
For April’s meeting, we visited the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for the Daffodil Society Show — who knew there were so many different varieties, shapes and colours of daffodils! We also had a stand in the Mediterranean House, promoting the Society and showcasing our members’ many talents. Lots of visitors stopped to chat and admire the work. It did get a little warm in there, but it gave us the perfect excuse to wander over to the Medicine...
February Meeting – Carol Gordon – Working with Tone and Spring Colour
Carol's watercolour workshop focuses on tone. She stressed the importance of considering tone and shadow to give the subject depth and realism. Carol demonstrated building up shadow areas first, then applied the colour She was very generous with her knowledge of watercolour, making us feel relaxed about approaching watercolour this way. We came away with the knowledge of a different technique for applying shadow to our botanical paintings Many...
January 2026 Meeting
We had a wonderful turnout for our first meeting of the year, despite the wind and rain. It was a dedicated painting day, with members bringing along their current projects to work on and to exchange tips and ideas. We also introduced our first ‘Painting Surgery’, where Jeni offered one‑to‑one guidance on works in progress. A new addition that proved very popular.
2025 Christmas Meeting
Sunday, the 14th of December, was our final meeting of the year, and what a lovely day it was. Members brought along a wonderful mix of artwork. From felting and quilting to silverpoint, printing, portraits, oil painting, bookbinding, and photography. Such talent in the room. We rounded it all off with a cheerful game of pass the parcel with arty prizes and a delicious lunch.
November 16th Meeting – Painting on Vellum
with Jeni Neale Jeni began the session with a wonderfully comprehensive introduction to vellum. She explained the three different types, guided us through preparing the surface, demonstrated painting techniques and brushwork, and even showed us how to lift off watercolour when needed. Thoughtfully, she had prepared detailed handouts so we could revisit the information at home. Her generosity in sharing her knowledge and demonstrating her skills...
October Meeting – Exploring Botanical Gelli Plate Printing with Lynsey Cleaver
Lynsey proved to be a fun tutor, whose enthusiasm for her subject inspired us all. We were given everything we needed to explore and push the boundaries, creating amazing pieces of printed art. She confessed to having raided her garden (plus an early morning forage of her neighbours front gardens) to bring LOADS of twigs, leaves of every size and shape, seedheads and dried grasses which we arranged on the gelli plate to print negative...
September Meeting – Painting Day
This month, we were treated to a fascinating demo from Mo Awkati, who showed us how proportional dividers can be used in our work. Thank you, Mo! This is very useful to know when scaling measurements up and down in botanical art and illustration. After lunch, we returned to our own pieces, which is always a great time to catch up with others and swap tips about the tools and techniques we’re exploring. Mo Awkati Happy members! Manjit...
August Workshop – Silverpoint Drawing Workhop with Lynn Hughes
Lynn's beautiful array of detailed Silver Point sketchbooks provided insight and inspiration into this unique craft. In particular, the illustrations of her granddaughters which were ethereal and delicate. The workshop was well organised. We enjoyed the potted history of Silver Point and the opportunity to look at an assortment of books on display to explore the subject in more detail. We were given a thoughtful selection of materials:...
July 20th – Billy Showell
Billy’s workshop was an absolute delight. From the moment we began, her generosity, patience, and skill were evident and deeply appreciated. I’ll admit, my own paintings on the day had a touch of “what on earth am I doing?” about them, as if I’d forgotten every brushstroke I’d ever learned! But what could have felt disheartening quickly became inspiring. Billy has this gentle magic of helping you see potential where you saw disaster. Somehow,...