The Latest News and Updates from BSBA
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,...
May 18th – Botanical Art Worldwide Day
🌿 This month, we stepped away from our usual gathering at Stirchley Baths to attend the Worldwide Botanical Art event at Birmingham’s RBSA Gallery. The exhibition was the culmination of three years of dedicated planning, with BSBA members playing a key role on the steering committee. Funded by the James and Shirley Sherwood Foundation, the event was led by Association of Botanical Artists President Elaine Allison and brought together...
June 15th – AGM/Garima Dhawan
Following our AGM, members enjoyed a relaxed buffet lunch before settling in for an inspiring talk by Warwickshire-based artist Garima Dhawan. Garima is a surface pattern designer and licensing artist with a background in art and printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design in the US. Her work, rooted in the vibrancy of botanical forms brought to life through the collage technique, a process she describes as taking things apart and...
Spetchley Florilegium Society Exhibition
April 20th Meeting – Calligraphy Workshop with Maureen Hallahan
Attending Maureen Hallahan's calligraphy workshop on italics was an inspiring and enjoyable experience. The workshop began with a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental strokes and techniques that define italic calligraphy. Watching Maureen's deft hand and sweeping pen strokes was mesmerising as she brought the art of italic script to life. Maureen's ability to break down each letter of the alphabet into manageable steps made the...
March 15th Meeting – Lucy Smith Pen and Ink Workshop
I attended the workshop on 16th March with Lucy Smith where she showed us examples of the botanical illustrations she had produced for Kew Gardens and how she had illustrated a book on Palms which took over 10 years to publish. She provided pre-drawn examples of a flower and viburnum, which we traced onto Bristol board to practice the techniques she used. Lucy explained and demonstrated the techniques she uses to obtain an accurate line...
Botanical Art Worldwide Exhibition
An exhibition focused on biodiversity celebrating the crops that havebeen closely associated with the human species over thousands of years
January 2025 Meeting – Emma Tildesley
On Sunday, 19th January, the Society had the pleasure of hosting Emma Tildesley, an SBA Fellow and St Cuthberts Mill Ambassador. She led a fantastic workshop all about creating glossy leaves using coloured pencils—it was a treat for everyone involved! Before the session, members were given reference materials to get started, and during the workshop, Emma showed her brilliant layering techniques, shared her favourite tools, and took the time to...
November Meeting – Painting Sprouts with Laura Silburn
On Sunday, I attended the Watercolour Workshop on Christmas sprouts with botanical artist, Laura Silburn. It was very enjoyable and informative, with many examples of Laura's work and information about colour mixing; especially greens. As well as giving us plenty of information and demonstrating to the group, Laura spent much time giving guidance to individual members. As a new member with little experience of botanical work, I found this...
October Meeting – Guy William Eves
Guy is a very accomplished graphite artist who said, "He had drawing in his blood from a very early age." Our project for the day was to draw a curly autumn leaf. He talked about the benefits of using the right paper and why he uses certain pencils. He also demonstrated his graphite techniques for achieving his darkest and lightest values and working the finest detail into his drawings. Thank you, Guy, for sharing your knowledge with us. I can...
September Meeting – Coloured Pencil Workshop with Janie Pirie
This Sunday we were very fortunate to take part in a coloured pencil workshop run by the very accomplished artist Janie Pirie. Janie has had a long career in the creative industries but has since specialised in Botanical Art with coloured pencils - earning herself two RHS Gold Medals and many other accolades. Just recently (2019) Janie has published her own book of roses - Rosa, a life of roses, which really shows off her stunning work. The...