Plantae 2025

It is the 40th anniversary of the Society of Botanical Artists. They held their exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. I sat with my cappuccino and delicious cake, surrounded by these masterpieces; the best café view ever?

Amazingly, I have never seen botanical art in any form other than print or online. It was therefore a massive treat for me to visit. I was gripped from the moment I arrived. Like many others, I was scrutinising the pictures as close as I could get. How could they achieve such detail? It was stunning work.

At least one of these in my picture is in coloured pencil. I wonder if you can tell which it is.

Another huge joy for me was that, in my opinion, the coloured pencil work (a relatively new medium) was equal to and at times even better than the established watercolour pictures. The detail and depth of colour was impressive. I overheard someone looking at one at suggesting it couldn't only be in pencil. 'Yes is could!' I wanted to shout. This has greatly inspired and encouraged me to work even harder at my hobby. 

Just to round off the day, I popped into the National Gallery before coming home.