BOTANICAL ART TALKS
Meet the artists behind the art, as they talk through
favourite botanical art projects or techniques.
These one-hour online talks, started during the Pandemic, aim to connect those inspired by botanical art at every level, whether beginner or professional artist. Presentations (delivered via Zoom) are richly illustrated with examples of artwork and/or technique demonstrations, followed by the opportunity for Q&A. Every talk is unique in style, reflecting the personality and interests of each artist.
Scroll down to see upcoming speakers. Book to either watch live, giving you the opportunity to interact with the speaker, or to watch a recording during the following week. (You can view short extracts from previous talks, and full-length Best Bits videos HERE).
Book more than one month in advance for a 25% discount. Further discounts are available to newsletter subscribers.
Please read notes below or see comprehensive frequently-asked-questions HERE
24 April 2025 - 7pm BST
GOUACHE PAINTING
Simon Williams
Simon will be giving an illustrated talk and live demonstration on painting using gouache. The talk will cover the pros and cons of working with an opaque medium. Highs and lows of how to paint well and fix problems.
Simon Williams is one of the UK’s leading botanical artists and tutors with many professional accomplishments. Simon works as a freelance tutor offering workshops to some of the main Botanical Societies and Florilegium’s in the UK as well as running his own 12-month course program in botanical painting.
Simon is also the Course Director and moderator for the Society of Botanical Artists and an RHS Gold Medalist.
£12 (£9 if booked before 24th March)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
15 May 2025 - 7pm BST
LOOKING BACK TO OUR FUTURE
Botanical Art Worldwide 2025 - UK (excluding Scotland)
This talk will focus on the UK’s (excluding Scotland) contribution to the BAWW 2025 event, when 35 countries will simultaneously hold botanical art exhibitions. Entitled ‘Looking Back for Our Future’, the exhibition to be held in Birmingham, focuses on crop diversity and the need to maintain a wide gene pool of crops into the future.
So what challenges did artists face when creating exciting and varied botanical art for this exhibition, within very structured guidelines? In this talk you will hear some background to the show and meet several of the exhibiting artists, as they tell the stories behind their beautiful images.
We are grateful for the support from The James and Shirley Sherwood Foundation which has enabled us to reach out more widely to botanical artists.
Artwork by Carmen Lyons
£12 (£9 if booked before 15th April)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
29 May 2025 - 7pm BST
BOTANICAL STORIES
Laurence Hill
What stories do you tell with your botanical art? Laurence reflects on the narratives embedded in his work; how his ideas are conceived, the science that will support the artistic concepts, planning and logistics, gathering the images and finally assembling and presenting the work.
For more than 20 years Laurence Hill has interrogated the botanical image; from documenting plants online, exploring compositional styles, and raising plant awareness through lectures and exhibitions. His hybrid practice employs digital photography, postproduction software, hand drawn element using a graphic pad and pen, as well as archival material.
£12 (£9 if booked before 29 April).
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
12 June 2025 - 7pm BST
HARMONIC SHADOWS
Sandrine Maugy
If you have difficulties finding a good way to portray tone and you tend to end up with subjects that lack depth or look muddy, come and discover this innovative alternative to the elusive “botanical grey”. Using combinations of primary colours and using a simple layering grisaille technique, Sandrine Maugy will show you how to paint clean shadows that will give depth to your work without spoiling the vibrancy and glow of your colours. Suitable for all media.
Sandrine’s painting style captures the pure, vibrant colours of nature using wet-in-wet watercolour washes, giving this traditional style a contemporary twist. She is a fellow member of the Society of Botanical Artists and the French Society of Botanical Illustration and her work hangs in collections in Europe, Australia and the United States. Sandrine has written two books on botanical illustration and, in 2023, Daniel Smith Watercolors released the Sandrine Maugy Palette.
£12 (£9 if booked before 12 May)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
26 June 2025 - 7pm BST
#FLORILEGIA
Emma van Klaveren
Florilegia began to flourish in the early 17th century when new plants were imported from overseas and botanical artists were employed to paint them. Emma van Klaveren takes a deep dive into the history of these fascinating groups of artists over the last four hundred years, the gardens that accompany them, and the role Florilegia have in society today.
Botanical artist Emma gained her degree in Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London, then worked as a Decorative Artist and Muralist, an Art teacher at primary schools and now as a Botanical Artist. With a Diploma from The Chelsea School of Botanical Art, she paints plants for private clients, brands, publications and exhibitions. She is a Painting Member of The Chelsea Physic Garden Florilegium Society, a Fellow of The Society of Botanical Artists (SBA),The Association of Botanical Artists (ABA), The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) and Amicus Botanicus.
£12 (£9 if booked before 26 May)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
JULY - DECEMBER TALKS
Monday 21 July 2025 - 7pm GMT
RHS BOTANICAL ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW
Charlotte Brooks
This is the fifth year the RHS has partnered with the Saatchi Gallery, London and once again botanical artists from across the globe come together to showcase the very best in contemporary practice. Charlotte will talk through what goes into making the RHS Botanical Art & Photography Show from the initial selection meeting, discussions with artists, through to the private view and awards ceremony. With contributions from exhibiting artists.
Charlotte Brooks is the Art Curator at the RHS Lindley Library, where she has worked with the botanical art collections since 2003. She also serves as Secretary for the RHS Botanical Art Judging Panel and co-curates the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show, currently held at the Saatchi Gallery in London. She has published numerous articles and two books about
Botanical Illustration.
Nelumbo nucifera, Early Summer ©Kyoko Uchiyama
£12 (£9 if booked before 21 June) .
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Monday after the live event.
31 July 2025 - 7pm BST
ORCHIDS AND POLLINATORS
Daleen Roodt
From mimicry and deception to lure by colour and scent… discover the fascinating methods cleverly employed by South African orchids to attract their sole pollinators in pristine natural environments. Join Daleen’s journey over rocky mountains and through sweltering valleys, in her quest to find the rare and endangered orchids that inspired her 2024 award-winning RHS exhibition.
Starting in 2008 with freelance scientific illustration, Daleen Roodt is a self-taught botanical artist who specialises in indigenous orchids of South Africa. She has a passion for painting outdoors and portraying in situ scenes. Daleen's work is featured in the Shirley Sherwood Collection as well as the Grootbos Florilegium. In 2024 her RHS exhibition received a Gold Medal, Best on Show and People’s Choice Award, and she received Best in Show at ASBA’s 27th Annual International Exhibition.
£12 (£9 if booked before 30 June)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
21 August 2025 - 7pm BST
CAPTIVATING CONTRASTS
Sue Wickison
Come on a journey from Oman to New Zealand where Sue will take you inside a date palm fruit, magnified 16 times life-size, to discover the beauty and challenges of the contrasts within. She will discuss the colours used to capture the delicate whites through to the deepest dark browns. From crispy paper textures to juicy highlighted flesh, so tempting to eat! Learn about the use of masking fluid and enjoy observing the minute details.
Sue trained as a Scientific Illustrator and to-date has exhibited internationally, won awards and has work in important collections. Sue’s major project Plants of the Qur’ān opened for a 5-month solo show at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery in 2023 after an 8 year journey of travel to complete the 30 large paintings . In conjunction with Kew botanist Dr Shahina Ghazanfar, their book 'Plants of the Qur’an, History and Culture' is now in its 4th re-print. Sue was given the Gill Smythies award for outstanding diagnostic illustrations in botanical art from the Linnean Society in 2024 .
£12 (£9 if booked before 21 July)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
11 September 2025 - 7pm BST
SEEING NATURE BY DRAWING
Vlada Repina
How can a simple pencil sketch capture the essence of a plant? In this talk, Vlada will share how she explores this question through her Botanical Diary, where each illustration tells a story of nature’s beauty and complexity. Specializing in graphite, she will describe her focus on the texture, form, and fine details that make each plant unique.
Vlada is a botanical artist from Ukraine, specializing in detailed botanical illustrations using graphite pencils. She graduated from the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture, Department of Graphic Arts. In addition to her work as an illustrator, she teaches the fundamentals of drawing, digital graphics, and classical painting. Vlada also shares her artistic journey through content creation, inspiring others to explore the beauty of nature through art.
£12 (£9 if booked before 11 August)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
25 September 2025 - 7pm BST
FROM CHALLENGE TO CHILL...
Mary Dillon
Join Mary as she tells the story of two quite different paintings from her residency in the inspiring Oak Spring Garden Foundation. One pushed Mary out of her comfort zone and the other brought solace as she returned to it at the end of each day. Mary will share her motivation, her challenges and the wet, damp and dry watercolour painting techniques she used to create these two paintings.
Mary has a fascination for botanical art as a personal process while at the same time striving for excellence in her art practice. Her work can be found in the collection of Dr. Shirley Sherwood and in the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh. Mary’s work was awarded ‘Best in Show’ at the American Society of Botanical Artists 25th International Exhibition in New York. She exhibits her work widely and enjoys encouraging others to share her love for painting and plants through her teaching.
£12 (£9 if booked before 25 August).
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
9 October 2025 - 7pm BST
LEAVES ON VELLUM
Isabel Mischka
Leaves are such a basic part of botanical art and often put aside as an annoying and complicated accessory that one has to deal with so they can get back to more exciting parts, such as fruits or flowers. But over the years Isabel fell more and more in love with how simple yet intricate they are – a love that she wants to share in this talk. Isabel talks about how she finds inspiration, prepares and mounts her vellum as well as her way of mixing and
applying color.
Isabel Mischka is a botanical artist and teacher from Austria. A background in both fine art and agriculture led to her interest in botanical illustration. Her work centers around capturing the essence of plants in watercolor by focusing on the tiny details often overlooked in everyday live. She is also the founder of “KREATIVStudio SÜD”, a space for botanical art and illustration classes in Austria.
£12 (£9 if booked before 9 September)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
23 October 2025 - 7pm BST
SCRATCHBOARD DRAMA
Rhonda Nass
Once a childhood activity, today's scratchboard artists have catapulted the medium's design, techniques, tools and final artwork quality to a professional level, with works welcomed by the fine art world. Rhonda will introduce contemporary scratchboard masters, share her own work, and reveal through demonstrations how contrasts in lighting, values, shapes, planes and textures created in scratchboard produces a drama in black and white which holds its own among any colour medium.
Rhonda's high school art teacher's declaration, "You could never be an artist" was the impetus needed to begin a career in the field of art. A day after earning her Bachelor of Science in the Arts, she married Rick Nass, a fellow art student, and the following year birthed Ampersand, their illustration/art studio (now approaching its 50th year). Rhonda has self-published two books with her drawings and paintings held in private, corporate and international museum collections.
£12 (£9 if booked before 23 September)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
6 November 2025 - 7pm GMT
PLANTS WITH ATMOSPHERE
Alice Rosa
Through her botanical portraits, Alice encourages viewers to experience plants from new perspectives. In this talk, she will share her progress on a recent artwork, with a particular focus on creating depth through atmospheric perspective. She will explain how her work as an art conservator influences her approach and her coloured pencil techniques.
Alice Rosa is a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists in London. Her work has been exhibited in London, San Francisco, Boston and other locations across the USA. She graduated with distinction from the Distance Learning Diploma Course of the Society of Botanical Artists. Alice was born and raised in Italy. She has a degree in foreign languages and literature from the University of Verona. She also holds a degree in art conservation from IVBC in Venice, where she specialized in the restoration of polychrome wood sculptures and paintings on panel. She currently lives in Concord, MA.
£12 (£9 if booked before 6 October )
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
20 November 2025 - 7pm GMT
THE BOTANICAL ART
OF MARY DELANY
Deborah Lambkin
In the last two decades of her life, Mrs Delany (1700 – 1788) created almost 1000 iconic botanical images. Distinctive, brightly coloured, intricately detailed collages on black backgrounds, her cutouts have continued to inspire artists ever since. Deborah will talk about the techniques, materials and methods thought to have been used by Mrs Delany. She will also closely examine some pieces of Mrs Delany’s work, to further explain their compositions, accuracy and aesthetic qualities.
Deborah works on a freelance basis for the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. She has been Orchid Artist to the Royal Horticultural Society since 2005 and is on the RHS Picture Advisory Panel.
In 2021 Deborah was awarded the Jill Smythies Award for excellence in scientific botanical illustration and in 2020 she received the Margaret Flockton Award 1st Prize. She is a fellow of Linnean Society of London.
£12 (£9 if booked before 20 October)
Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
11 December 2025 - 7pm GMT
ARTISTS TOGETHER
hosted by Julia Trickey
Three leading botanical artists compare notes on subjects such as recent projects, favourite tools, dealing with mistakes and top tips for students of botanical art.
SARAH MORRISH is an artist, tutor, naturalist and author who works in a range of media illustrating many aspects of the natural world and the surrounding environment.
LIZZIE HARPER is a freelance commercial botanical and natural history illustrator with a passion for the natural world and a real love for her work.
CHRISTINE FASHEK is a coloured pencil artist whose recent work focuses on enlarged lichens and fungi.
£12 (£9 if booked before 11 November)
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Recording is available to view or revisit until the Thursday.after the live event.
NOTES
• Talks are delivered via Zoom Webinars (You will not be seen or heard, but you can write comments or questions via a Q&A box.).
• Talks are recorded and available to view or revisit until the following Thursday, making the talks accessible, regardless of your time zone or other commitments.
• Captions are available for the hard-of-hearing and, if watching live, in a range of languages.
• There is a 25% discount if you book more than a month in advance.
• You can cancel your registration at any time before the date of the talk.
• @botanicalarttalks is now on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, highlighting the artwork of BAT speakers past and future.
More Frequently Asked Questions HERE
PREVIOUS SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Julia Trickey, Elaine Searle, Laura Silburn, Sarah Gould, Mary Dillon, Ann Swan, Helen Allen, Transylvania School f Botanic Art, Martin Allen, Işik Güner, Sue Wickison, Deborah Lambkin, Lucy T Smith, Simon Williams, Carol Woodin, Chris Thorogood, Sarah Jane Humphrey, Rui Jiang, RHS Show exhibitors, Carrie Di Costanzo, Sarah Morrish, Mariella Baldwin, Katherine Tyrrell, Yanny Petters, Lara Call Gastinger, Gill Condy, Rogerio Lupo, Janie Pirie, Pamela Taylor, Penny Brown, Julia Patience. Eden Project Florilegium Society. John Pastoriza-Piñol, Wendy Hollender, Shevaun Doherty, Esmée Winkel, Margaret Saylor, Denise Walsar-Kolar, Asuka Hishiki, Bridget Gillespie, Bobbi Angell, Ùrsula Romero, Christiane Fashek, Mindy Lighthipe, Crystal Shin, Susannah Blaxill, Roger Reynolds (IAPI), Helen Cousins, François Sockhom Mey, Sandrine Maugy, Guy Eves, Billy Showell, Sharon Field. Charlotte Brooks.