Inspiring events at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art 

By: The Gallery Team - 26/10/2010

This year we have had a number of successful events in the the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. During our exhibition ‘Old and New South American Botanical Art’ we had Kew artist Stuart Simler working with us. Stuart devised a South American landscape inspired by the paintings from the two collections which we had on display in the gallery - the Mutis Collection and the Sherwood Collection. Following on from this Stuart hosted a workshop which involved participants of all ages working collaboratively to create a large scale piece. Stuart took advantage of the gallery's glass frontage to display this work so that the light shone through creating a great effect.

In addition to Stuart's work with us, Dr. Shirley Sherwood visited the gallery in July to give a talk about the exhibition and to take part in a book signing event. This was well attended by people who were keen to hear about the works on display. 

The piece created as part of Stuart Simler's workshop on display in the gallery 

In August this year, we installed the new exhibition in the gallery ‘Bulbmania - Flowers from the Kew Collection’ alongside ‘Portraits of a Garden’ from the Brooklyn Florilegium Society and Dr Sherwood’s ‘Hidden Treasure’ exhibition. We opened this exhibition with another workshop from Stuart Simler, who continued the theme of his previous workshop. However, on this occasion he used Kew as the backdrop to a landscape of bulbous plants. Children and adults alike had the opportunity to develop their work individually again, finally creating a large scale piece with the Temperate House and the Treetop Walkway as inspiration. 

The piece created during Stuart Simler's second workshop with the public 

In September, Kew held its first book launch in the gallery, with botanical artist Billy Showell introducing her new book ‘A to Z of Flower Portraits’. This was a very successful event with many people coming to the Gardens specifically to see Billy. A few weeks later, we followed up on this success with the launch of Wendy Hollender’s book ‘Botanical Drawing in Color’. Wendy, who has her work on display in the gallery, also gave visitors a demonstration of her technique. Wendy is a member of the Brooklyn Florilegium Society and unusually creates her works using colour pencils. 

Botanical artist Billy Showell launching her new book: 'A to Z of Flower Portraits' in the gallery

Throughout the year we have also had the Conservators from the Marianne North Studio delivering their monthly talks. These take place on the fourth Friday of every month. The next is on Friday 26 November, and will be held in the gallery itself. The Conservators give visitors the opportunity to see the tools they use in their role, along with some of the original works they are conserving. Visitors can ask questions and learn more about the conservation process and Marianne North herself.

We are always developing new ideas and events for the gallery. We post details on the Kew website and on the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art webpage. Alternatively for more details on any upcoming events please telephone the gallery on 0208 332 3622 or email: shirleysherwoodgallery@kew.org.
 

- Jessica, Joanne & Sian -

Further information

• Find out more about the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.
• Discover more about the current exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery: ‘Bulbmania - Flowers from the Kew Collection’.
• Learn more about the Marianne North Gallery and the Marianne North paintings conservation work taking place.
• Discover how you can play a part in safeguarding the future of each Marianne North painting. 

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