Botaniko first met as a group in February 2014 and in the past ten years has publicly displayed nine annual exhibitions.
Selected artwork from all nine exhibitions is currently on display at the Kingston Library, 11 Hutchins Street, Kingston until 30 October 2024.
Back in February, Botaniko received an invitation from Dr Tanya Scharaschkin, botanist and artist, to once again visit her Collinsvale property for an informal workshop on the study of Myrtaceae.
This offer was accepted and on Tuesday, 28 March, six members visited Tanya’s studio where, through dissection, we delved into the Myrtaceae’s hidden structures, learnt new terminology and coding.
We all had an enjoyable day.
Botaniko’s 2022 annual exhibition Floral Splendour – Government House Garden recognises the plants of significance growing in the grounds of Government House, Hobart made possible with the kind permission of Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, Governor of Tasmania and Emeritus Professor Don Chalmers allowing access to the grounds during the year.
The exhibition will be displayed at the Morris Miller Library, University of Tasmania from Tuesday, 17 January to Wednesday, 15 February 2023. The works will subsequently be displayed at the Caretaker’s Cottage, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens from Tuesday, 21 February to Saturday, 11 March 2023. The Cottage will be open from 10.00am to 3.00pm daily.
Botaniko’s eighth annual exhibition focusses on the Gondwanan plants collected by Ken Gillanders OAM and his late wife Lesley during their trips to Chile as well as two species from Tasmania’s west coast.
The exhibition is currently displayed at the Channel Museum, 1755 Channel Highway, Margate until 25 February 2022. The Museum opening hours are 11.00am to 3.00pm, Sunday to Friday.
The Kingston Library is currently hosting the final display of Botaniko’s exhibition Discovering the Flora of Wind Song – Botanical Art and Science. This exhibition was first displayed in the Salon Gallery at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery from December 2020 to February this year.
In 2017 members of Botaniko accompanied botanists from the Tasmanian Herbarium, a division of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, on the Herbarium’s inaugural Expedition of Discovery to Wind Song, a 220 hectare former farming property, situated at Little Swanport on Tasmania’s east coast.
This exhibition, presenting styles of botanical art from watercolour to dyeing, highlights some of the flora of the region which is often not growing in public access areas.
The exhibition will be on display at the Library until 30 November 2021.
The works were exhibited at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) from the beginning of December 2020 to end of February 2021. It then moved to the Village Gallery in Triabunna until the beginning of May. Since then, it has been on display at the Morris Miller Library, UTAS campus, Sandy Bay. The works will be exhibited at the Kettering Chamber Music concert on Sunday August 22, and will then move to the Art Lounge, at West Winds, in Woodbridge, Southern Tasmania.
Botaniko members continue to work towards their next exhibition, scheduled for display in February 2022. With the kind permission of Harry and Kerry van den Berg of Woodbank Gardens at Longley , members meet fortnightly to draw and paint from the extensive list of Gondwana plants collected in South America by Ken Gillanders OAM and his late wife Lesley. We are grateful to Harry and Kerry for the use of their glasshouse and cabin, depending on the weather, to meet and the opportunity to roam the gardens. Our knowledge of these plants are enhanced by the occasional visit by Ken and every fortnight by Jenny Skinner, a volunteer at the Gardens. We never know what the conditions will be like but the gardens, regardless of the weather, never ceases to impress. There’s always something new to discover.
Roses – Watercolour by Jenny Phillips
The Advanced Botanical Art Workshop planned for October 2020, will now take place in February 2021. Click on Workshop of the website for details and registration.
The situation we, and the world, are currently experiencing has had an effect on Botaniko.
We last met as a group was on Wednesday, 18 March. At that time our latest exhibition Frederick Mackie – Quaker Plantsman was on display at the East Coast Heritage Museum at Swansea and we were working on our next project Windsong with the Tasmanian Herbarium.The Frederick Mackie exhibition has now been transported back to Hobart and is awaiting installation at the Morris Miller Library, University of Tasmania. We’re still working on our next exhibition Windsong which has been deferred and, at this stage, will be exhibited in the Salon Gallery, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery from 4 December 2020.
With the Premier’s announcement that our border will remain closed until December, the workshop we had scheduled for October with Jenny Phillips from Melbourne has been postponed. Details will be available on this site when the workshop can go ahead.