Discover the stunning entries celebrating the beauty of plant life for the RHS Botanical Art and Photography Show 2026, at the Saatchi Gallery, London
Meet the botanical art exhibitors and explore their entries for the 2026 competition:
Botanical ArtTILLANDSIA
Mariko Aikawa took up botanical painting in 2004, following a career as a translator/interpreter at an embassy in Tokyo. She is a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists and has exhibited with them on numerous occasions. Having an immense enthusiasm for Tillandsia, this is the third series Mariko has shown with the RHS. She now teaches several classes at the Centre International Culture School in Chiba, Japan.
Botanical artAFTER THE FIRE
Jenny Bache has drawn plants since childhood. After raising four children, doing church community work and special needs teaching, she earned a distinction Diploma in Botanical Illustration at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. From her Wirral Eco-Studio, she teaches botanical painting and continues exploring and celebrating unusual and rare plants and fungi through her detailed observational work.
Botanical artTREE FUNGUS
Bernard Carter is a self-taught botanical artist living in West Cornwall. After a scholarship to the Joseph Wright School of Art, he trained as a photographer, which endowed him with an eye for detail. He has run several studios including at Land’s End and Morwellham Quay, prior to his publishing debut in 1990. He produced 378 watercolours for The Floral Birthday Book.
Botanical art100 WILDFLOWERS OF JEJU ISLAND, KOREA
Born in South Korea, Hyunjin Cho is a botanical artist who observes and documents the wildflowers native to Jeju Island. She focuses on seasonal and endangered species, combining scientific accuracy with a contemplative visual approach. She has received multiple international awards. Her works are held in permanent collections including at the RHS, the Shirley Sherwood Collection and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, USA.
Botanical artASCLEPIAS SPECIES: MILKWEEDS OF THE U.S. GREAT PLAINS REGION
Living in Colorado, USA, Mary Crabtree came to botanical art following a career in science. She has studied at the Denver Botanic Gardens and with master botanical artists worldwide. Her preferred medium is watercolour on vellum, with a focus on illustrating native plants. Mary’s artwork has been exhibited internationally and won several awards.
Botanical artPRE-RAIN FLOWERS OF THE LAKENVLEI FOREST RESERVE, SOUTH AFRICA
Gillian Condy was employed at the National Herbarium, Pretoria for 35 years as an artist. Her work features in The Highgrove Florilegium and Transylvania Florilegium supported by King Charles III. Gillian has contributed to the Sydney Florilegium and Botanic Endeavour – Banks and Solander Collection in Australia and South Africa's Grootbos Florilegium. She curated the Botanical Art Worldwide exhibits for South Africa in 2018 and 2025.
Botanical artACER PSEUDOPLATANUS: THE MOST COMMON DISEASE SYMPTOMS IN SWITZERLAND
After completing high school with a focus on art, Vivanne Dubach studied environmental science and graduated in forest science. She now works as a forest pathologist for the Swiss Forest Protection Group at the Swiss Federal Research Institute of Forest, Snow and Landscape. Her work with fungal tree diseases allows her to combine her passion for art and science as a botanical artist.
Botanical artRAUCOUS GLAUCOUS: LICHENS OF TEXAS HILL COUNTRY 16X
Christiane Fashek is a New York City-based botanical artist specialising in lichens and plants rendered in coloured pencil. Christiane is an instructor and her award-winning work regularly appears in exhibitions. Raucous Glaucous was partially funded by a 2024 Society of Botanical Artists Fellow Grant.
Botanical art‘ROOTS’ – FROM MY GARDEN
Norma Gregory loved to draw from an early age. She trained as a teacher and later went on to obtain a post-graduate Diploma in Adult Education from Leeds University. Following which, she spent many years organising courses for adults, including inmates in HM Prisons. Self-taught as an artist, over the last 20 years she has concentrated on botanical illustration, with her works exhibited locally and internationally.
Botanical artROSACEA
Kati Haajanen studied watercolour painting as part of a Diploma in Painting and Printmaking at Heatherleys School of Fine Art, followed by botanical illustration classes with Claire Dalby. Her botanical art has been included in the books Hidden Histories of Trees and Hidden Histories of Herbs. Her other illustrations can be found in range of publications including children’s stories and educational books.
Botanical artFYNBOS DIVERSITY OF THE COASTAL LIMESTONES ON GROOTBOS
After years as a graphic designer, Jenny Hyde-Johnson began botanical painting. Her works have since been exhibited worldwide and she has received many international and local awards. Jenny’s paintings are featured in numerous publications and held in the Shirley Sherwood Collection, Grootbos Florilegium South Africa, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation and Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum both in the USA, and other collections worldwide.
Botanical artA STUDY OF SIX SAGES
Yolande Muschamp lives and works in South Gloucestershire. She is a retired art teacher and academic, and a member of the Thornbury Art Association and the Gloucestershire Society of Botanical Illustration.
Botanical artIRIS PSEUDACORUS: BEAUTY AND RESILIENCE IN CONNECTICUT WETLANDS
Irina Neacşu is a botanical artist and art history researcher, currently pursuing a PhD at the Art University in Bucharest. She is a Fulbright grantee at Yale University's History of Art Department and a researcher at the National Museum of Art in Bucharest. Her work focuses on cultural and natural history, blending material and visual cultures with multidisciplinary research methods.
Botanical artGRASSES OF THE GREATER TÂRNAVA VALLEY, SOUTHERN TRANSYLVANIA
Sally Pond studied for her Diploma in Botanical Art at the English Gardening School and graduated with distinction in 2011. She is now an established artist and teacher in Salisbury and exhibits regularly. Sally is a Fellow of the Society of Botanical Artists and tutor on their Distance Learning Diploma Course. She is also a member of Southwest Society of Botanical Artists, Association of Botanical Artists and Amicus Botanicus.
Botanical artMUSHROOMS THAT OCCUR IN WAKAYAMA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
Yoko Sasaki worked for a time at a small botanical garden in Japan. She has received multiple Director's Awards at the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo for the Botanical Drawing Competition. Her artwork of Eupatorium japonicum was published in the Curtis’s Botanical Magazine in 2024.
Botanical artAESCULUS SPECIES OF EASTERN UNITED STATES
Keiko Nibu Tarver retired from working in paediatrics and began learning botanical art in Philadelphia, USA under Linda Gist in 2012. She has exhibited at shows of the American Society of Botanical Artists and at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. She was a Botanical Artist in Residence at Oak Spring Garden Foundation in 2022. She now lives in Fukuoka, Japan.
Botanical ArtWAXCAP FUNGI OF THE LAWNS OF HOPETOUN HOUSE, EDINBURGH
With a background in Ecology (MSc in Forest Science), Fran Thomas went on to gain a Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Distinction). She has exhibited widely in Scotland and won the Mary Mendum Medal at BISCOT in 2017. Fran’s mission is to show the beauty of native plants from Scotland’s unique wild habitats.
Botanical artGENTIANACEAE SURVIVING IN JAPANESE MOUNTAINS
Masako Watanabe was first inspired by the botanical art she saw at Royal Botanic Garden Kew. While teaching at the local junior high school, she started to study botanical art. Masako loves to walk in mountains. In 2023, she won the Minister of Education Award at the 39th Botanical Art Competition at the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.
Botanical artASARUM SPECIES OF JAPAN
Eriko Yamada has practiced botanical art for 40 years, depicting wildflowers, wetland plants, ferns, mosses and medicinal plants. She enjoys creating anatomical and enlarged drawings based on stereo-microscope observation, as well as field studies. Eriko conducts workshops at botanical gardens and other venues, and she has received awards including the Director’s Prize of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, Japan (1996).
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