VIRTUAL ART GALLERY ARCHIVE 2023

17 years after his death the Maclaurin Gallery Is delighted to present a wide selection of work from this Scottish artist.

This exhibition, across all four main galleries of the Maclaurin, has attracted entries from all over the United Kingdom and features over 400 works by members and open entrants, including many well known Scottish artists. This is the first time the Institute will exhibit outside its home town and The Maclaurin Gallery is delighted to welcome them.

The Scottish Society of Botanical Artists is a young and inclusive society, dedicated to encouraging all forms of botanical art in Scotland and further afield, and we welcome all who love and appreciate this wonderful art form.

Botanical art as a whole can sometimes seem a little restrictive in its dedication to detail and accuracy, but is in fact a wide church. From descriptive, scientific plates, painted exactingly to scale and used for identification of individual species, to floral portraits, plants painted in their native landscape and imaginative compositions. Occasionally pollinators are included, so you may see birds and insects happily grabbing their dinner or flitting about.

We change the venue yearly for our annual exhibition, moving around the country, so that more people have the opportunity to enjoy the paintings in person. We are thrilled to be exhibiting in Ayrshire for the first time, and especially to be in such an esteemed and historic venue as the Maclaurin Galleries.

This exhibition promises to be an extravaganza - our largest yet. It will highlight brand new works in many different media, including watercolour, ink, coloured pencil, charcoal and graphite.

Members will also be sharing some techniques and we have several volunteers for painting days, where you can come along and watch new work progressing.

We hope you enjoy your visit, and that you are inspired to look more closely at the world of plants as you walk through nature, tend your garden, or water your favourite houseplant.