Our heartfelt congratulation to PSAD student Lesley Hazel for being selected for this prestigious international art exhibition!
Lesley attends the Botanical Illustration course led by tutor Jaco Nel, who has encouraged and supported his students to apply and guided Lesley in this exciting journey.
It started on the 29th of February last year with invitation to submit culminating three weeks later with confirmation that her depiction of “Cornish Gillyflower” (apple) ‘had been selected by the judges to be part of the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) exhibition in the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Gallery, Birmingham between 13th – 24th May 2025.”
Lesley says:
‘Our task was to find a heritage plant that had been growing in our country for at least 50 years, used by man but not grown as a monoculture. I thought this would be a great project to work on whether or not I entered for selection.
So the first stop was Brogdale, the home of the National Fruit Collection, almost a year ago. There I fell in love with the name and blossom of my chosen apple: “Cornish Gillyflower”. With the encouragement and support of staff and volunteers at Brogdale, I visited my tree 3 times in wind, rain and finally sunshine, making lots of sketches as the apples developed and working on them through the year.
On the deadline day, I decided that I would enter my painting online and was later thrilled that it was chosen to go forward for the second selection. Having bought a large art carry box and having the painting mounted, though not actually seeing it, I sent it off for final judgement.
I was so excited to find out 3 weeks later that I had “been selected by the judges to be part of the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) exhibition… It will also be included in the official exhibition catalogue/book. In addition, your work will form part of the international slideshow that will be viewed at the various events associated with the 32 countries participating in Botanical Art Worldwide – 2025″.
See more information in Lesley’s write up PSAD-LesleyHazel – exhibitions 2025
See more on this Art Award Here.
Click on the photos for a larger view.
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