Birgit Rhode
Contact Details:
Email: b.rhode@xtra.co.nz
Gingko biloba - Maidenhair tree - Watercolour
Parthenocissus quinquefolia - Virginia Creeper - Watercolour
'Pods' Banksia sp, Paraserianthes lophantha, Brush Wattle - Jacaranda mimosifolia, Liquidambar styraciflua - American Sweetgum, Knightia excelsa - Rewarewa -Watercolour
Eucalypt leaves - Watercolour
Hydrangea floret1 - Watercolour
Hydrangea floret2 - Watercolour
Hydrangea rolled leaf - Watercolour
Weinmannia racemosa 1 - Kamahi- watercolour
Weinmannia racemosa 2 - Kamahi- watercolour
xCanmea Ork Queen - watercolour
American Sweetgum -Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Lane Roberts’
Hydrangea sp. Autumnal Leaf - Watercolour
Artistic Approach:
The roots of my love affair with plants and sculptural detail reach far back into my childhood. From an early age I was influenced by both of my parents. My father, an architect and keen photographer, instilled in me the discipline for precise detail, whereas my mother’s watercolour landscape paintings inspired the love for nature and colour.
I came to New Zealand from Germany in 1993. Through my professional career as a biologist I developed a deep appreciation of natural history as well as skills in electron microscopy and macro photography. From fairly early on in my career I've been attracted to the structure and fine detail of all things natural. Nature’s colours further deepened the artistic attraction for me. I started painting and dyeing fabrics, first canvas and then silk which later broadened into quilt making.
A few years ago I discovered the medium of watercolour. After a number of online classes over the years, mostly with British botanical artists whose works I liked, my painting preferences focused on botanical subjects, often past their prime, and I try to capture them in as much detail as possible. The shapes of leaves, flowers, fruits and seeds are more diverse than we could possibly imagine and their sculptural patterns are hugely inspiring. Autumn colours are a particular delight and inspiration for me. The crescendo of colour peaks in the autumn months and there isn't an autumnal walk or some foraging in the garden where I don't pick up some new exciting painting subjects.
Affiliations:
Member: Botanical Art Society of NZ,
Member: Friends of Auckland Botanic Gardens Painting Group 2018 to present
Education:
Biological Sciences MS, PhD, Universities of Hanover and Hamburg, Germany,
Botanical art classes (watercolour) with Anna Mason, Billy Showell, Julia Trickey, Birgit O’Connor;
Coloured pencil drawing class with Ann Swan.
Exhibitions:
2024
August - ‘Winter to Spring’ - Auckland Botanic Gardens
2023
Sept - Oct - 'Botanica '23', BASNZ annual exhibition, Te Huanui Art Gallery, Darfield
April - July - 'Hidden Secrets' - Auckland Botanic Gardens
2022
'Botanica' - Welcome Swallow Gallery, Hamilton
'The Art of Healing - Medicine, Myth and Magic' - Auckland Botanic Gardens
2020
'Creativity Unlocked' - Group exhibition, Auckland Botanic Gardens