Giuliana Gallo
BSc (Hons), Bachelor of Science degree (Honours), Assoc. ASBA, VBKN
Giuliana was born and brought up in Italy, on the Island of Elba, where her interest in nature began, thanks to the plants that her grandmother grew in her garden and the scented flowers of the Mediterranean maquis that cover the island. Her childhood interest in nature continued to grow in the Netherlands, the country where she lives and where she first approached botanical painting a decade ago, studying the traditional techniques to truthfully represent the plant world.
She furthered her knowledge in UK attending intensive botanical art courses with Anne-Marie Evans, MBE, one of the most prominent botanical art teachers in the world, and other leading botanical artists.
Today, Giuliana is an active member of the Dutch Society of Botanical Artists (VBKN) and has shown her work in numerous exhibitions in the Netherlands and internationally, including Germany, Italy and UK, at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, in Kew Gardens. She is also a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA), and in 2018 two of her works have been selected to represent The Netherlands in the Worldwide Botanical Art Exhibition.
In 2018 she has co-organized the Florentia International Exhibition of Botanical Art at Villa Bardini, in Florence, Italy.
Giuliana believes in botanical painting as a contemporary art genre and hopes that it will help people to see the beauty and importance of the natural world and reflect on the vital significance of biodiversity conservation especially today when one in five plant species are threatened with extinction (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew report).
Cirsium dissectum with Vanessa cardui, Meadow thistle, flowering at Schiermonnikoog, Nl, June 2017.
As it has suffered marshy grassland habitat loss, Cirsium dissectum is now a rare and endangered species in the Netherlands. 2012 Red list. It is a host plant for the thistle butterfly (Vanessa cardui) and nectar plant for many bees, butterflies and other insects.
Artists’ statement:
Nowadays it is normal to see pictures of plants and flowers, they are everywhere, framed and displayed in every store and shop window. We find them in fashion and interior design; they promote all kind of products. It is the trend. We are so used to them that it’s easy to forget how long and difficult the process of creating an artwork with real botanical content actually is. Although it is a time-consuming and difficult process, it is also an experience that never ceases to amaze me. In today’s increasingly technological world, the practices of observation, research, drawing and painting of plants, all necessary to a botanical artist, are a way for me to come closer to nature, see how vulnerable it is, and recognize the immense need there is to respect and protect it.
"Per sviluppare una mente completa
studia la scienza dell'arte,
studia l'arte della scienza.
Sviluppa i tuoi sensi,
impara soprattutto a vedere.
Comprendi che tutto è connesso."
“Study the science of art,
study the art of science.
Develop your senses,
earn especially how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
Leonardo da Vinci in
“Principles for the Development of a Complete Mind”
GIULIANA BOTANICAL ART 