Yanny Petters has been painting exquisitely detailed portraits of wild plants since the 1990s. Fascinated by colour, form and detail, her love and interest in botanical art stemmed from her work as a signwriter where plant themes were common in decorative design. As well as working in watercolours and oils Yanny also specialises in 'painting on glass', a technique she has been developing since her signwriting years. She teaches watercolour painting and drawing from nature and the purpose of her work is to raise awareness of the wonders of nature and especially the wild plants of Ireland.

 

Yanny  has  had  many  successful  exhibitions  since 1995. She exhibited with renowned landscape painter Michael Gemmell in ‘The Living Bog’ which featured her Paintings on Glass of Irish Bog Plants, at the Davis Gallery, Dublin in 2003. She was honoured to be included in ‘1000 Years of Botanical Art’ at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, in 2005 as part of the Dr. Shirley Sherwood collection. Since that she has had a paintings exhibited in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, London, as part of ‘The Art of Plant Evolution’ (2009) and the 'Botanical Art in the 21st Century' (2014) exhibitions.

 

‘Field Work’ was a solo exhibition curated by Olivier Cornet at the Riverside Gallery in Arklow, Co. Wicklow in 2008. In 2011 Yanny was invited to exhibit ‘The Living Line’ at the Droichead Arts Centre in Drogheda, Co. Louth, which featured large scale drawings from Yanny’s collection of works on a theme of wetland plants.

 

A number of her Glass Paintings are in the Wicklow Mountains National Park headquarters. In 2010 Clonskeagh Hospital acquired a number of Yanny’s works for their new nursing unit through the HSE Percent for Art Scheme. 

 

In 2012, as part if the ‘4x4’ show at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in Temple Bar, Dublin, one of her paintings was acquired by the Office of Public Works for the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin.

 

'Floral Alchemy', a solo exhibition of her Verre Eglomisé paintings was shown at the Olivier Cornet Gallery in 2013. 

 

In 2016 Yanny had a second solo show of Verre Eglomisé paintings at the Olivier Cornet Gallery called "Come with me, I'll show you something beautiful". Her painting of a Teasel was acquired by Dr. Shirley Sherwood for her collection in the UK. 

 

A solo exhibition in 2019 at the Olivier Cornet Gallery 'Hedgerow - stories from a linear world' continued Yanny's work relating to hedgerows, that iconic element of the Irish country side. It included Verre Eglomisé  paintings as well as drawings and watercolours

 

Yanny has exhibited work in two exhibitions at the National Botanic Gardens in connection with the Irish Society of Botanical Artists:  Aibítir: The Irish Alphabet in Botanical Art (2014) and Plandaí Oidhreachta; Heritage Irish Plants (2016). 

 

She shows annually with the Olivier Cornet Gallery at VUE in the RHA, as well as the annual Watercolour Society of Ireland, The Dublin Painting & Sketching Club and the Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom exhibitions, the latter held during the Bloom Gardens Festival in Dublin.

 

Yanny also carries out private commissions.

 

Her work features in the following collections:

The National Gallery of Ireland - The National Museum of Ireland - Dr. Shirley Sherwood Collection, UK - OPW Wicklow Mountains National Park, Co. Wicklow - Connemara National Park - HSE Community Nursing Unit at Clonskeagh - Byrne Group, Greystones, Co. Wicklow - private collections. 

 

Yanny is a member of The Watercolour Society of Ireland, The Irish Society of Botanical Artists, Visual Artists Ireland, Dublin Painting & Sketching Club, Signal Arts Centre Society and Dublin Naturalists Field Club.

 

Awards/Commissions

2017   Golden Fleece Merit Award.

2015   Whytes Auctioneers Award, Watercolour Society of Ireland.

2015   Gold medal, Bronze medal and Best in Show in Botanical & Floral Art exhibition at Bloom Garden Festival.

2014   Silver Medal, Botanical Art at Bloom Garden Festival.

2011    HSE Community Nursing Unit at Clonskeagh. Percent for Art. Three paintings.

2005  Connemara National Park, commission painting on glass of a cross-section of bog.

2003  Office of Public Works, paintings for Wicklow Mountains National Park centre at Kilafin, Co. Wicklow.