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.

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Yanny has had many  successful exhibitions since 1995. ‘The Living Bog’ which featured her Paintings on Glass of Irish Bog Plants, at the Davis Gallery, Dublin was held in 2003. In 2005 she was honoured to be included in ‘1000 Years of Botanical Art’ at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford as part of the Dr Shirley Sherwood collection. Since that she has had paintings exhibited in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery, Kew Gardens, London, as part of their group exhibitions ‘The Art of Plant Evolution’ (2009), 'Botanical Art in the 21st Century' (2014) and 'The Wonderful World of Water Plants' (2023).

 

‘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.

 

Yanny has been represented by the Olivier Cornet Gallery since then and has had regular solo exhibitions there which include: Floral Alchemy (2013), "Come with me, I'll show you something beautiful" (2016), 'Hedgerow' - stories from a linear world (2019), and 'Field of Vision' botanical treasures in focus (2021). Yanny has also taken part in many of the gallery's themed group shows over the years which Include: Hopscotch' on a theme of childhood memories (2015) and Arbour Essences in Anthropocene Dublin, on the theme of climate change (2023).

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Yanny’s painting The Plants We Played With was included in the ‘Drawn from Nature’ exhibition at the National Gallery of Ireland which then lead to the Gallery purchasing this painting for their collection.

 

She is often a contributor to Sculpture in Context at the National Botanic Gardens.

 

Yanny has exhibited with the Irish Society of Botanical Artists since the society was formed in 2014. She takes part in the annual exhibitions held by the Dublin Painting and Sketching Club and the Watercolour Society of Ireland, Botanical and Floral Art in Bloom, the annual Bord Bia show at Bloom in the Park, Dublin.

 

Yanny also carries out private commissions.

 

In 2003 Yanny was commissioned to create a set of paintings of Bog plants for the Office of Public Works which are now on display at the Wicklow Mountains National Park headquarters. Some of Yanny’s paintings on glass have been acquired by Dr Shirley Sherwood for her collection at Kew Gardens, London, which is the biggest botanical art collection in the world. Other works by Yanny are in the Office of Public Works State Collection and the National Gallery of Ireland collection. The National Museum of Ireland acquired her sculptural piece, ‘Hand Fan for Habitats’ which incorporates Verre Eglomisé panels. Yanny has produced many private commissions and her work is in private collections world wide.

 

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 Society, and is represented by the Olivier Cornet Gallery in Dublin.