The story of the AsPIB association
AsPIB in a few words
The Association of Botanical Illustration Enthusiasts (AsPIB) was founded in Lyon in December 2018 by three friends: Dominique Delattre, Geneviève Haigler, and Marie Malissen, who wished to develop various activities around botanical and natural history illustration.
The goals of the association are:
To support people with an interest in botanical and natural history art;
To promote public awareness and appreciation of botanical and natural history art;
To encourage, support, inspire, and improve botanical and natural history art.
Through botanical illustration workshops, exhibitions, conferences, and meetings with international artists, the association also leads ambitious projects, such as the creation of a florilegium.
An overview of our actions and activities
Botanical illustration workshops and creative meetups
With this in mind, the association offers workshops led by highly skilled professionals, such as Anne-Marie Evans, a world-renowned teacher, and Catherine Watters, a Franco-American artist and educator. AsPIB also organizes both online and in-person conferences, as well as activities that allow members to draw together.
For example, in November 2024, we held our first gathering in Lyon, in partnership with the Lyon Herbarium and the Lyon Botanical Garden.
Over three days, participants enjoyed activities including an introduction to quick sketching from life, guided tours of the Botanical Garden’s large glasshouses and the Herbarium, conferences, roundtable discussions, discoveries of rare old books, and a special meeting with Australian artist Sharon Field, who presented her ambitious project ‘3000 Days and Counting…’.
Exhibitions and a florilegium
AsPIB participates in exhibitions such as the one on the theme of seeds at the Allard Museum in Montbrison in 2023.
2023 also saw the launch of the Roland Bonaparte Florilegium: The Lost Garden of Saint-Cloud, in collaboration with the Lyon Herbarium. This multi-year project brings together the herbarium compiled by Roland Bonaparte in his Saint-Cloud garden and contemporary botanical illustrations by our members.
Then, from May 22 to June 29, 2025, AsPIB will showcase more than thirty works on the theme ‘From Flower to Seed’ and, more broadly, any form of plant reproduction (bulbs, rhizomes, stolons, etc.). The public will be able to discover and admire contemporary botanical illustrations that offer an analytical and precise perspective on plant representation, while revealing the unique artistic sensitivity of each artist.
The beautiful setting of the Medieval Garden of Uzès is particularly well-suited to this style of exhibition.
Graines exhibition ı Watercolour by Françoise Piquet-Vadon ı From Flower to Seed exhibition in Uzès
AsPIB members from all corners of the world
With 70 members from France and abroad (in 2024), the association is proud of its progress and is determined to further contribute to restoring the noble status of botanical and natural history illustration.
