botanical art | ArtPlantae Today

Archive for the ‘botanical art’ Category

Botanical Watercolor & Drawing for Kids, Adults

Posted in botanical art, drawing, Learning Opportunities on February 4, 2009|

Julie Schneider Ljubenkov, Art Nature Education
www.artnatureeducation.com

Drawing Made Easy (Adults)
Mira Costa College Community Services
$90.00; Non-credit, adult course at the Oceanside Campus
Wednesdays, April 1 to May 13th, 2009; 3:30 to 5:30 PM; Room 7053
Students will practice the following: line drawing, shading, drawing from pictures, drawing from life, making your drawings look 3 dimensional. They will draw from a variety of subjects and will work primarily with colored pencils. Please bring the following materials to the first class: pencil with eraser and white paper (8-1/2″ x 11″). Bring a $3.00 materials fee to cover photocopying services. Repeat students welcome. Phone registration: (760) 795-6820. Online registration: Mira Costa Community Education. Or enroll in person at the Oceanside campus, Community Services. Email questions to commservices@miracosta.edu
Drawing Made Easy (Adults) (same as above)
City of Escondido
Mondays, April 6 to May 18th, 2009; 6:00 to 8:15 PM
Repeat students welcome. Phone registration: 760-839-4691. Online registration: www.escondido.org/recreation. Or enroll in person at City Hall or the East Valley Community Center during business hours. Please register early to ensure the class is not cancelled due to low enrollment.
Beginning Watercolor: Focus on Flowers I
Mira Costa College
$109.00; Non-credit, adult course at the Oceanside Campus
Wednesdays, April 1 to May 13th, 2009. Section #: 0103.21
This course will cover all the basics needed to begin creating watercolor paintings of flowers. Class format consists of lecture, painting demonstrations, and individually supervised exercises. Students will learn how to create vibrant flower colors, how to draw flowers and foliage, how to mix hundreds of greens, and the 4 steps of composing a painting. Repeat students welcome. Phone registration: (760) 795-6820. Online registration: Mira Costa Community Education. Or enroll in person at the Oceanside or Cardiff campus. This course will not be offered again until next Spring 2010 – so enroll now!
Cartooning for Kids (Ages 8 to 13)
City of Escondido, Community Services. East Valley Community Center
$53.00
Mondays, April 6th to May 18th; 4:00 to 5:00 PM
Cartoons are fun to draw! This class will teach your child how to draw cartoons successfully. Exercises and projects will cover the following: line drawing, shading, caricature, action cartoons, facial expression, comic books, popular cartoon characters, and ultimately how to create your own cartoons. Phone registration: (760) 839-4691. To enroll by mail, pick up a Schedule of classes at any City facility or enroll in person at the City of Escondido Community Services, 201 N. Broadway, downtown Escondido. Information, registration forms and online registration at www.escondido.org/recreation.

Rare South American Orchids on Exhibit

Posted in botanical art, Special Announcements, Special Events on February 2, 2009|

ArtPlantae Today had the good fortune to interview botanical artist, Hillary Parker, about her upcoming exhibit featuring rare orchids from South America. We would like to thank Hillary for taking the time to stop and talk with us.

ARTPLANTAE TODAY: How did you become interested in South American orchids?
HILLARY PARKER: I was asked to do another solo show at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and they requested orchids. Not particularly drawn to them on my own, I then spent time working [with] and interviewing the orchid curator there as different orchids bloomed in their conservatory throughout 2008. I became fascinated by the stories of each plant’s pollinator and was even more drawn to the idea that their flower’s fashion and form were directly connected to the lure and act of pollination.

APT: Did you travel to South America? If so, did you spend time in the field?
HP: I wish I could have gone on location to the Andes of South America, as with all of my research, however, I go where I can to find the living plants and see them in their environment. In this case, it was the Orchid Conservatory at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

APT: How did you create this collection of paintings? What was your overall process? Did you use mixed media or just watercolor?
HP: As a botanical watercolor artist and art educator, I love to share with the viewer what I have learned about each subject I paint. In this case, it was the fashion and form of each flower enabling the function of pollination. I chose 4 orchids to paint. I did 3 original pieces for each orchid. I did a watercolor/graphite of the entire plant, I did a watercolor portrait of the bloom, and for the third piece, I did a mixed media collage of all the “process” work, sketches, color samples, photos, and written info about the fashion, form and function of the flower, as an educational tool for Garden visitors.

APT: What role does fashion play in this exhibit?
HP: Fashion clearly plays an imperative role in the plant world…and human one as well. Looking to pollinate relies on attracting a pollinator. Fashion, as well as form are vital to these plants’s future as well as the form of each flower who controls the movement and placement of the pollinator in order to deposit the pollen on it before it leaves the bloom.

APT: How many paintings will be on view?
HP: There are a total of 12 original works of art. The solo exhibit is titled, Orchids: Fashion, Form and Function. There are 8 original watercolors and 4 mixed media collages on view from February 5 – April 5, 2009 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden in the Fuqua Conservatory.

APT: Will your exhibit travel to other venues this year? Next year?
HP: The exhibit will then be highlighted in Orchids Magazine and travel to the American Orchid Society’s headquarters in Delray Beach this summer and be on exhibit there June 20 – August 30, 2009.

Additional Resources:

Read Full Post »

Sweet Peas and Calico Patterns in “Curtis’s Botanical Magazine”

Posted in botanical art, general botany on February 2, 2009|

Now in Science Library > Journals:

Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. 2008. Volume 25(4): 285-388. Martyn Rix, editor. Blackwell Publishing for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
This issue contains information, illustrations and color plates of the plants listed below. Artists’ names are in parentheses. Lathyrus transsylvanicus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus roseus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus neurolobus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus heterophyllus (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus latifolius (Georita Harriott); Lathyrus vestitus (Georita Harriott); Vicia americana (Georita Harriott). Also in this issue are the following articles and book reviews: An Introduction to the Genus Lathyrus L. by Gregory Kenicer; Lathyrus at Weaver’s Cottage, West Wickham, Cambridge, and the Species Illustrated in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine by Sylvia Norton; William Kilburn’s Calico Patterns, Copyright and Curtis’s Botanical Magazine by E. Charles Nelson; Jelena and Robert De Belder – Generous as Nature Herself (book review) by Susyn Andrews; Treasures of Botanical Art by Shirley Sherwood and Martyn Rix (book review) by Victoria Matthews; Atlas of the Vegetation of Madagascar (book review) by Graham Duncan.

Subscribe to Curtis’s Botanical Magazine at Wiley.com. Enter the journal’s name in the search field.

Read Full Post »

Botanical Artists Teach Across Canada

Posted in botanical art, Learning Opportunities on January 31, 2009|

Formed in 2001, the Botanical Artists of Canada (BAC) is a non-profit organization of botanical illustrators who skillfully and passionately bring the traditions of botanical art to Canada. Members of the Botanical Artists of Canada teach botanical drawing and painting classes throughout Canada and have posted learning opportunities in Halifax, Ontario, Ottawa, and Toronto. The following information can be found in the International section of Classes Near You!

Botanical Artists of Canada
www.botanicalartistsofcanada.org
Botanical Artists of Canada promote botanical art and illustration, offering workshops, courses and exhibitions. Visit the Events page for details.

Colored Pencil Workshops with Raquel Baranyai in Toronto – February 7 & 14
Botanical Watercolor: Leaves & Light/Shade on Blooms with Julie Wilson in Halifax – Currently in session
Botanical Art with Nellie Sue Potter in Toronto
Botanical Watercolor with Kerri Weller in Ottawa – Currently in session
Botanical Art: If You Can See, You Can Draw – Margit Koritar, Toronto; Thursdays, March 26 to April 30
Painting in a Summer Garden with Celia Godkin in Toronto
Drawing in the Park in Brockville, Ontario with Celia Godkin
Botanical Watercolor with Karen Taylor in Richmond Hill, Ontario

A collection of artwork by BAC members can be viewed in the Members’ Gallery. Take a look!

Read Full Post »

ArtPlantae Books To Host Guest Speakers

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Special Events on January 19, 2009|

ArtPlantae Books will host authors and artists at the 2009 Los Angeles Garden Show to be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. The planned program will complement the garden show’s theme (“A Festival of Flavors”), as well as ArtPlantae’s theme for 2009. You are invited to join us at the Los Angeles Garden Show on May 1-3, 2009.

Program details will be published as they become available.

Read Full Post »

Good For You: Fruit, Veggies & Flowers

Posted in botanical art, Special Announcements on January 19, 2009|

California artist, Sally Jacobs, has created a new collection of notecards featuring the fruit and vegetables from her local farmers market. Each package contains five notecard-size reproductions of Sally’s original artwork. Each collection is dedicated to either fruit, vegetables, or flowers. Click on the image at left to view the paintings in each collection.

Visit Sally Jacobs’ gallery at www.sallyjacobs.com.

Now available at ArtPlantae Books.

Read Full Post »

Art Meets Science in Washington

Posted in botanical art, Special Announcements, Special Events on January 5, 2009|

The University of Washington Libraries and the UW Botanic Gardens’ Elizabeth C. Miller Library will have artwork from their respective collections on view at the University of Washington Suzzallo Library (Rm. 102), January 9 – February 27, 2009. This exhibit is free and open to the public.

Instructor and artist Louise Smith will discuss the history of botanical illustration on Friday, January 9th. See the exhibit website for details.

Learn from Louise Smith and other artists here.