Education | ArtPlantae Today

Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Blooming Botanicals!

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities on March 11, 2014|

Kathleen McKeehen, Scientific Illustrator
www.florawithfauna.com
Kathleen is a teacher and freelance illustrator. Her work has appeared in Organic Gardening Magazine and The Herb Companion. View Kathleen’s artwork in the ASBA Members’ Gallery or at the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators’
Science-Art.com. Kathleen welcomes both beginners and advanced students to her classes.

Botanical Drawing

View Details/Register

Blooming Botanicals!, Gage Academy of Art
Fridays, April 11 – May 9, 2014; 1:30 – 4:30 pm
Learn the classical method for botanical painting, dry-brush watercolor. Measurement, washes, dry-brush techniques, composition–methods and materials will be covered as students learn to portray botanical subjects, with an emphasis on the flowers of spring. All levels welcome; returning students can choose to work on projects of their choice, including subjects non-botanical. 206 323-GAGE
View Details/Register

Botanical Drawing, Center for Urban Horticulture
Tuesdays, April 1 – May 13, 2013; 7:00 – 9:30 pm.
Students will learn the basics of drawing botanical subjects, moving from line work on to shading to portray realistic 3-dimensional forms. All levels are welcome, and repeating students can take on more advanced subjects with plentiful instructor supervision or can learn pen & ink and pencil on scratchboard techniques. 206-685-8033
View Details/Register (Note: This link works in Safari, but not Firefox)

Bugs, Bones, Birds and Botanicals, Winslow Art Center, Bainbridge Island
Wednesdays, April 1 – May 21, 2014; 10 am – 1 pm
While dry-brush watercolor is the most often used method for botanicals, it’s also the perfect medium for portraying other natural science subjects. Learn to paint insects, skulls & bones, birds, or botanicals using the classic dry-brush technique to portray them realistically and three-dimensionally. All levels welcome. 206-618-3112
View Details/Register

Botanical Watercolor Workshop – Spring Petals, Kruckeberg Botanic Garden, Shoreline, WA
Two 3-hour sessions: May 1 at Shoreline City Hall (6:00 – 8:30 pm) and May 3 at Kruckeberg Gardens in Shoreline (11:00 am – 1:00 pm).
Learn the basics of botanical watercolor to paint flower petals in a two-session workshop at the Shoreline City Hall and the beautiful Kruckeberg Botanic Garden in Shoreline. View Details/Register

Botanical Watercolor Workshop – Painting the Produce Section, Gage Academy
Saturday & Sunday, August 9-10, 2014; 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Explore classic botanical watercolor techniques of small graded washes and dry brush while painting the lush products of summer, such as mangoes, tomatoes, or peppers. A good place to start for beginners, and a challenge as well for those with more experience! All levels.
206 323-GAGE
View Details/Register

This information has been added to Classes Near You > Washington.

Read Full Post »

Festival of Plants Returns to Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Posted in Education on March 5, 2014|

Greenhouse Supervisor, Alex Summers, looking under the lilypad. © Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Festival of Plants
Saturday, May 17, 2014
10 AM – 4 PM

The Cambridge University Botanic Garden invites you to the Festival of Plants!

The second Festival of Plants at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden builds on the success of this event last year and brings together horticulture and science in a day devoted to all things plant, from propagation to pollination, from seed to shopping! Join our team of horticulturists, plant experts and scientists from across the region for a garden event with a difference.

A range of events and exhibits timetabled throughout the day include ‘ask the gardener’ sessions, pop-up plant science demonstrations, and plant shopping along the Garden’s majestic Main Walk.

Activity hubs, listed below, make full use of the Garden, which is at its best in late spring:

Pop-up Plant Science

Pop-up Plant Science Activity. © Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Here some of the top plant scientists from the East of England will be talking about their research and demonstrating scientific experiments to visitors. Visitors will be able to extract plant pigments, take the temperature of a leaf and find out how plants know their ABC!

Talking Plants
Leading scientists will give short talks about their research focusing on how science underpins how your garden grows.

Plant Promenade
The Garden’s majestic Main Walk will be transformed into a Plant Promenade of shopping stalls with a boutique selection of local independent nurseries with choice plants for sale. Also, visitors can drop in to the Talking Plants tent to get advice from our expert horticultural staff about horticultural problems and gardening dilemmas.

Shop the Plant Promenade. © Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Shop along the Plant Promenade. © Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Meet the Family
Learn all about plant families in the Garden’s unique Systematic Beds. Experts will be on hand to explain the key differences between plant families and invite visitors to pull apart some flowers and use the structures to determine which plants belong together and build a family tree.

So whether it’s getting advice on which plant goes where or how to home compost, discovering the inner workings of flowers, picking up some unusual plants for the garden, or simply having a fun day out with the family, there will be something for everyone at the Botanic Garden’s Festival of Plants.

The Festival of Plants is supported by members of the Cambridge Partnership for Plant Sciences (CPPS) and the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University.

Admission is £4.50/£4.95 gift aid (£3.95/£4.30 concession) and accompanied children 16 and under are admitted free of charge. For more information, please call 01223 336265 or visit www.botanic.cam.ac.uk.

Read Full Post »

Explore Art Archives of Europe

Posted in botanical art, Education, Special Announcements, Special Events, travel on March 4, 2014|

The 4th Annual Arts and Archives Tour led by the Denver Botanic Gardens’ School of Botanical Art and Illustration will occur April 25 – May 10, 2014.
Travel to London, Geneva, Lyon and Paris. Explore the Lindley Library, the Kew Gardens’ Library and Archives, the Louvre, and the Natural History Museum in Paris where you will see the largest and oldest herbaria in the world. You’ll also visit the Palace of Versailles, a tapestry museum, the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art and attend the annual exhibition of the Society of Botanical Artists. This special tour also includes a visit to the manufacturing site of Caran d’Ache colored pencils.

There are only two spots available. Reserve your seat today!

View the tour itinerary on Botanical Illustration, the blog by Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Manager of the School of Botanical Art and Illustration at Denver Botanic Gardens.

Also See

Read Full Post »

Plant Fibers & Dyes

Posted in Education, general botany, History, Plants, Special Announcements, Special Events on March 4, 2014|

The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley will host a special exhibition about plant-based fibers and dyes. The exhibition, Fiber & Dye, opens on Thursday, March 6 and continues through Sunday, March 23, 2014. The exhibit is free with garden admission.

Garden visitors have many opportunities to learn about plant fibers and dyes this month. Here is a look at the wonderful schedule of classes:

Chemistry of Dyes – March 8
Resist Dyeing Techniques with Kristine Vejar – March 9, 2013
Colors from Nature (Family Program) – March 15
Pine Needle Basketry – March 16
Film Viewing + 1,2,3 Indigo Vat Demo with Slow Fiber Studios – March 18
Plant Color Extractions for Cosmetics – March 22
Creating Pigments and Paints from Plants – March 23

View course descriptions and register on the Garden’s website.

Read Full Post »

Explore the Art of Winter at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education

Posted in Education, environmental education, Learning Opportunities, Photography, Special Announcements, Special Events on February 26, 2014|

© Amie Potsic, All rights reserved. Image courtesy Schuylkill Center.

Frost
Schuylkill Center
Philadelphia, PA
February 15 – April 18, 2014

Philadelphia artists Amie Potsic and Nancy Agati explore the meaning of winter through photography and mixed media at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

In winter, patterns emerge from the harsh relief of cold temperatures and heavy snow that illuminate the relationship between us and the changing environment in which we live. Photographer Amie Potsic explains, “I find winter to be particularly seductive as it simultaneously highlights the stark beauty of our environment’s dormant cycle while hinting at the potential growth of spring.” Nancy Agati’s mixed media work, explores the ephemeral through use of natural materials and emphasizes the cyclical patterns of the natural world. Agati writes eloquently about the details that are highlighted by winter: “Working in the studio while the snow falls – again. Linear patterns are further defined as I notice the stark contrast of branches against a pallid backdrop.”

Agati and Potsic draw elements of nature into their work, giving voice to the natural world and putting it in dialogue with both the viewers and the artists themselves. Potsic’s photographs and installations focus on the intersection of the physical, socio-political, and natural worlds, highlighting the change of seasons as indicators of ecological wellbeing.

©Nancy Agati, All rights reserved. Image courtesy Schuylkill Center.

Agati’s sculptural installations use natural materials to create forms which resonate with the patterns, shapes, and complex structures of the natural world. Whether it is Agati’s striking sculptures or Potsic’s photography that transports you, Frost creates a world that is both uniquely its own and deeply connected to its inspiration: our natural world.

The public is invited to view the exhibition and meet the artists this weekend during the opening reception. The reception will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 4:00 pm.

Learn more about the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education on their website at www.schuylkillcenter.org.

Read Full Post »

The Art of Demonstrating Art

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities, Special Articles & Interviews on February 25, 2014|

By Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators

Every year the Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators is given the opportunity by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to demonstrate our skills at the Philadelphia Flower Show. This is a wonderful chance for our organization to explain the fascination of botanical art to the world at large.

Some of the artists think this is great fun. But some do not. It is certainly different from the peace and quiet most of us experience when painting. People crowd around us. Small children want to see what we’re doing – up close. School groups ask endless good questions. It can be stressful.

It’s all a matter of attitude. The “best” attitude is that of a teacher who thinks that botanical art is the most fascinating subject in the world (which, of course, it is). You have to accept the obvious that there is no way that you’ll have the time to paint an entire watercolor. Maybe you can do a little work on one to show how laboriously slow it is. But do not expect to finish it. It is better to bring examples of your sketches, notes, drawings, tracings — whatever led up to the final artwork (which is shown on the wall behind us).

Instead of painting, your time will be taken up with talking to people: explaining how important it is to really “see” the plant, to understand how it grows and reproduces, to show aspects of the plant that photography cannot capture. You can possibly show how artists create form, a feeling of three dimensions. You might briefly touch on the long history of botanical art going back to the Egyptians. You must, however, talk in “sound bites.” Every sentence has to be a headline. And don’t be riled if your audience drifts away. Don’t expect to hold their attention.

You are there to rouse interest that might find an outlet at another time. Who knows? Your audience might someday take a botanical art class. They might become avid painters of wild flowers. They might even buy one of your botanical watercolors. But it’s not going to happen during the demonstration. So relax. Enjoy yourself. Stay calm and carry on.

Read Full Post »

This Weekend! Botanical Illustration in Hawaii

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, travel on February 25, 2014|

Raspberry Frost Banksia (Banskia menziesii), watercolor, 22x30". © Sharon Birzer, all rights reserved.

Sharon Birzer
www.sharonbirzer.com
Scientific illustrator Sharon Birzer is a teaching artist at Seattle Pacific University and Frye Art Museum, and has completed illustrations for the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the University of Washington. Sharon shows her work at Shift Collaborative Studio in Seattle, Washington.

Her work is currently on view in the exhibition Drawing on Nature: Flora and Fauna at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle (January 15 – April 1, 2014). This exhibition features the work of members from the Northwest Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and The Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists’.

Art in the Garden: One-Day Botanical Illustration Workshop

The National Tropical Botanical Garden is offering a one-day botanical illustration workshop with natural science illustrator Sharon Birzer. For beginning and intermediate artists, ages 15 and up. Students will work in watercolor. This workshop will be taught at the Harrison Chandler Education Center, National Tropical Botanical Garden Headquarters Campus at 3530 Papalina Road, Kalāheo.
View Details/Register