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Archive for the ‘travel’ Category

Studio Course in Botanical Drawing with Sarah Simblet at Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art

Posted in botanical art, botanical art books, Drawing, drawing, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Special Events, travel on May 30, 2013|

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Author and illustrator, Sarah Simblet, will lead a studio course in botanical drawing July 8-12, 2013 at the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art at the University of Oxford.

Inspired by her book Botany for the Artist, this special learning opportunity includes:

    Learning how Sarah researches, collects and works with plants in her studio.

    A tour of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden.

    An opportunity to draw in the Garden and learn how to work outdoors.

    A study of lines, marks and gesture.

    A study of shape, length, volume and form.

    A study of light, tone, optical illusions, linear perspective.

    A study of paper and how to create a field sketchbook.

    An opportunity to view the original work of Ferdinand Bauer.

To download the course itinerary and to register, visit the Botanical Drawing page on the Ruskin School website.

Sarah’s intensive drawing course will inspire confidence in beginners and refresh the work of more experienced artists. No previous experience needed. Basic materials are provided. Participants completing the course will leave with a portfolio of experimental and traditional drawings and skills relevant to both fine art practice and botanical illustration.

Cost: £750.00 (convert currency)


More About Sarah Simblet

This information can also be found at Classes Near You > England.

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Art & Nature Retreat with Cynthia Padilla

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities, nature, Sketching & Journaling, travel on May 30, 2013|

In desperate need for some time away from the daily grind?

Check out this weekend retreat now at Classes Near You > Texas:


Cynthia Padilla, Dallas
http://fruitflowerinsect.blogspot.com
Cynthia Padilla teaches painting and drawing classes at prestigious universities, major museums, arboreta, art societies across the US, Canada, Central America and internationally. She curates exhibitions, serves as a juror of exhibitions, lectures and conducts demonstrations, and leads painting retreats worldwide. Cynthia is also the founder of the Botanical Art & Naturalist Illustration group on Yahoo!

    Art and Nature Retreat at the Black Land Prairie in Ana, Texas
    This two-day weekend retreat will be held June 7-9, 2013. The course fee includes instruction, two nights lodging, two continental breakfasts, two dinners and other activities. Sketchbooks will be shared at the end of each day over cookies and cocoa. What more could you ask for!

    If you are in need of rest and relaxation or have been curious about artist retreats, sign-up for this rejuvenating weekend getaway.

    For more information, visit Art & Nature Retreat: The Black Land Prairie on Facebook.

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Create a Mixed-Media Sketchbook for Summer

Posted in botanical art, Education, gardening, Learning Opportunities, nature, san diego, Sketching & Journaling, travel on May 21, 2013|

Regardless of where you live, you can learn how to create an expressive journal for summer with mixed-media artist, Jane LaFazio.

See what’s new at Classes Near You > Southern California:


Jane LaFazio
janeville.blogspot.com
Jane is a mixed media artist and a member of the San Diego Sketchcrawl group. Jane teaches at conferences across the U.S. and leads classes in Italy and Greece too. In addition to sketching classes, Jane teaches workshops in collage, mixed media, and quilting. There are always many, many opportunities to learn from Jane in-person. Below is a short list of classes that may be of interest to you. To view all of Jane’s upcoming classes, see her teaching schedule online.

Also see this interview with Jane and her Ask The Artist Q&A with readers.


Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style
Six-week online class.
Learn how to record your life, your summer vacation and other adventures using a loose and quick style of journaling. Participants in this online class will learn a new technique or subject each week and will receive links to supporting material. Communicate with fellow participants and see each others’ projects progress. Designed for beginners. Cost: $85. Online classroom open June 16.
View Details/Register.


Sketching and Watercolor in a Mixed Media Journal
Six-week online class.
Learn to draw from life using Jane’s quick approach to drawing. Take your art journaling to a whole new level! Cost: $90. Online classroom open June 16.
View Details/Register


Learn from Jane In-person:

  • Lavender Sage Art Retreat with Pamela Underwood – June 10-14, 2013. Mixed media retreat in Taos, New Mexico. View Details/Register
  • Walking and Watercolor in Italy – October 7-13, 2013
  • ArtWalk: San Diego – January 13-19, 2014
  • ArtWalk: Italy – May 24-30, 2014
  • ArtWalk: The French Riviera – June 1-7, 2014

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‘From the Mountains to the Sea’ Begins Year-long Tour

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Special Events, travel on May 15, 2013| 2 Comments »

exhibitPostcard_NESBA_2013
From the Mountains to the Sea: Plants, Trees and Shrubs of New England

The first exhibition of the New England Society of Botanical Artists (NESBA) opens on Sunday, May 19, at The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA, the first stop on its six-venue journey around New England. The exhibition will feature 60 portraits of native New England plants. Each venue will also feature the drawings and paintings by NESBA members in that state.

The touring schedule for From the Mountains to the Sea includes:

Learn more about the New England Society of Botanical Artists on their website. Follow them on Twitter (@NESBAArtists), Like them on Facebook.

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Observable Trends in the Work of Victorian Artist Marianne North

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Special Articles & Interviews, travel on May 13, 2013|

When viewing North’s paintings, are there any trends that can be observed? For example, did she paint plant “portraits” more often than landscapes? Did her style of painting change during 14 years of traveling? Etc.

I would say North’s motivations for traveling and painting changed more than her style ever did. Her choice of specimens, indeed her choice of destination, became much more pointed towards the end of her career and especially after Sir Joseph accepted North’s offer to build a gallery at Kew. Once North knew her work would be on permanent display…

Continue…

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Marianne North Chose Oil Over Watercolor

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, sketchbook, Special Events, travel on May 10, 2013|

When reading about artists traveling on European expeditions, we learn that artists worked in watercolor. Marianne North worked in oil. Does North ever explain why she chose oil over watercolor or other color media?

Yes, she does – and the answer is really interesting in terms of getting a handle on North’s motivations for painting and her self-image as an artist. North took watercolor lessons as a young woman, but once she tried oil painting she found it to be “a vice like dram-drinking, almost impossible to leave off once it gets possession of one.” Besides enjoying the feel and effects of oil colors, it is important to note that North was not a botanical illustrator. If we examine North’s oil sketches within this tradition, the only conclusion that can be, and has too often been made, is that she was bad at her work. This isn’t helpful for reconstructing what it was she was doing. North’s project is more closely aligned with the kind of work being done by the Hudson River School painters in North America, who traveled throughout the United States, the Arctic, Jamaica, and South and Central America with the goal of painting the beauty, unity, and character of nature – and who did so in oils. For North, it wasn’t interesting to paint an uprooted, idealized type-specimen against a white background as per botanical illustration. Instead, she treated the plants and botanical landscapes she encountered as individuals and groups of individuals met with in distinctive settings, all of which she wanted to portray with the vibrancy and materiality of the original encounter, a task best done with oils.

Catch up with our conversation with Katie Zimmerman

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How did Marianne North paint 832 paintings in 14 years?

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art, Education, History, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Special Events, travel on May 8, 2013|

In my review of Marianne North: A Very Intrepid Painter by Michelle Payne, I ramble though calculations as I think aloud as to how Marianne North could have completed 832 paintings in 14 years. What have you discovered about how she worked that would make such an impressive accomplishment possible?

It is impressive! Calculated out it’s something like one painting every six days for fourteen years! And when we consider that the majority of this work was done on-the-spot in distant locales, the achievement becomes even more impressive. There are a few factors that made North’s project as prodigious as it was: first, and a great lesson to all, was the possession of an extraordinary work ethic. North woke early and worked through all kinds of weather, sometimes for up to twelve hours a day. She also famously preferred plants to people, and was often able to carve extra time to work by excusing herself from the many social obligations central to colonial and ex-pat community life in the places she visited. In Sarawak, for example…

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