ArtPlantae Today

Paint on Vellum, Create Elegant Compositions at Wellesley Botanical Garden

May 29, 2012 by Tania Marien

Kate Nessler and Beverly Duncan will teach at Wellesley Botanical Garden this summer. Here’s the latest update at Classes Near You > Massachusetts:

Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
Certificate Program in Botanical Art and Illustration
www.wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends
This program offers several weekly and two- or three-day classes on botanical art and scientific illustration with Sarah Roche and Jeanne Kunze and seminars with visiting instructors including Susan Fisher, D. L. Friedman, Kathie Miranda, Carol Ann Morley, Kate Nessler, Elaine Searle, Catherine Watters and more. The courses offered through this program cover all aspects of botanical art. The following is only a glimpse of what this program offers:

Foundations of Botanical Drawing and Painting
Techniques of Botanical Drawing and Painting
Plant Drawing for the Petrified
On Location: Daylilies with Sarah Roche
Fruit from the Orchard
Botanical Painting on Vellum
Flowers as They Grow
Playing with Transparency: Colored Pencil on Mylar

View current schedule & instructor bios

Additional Learning Opportunities

NEW! Painting on Vellum with Kate Nessler – July 10-12, 2012;
9:30 AM – 4:30 PM. Discover how to draw and paint on Kelmscott vellum. Advanced beginners and more experienced artists will learn from Kate and from each other through classroom discussion, demonstration, and one-on-one instruction. Kate Nessler is an award-winning artist whose awards include three Gold Medals from the Royal Horticultural Society. Cost: $475 WCBG Friends Members, $595 Nonmembers. Cost includes one piece of Kelmscott vellum. Download Details

NEW! Seasonal Compositions with Beverly Duncan – July 14, 2012 or September 15, 2012. Award-winning botanical artist, Beverly Duncan, will teach participants how to compose drawings and paintings using seasonal materials. Some experience necessary. This course is designed for artists working in watercolor, graphite, colored pencil &/or pen and ink. Two sessions are available. Register for one or both. Session I: Saturday, July 14, 2012 (9:30 AM – 3:30 PM). Session II: Saturday, September 15, 2012 (9:30 AM – 3:30 PM). Cost of each session: $75 WCBG Friends Members, $95 Nonmembers. Download Details

Daylilies at Collamore Field Gardens – July 17-19, 2012; 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM. Learn about daylilies at Collamore Field Gardens, an American Hemerocallis Society Display Garden featuring over 650 varieties of daylilies. Sketch lilies in the garden during peak bloom and learn how to transform your sketch into a watercolor painting in the studio. Botanical artist and instructor, Sarah Roche, will show you how! Cost: WCFG Friends Members $225, Non-members, $275. To register, contact wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu or call (781) 283-3094.

NEW! Introduction to Botanical Art – Mondays, August 13-17, 2012;
9:30 AM – 2:30 PM. Explore the world of botanical art in this course designed especially for beginners. Sarah Roche guides your experience through structured exercises, projects, and demonstrations. She exposes you to the basic techniques and methods of botanical drawing and watercolor painting. If you have an interest in plants and botany and a yearning to record what you see on paper, then this class is for you. Sarah Roche is a botanical artist and teacher and the Education Chair of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Cost: $250 WCBG Friends Members, $300 Nonmembers. Download Details

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities |

Draw and Paint Plants Using Watercolor Pencils

May 29, 2012 by Tania Marien

Travel light this summer!

Learn how to draw and paint plants and other subjects using watercolor pencils at the North Carolina Arboretum.

The North Carolina Arboretum
www.ncarboretum.org

Drawing and Painting Botanicals in Watercolor Pencil

Redenta Soprano

View Details/Register

This information can also be viewed at Classes Near You > North Carolina

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities, Sketching & Journaling |

Wild Forests, Native Botanicals & More

May 29, 2012 by Tania Marien

Congratulations to artist, Andie Thrams!

She has a new website and has been named as the first artist in residence for the Bunnell Street Arts Center, in cooperation with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies of Homer, Alaska. She will be stationed at Peterson Bay Field Station in Alaska next month and will be teaching classes for kids and adults during her residency.

Here are the latest updates for Andie at Classes Near You > Northern California:

Andie Thrams, Coloma, CA
www.andiethrams.com
Andie is a painter and book artist devoted to creative work in wild places. She teaches in California, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii. Her work is widely exhibited and honored, and is held in many private and public collections. Get the latest news about Andie’s popular classes on her website.

Native Botanicals: Field Studies in Drawing & Design
June 2, 2012
Create studies of native plants in black and white using pencil, ink and gouache. Discover field-friendly ways to render positive/negative space; reveal gesture and detail; create strong compositions; and explore your own creativity. Participants will leave class with an understanding of the principles of design and a collection of beautiful studies for future reference. Location: Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden, Berkeley, California. Cost: $120 members, $130 non-members. Details/Register
Native Botanicals: Field Studies in Watercolor
June 3, 2012
Create summertime watercolor studies in the garden. Working with watercolor and gouache, participants will learn how to mix color accurately, create beautiful shimmering surfaces, and build layers using wet into wet, dry brush and glazing techniques. Participants will go home with a series of studies that conjure up the complexity of wild flora and inspire future painting in the field. Location: Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden, Berkeley, California. Cost: $120 members, $130 non-members.
NEW! Creative Forest Fun for Kids & Adults – June 16, 2012. Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Peterson Bay Field Station, Alaska.
NEW! Watercolors in the Wild Forest – June 23, 2012. Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies Peterson Bay Field Station, Alaska.
Watercolors in the Wild: Sierra Flora
July 29 – August 3, 2012
Create lively field studies of California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Discover field-friendly ways to use watercolor and gouache to mix accurate color; create shimmering surfaces; explore light and shadow; build layers using wet into wet, dry brush and glazing techniques; render gesture and detail; and reveal your own mark with ease. We’ll consider botanical imagery in past and contemporary art and take gentle daily forays into the wild to work with new techniques. Participants will go home with a collection of Sierra flora watercolors to use for future reference. Location: San Francisco State University Sierra Nevada Field Campus, Sattley, California.
Book Arts for Kids & Adults: Creative Fun & Exploration
Co-taught with Inga Dubay
August 20-21, 2012
Kids, teens, friends, siblings, parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles are all invited to celebrate the creative spirit through exploring the book arts. Families will discover easy and fun-to-make book structures. Participants will use ink, watercolor, sticks, feathers, reeds, pens, brushes and crayons to explore lighthearted and beautiful ways to make drawings, paintings and calligraphic writing. For all levels, ages 8 and up. Location: Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, Oregon. Cost: $120. Member registration begins February 27. Public registration begins March 12.
Wild Forest Wild Art: Tree-Inspired Painting
August 23-26, 2012
Andie will demonstrate her ever-evolving field techniques for working in layers to capture light, color, gesture and detail, evoking what is seen and felt under the trees. Working indoors and out, through sequenced studies, participants will create images revealing their own responses to the unique complexity of wild forests. Participants will complete a series of forest-inspired mixed media drawings and paintings. Location: Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, Oregon. Cost: $415. Member registration begins February 27. Public registration begins March 12.
NEW! Autumn Retreat: Wawona, The Mariposa Grove, Fall Colors & Field Journals – October 6-8, 2012. Yosemite National Park, CA.
NEW! Accordion Color Book – November 24-25, 2012. San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
NEW! Big Island Retreat: Wild Art & Wild Yoga in Hawaii – March 2013. Kalani Honua, Hawaii.
Private Creativity Coaching & Artist Mentoring
In addition to the workshops listed here, Andie also works privately with a limited number of students. This year individual instruction is offered in two eight-week sessions only.
Session 1: March 15 – May 15
Session 2: September 15 – November 15
Details & Registration: Contact Andie Thrams

Posted in botanical art |

Get Ready to Celebrate 300 Years of Botanical Art

May 23, 2012 by Tania Marien

Nymphaea gigantea W.Hook, 1855; Unknown artist after Walter Fitch; Charles Lemaire, editor; botanical print from Le Jardin Floriste, vol. 3; handcoloured engraving on paper with gum arabic; Collection: Art Gallery of Ballarat; Purchased with funds from public donation, 2011

A major celebration of 300 years of Australian botanical art will be held at the Art Gallery of Ballarat beginning September 25, 2012.

The exhibition Capturing Flora: 300 Years of Australian Botanical Art will take visitors through a historical journey of how Australia’s amazing and diverse flora have been recorded, interpreted and popularized by botanical artists from William Dampier and the early explorers to the present day.

Gordon Morrison, Director of the Art Gallery of Ballarat who is curating the exhibition, says Capturing Flora will be the most comprehensive exhibition of Australian botanical art ever held in Australia.
He goes on to say:

This is a much-needed tribute to the tradition and practice of botanic art in Australia which has been enjoying a renaissance over the last few decades. We are bringing together works from the Gallery’s collection, many of which have been bought in preparation for this exhibition, with key works from some major institutions.

The 350 original drawings and prints range from colourful works which celebrate Australia’s vibrant and flamboyant wildflowers to black and white drawings which are incredibly detailed and meticulously observed. It’s a show that will appeal to anyone who has ever looked at a flower.

A diverse selection of merchandise and a lavishly produced catalog will be produced for the exhibition. Morrison says the catalog will “be a significant contribution to the field as it will contain a series of scholarly essays and will be the first comprehensive monograph to cover botanical art for over ten years.”

The exhibition will include rare 18th century prints of plants that buccaneer William Dampier found on his visit to the Kimberleys in 1699 and images from Cook’s exploration of the east coast of the continent. It will also address the growing popularity of Australian plants in Australia and the growing interest in Australian plants by European gardeners.

Ferdinand von Mueller, the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and the instigator of botanical gardens and collections throughout Victoria and elsewhere in Australia, gets a special billing in a section that highlights the link between research and art.

A section of the exhibition will focus on women artists, both amateur and professional, who have made significant contributions to the recording and popularization of Australian plants. Some, like Louisa Meredith and Ellis Rowan have been celebrated for their work, while others like Eliza Blyth and Fannie de Mole are still relatively obscure.

The exhibition concludes with the revival of Australian botanical art that occurred after World War II. This section will highlight the careers of Margaret Stones and Celia Rosser, and will feature a selection of work of some of the best botanical art in Australia, including that by Jenny Phillips, Anita Barley and Mali Moir.

Tourism packages and special workshops will be offered in conjunction with the three-month exhibition. Visitors to the gallery will also have the opportunity to meet with curators.

The Art Gallery of Ballarat is located at 40 Lydiard Street North, Ballarat. Gallery hours are 9 AM – 5 PM daily. Admission is $12 adults, Concession $8, children and gallery members are free. Questions about this special event should be directed to artgal@ballarat.vic.gov.au.

Visit the Art Gallery of Ballarat

Posted in botanical art, general botany, Special Announcements, Special Events | 4 Comments »

Summer Workshops in Botanical Illustration for Kids

May 23, 2012 by Tania Marien

Summer school for kids and adults!

See what’s new at Classes Near You > Oregon:

Leach Botanical Garden
http://leachgarden.org
A 16-acre garden in southeast Portland. Formerly the private garden of botanist Lilia Leach and her husband pharmacist John Leach, the garden features over 2,000 species of plants and hosts special events and workshops year-round.

Botanical Illustration

View Details/Register

Kids Nature Illustration

View Details/Register

Posted in botanical art, drawing, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Sketching & Journaling |

Trees, Shrubs & Woody Vines of East Texas

May 21, 2012 by Tania Marien

Forester-Artist Bruce Lyndon Cunningham and professor, Dr. Elray S. Nixon, have published the third edition of Trees, Shrubs & Woody Vines of East Texas. The revised edition of this field manual contains keys and illustrations to over 300 woody plant species and an illustrated glossary of plant structures containing over 200 terms.

To order your copy of this new field guide, contact Bruce L. Cunningham. ($59.95, paperback)

Bruce and Dr. Nixon also wrote Gymnosperms of the United States and Canada (2010).

Urban Sanctuary Hosts Botanical Art Exhibition and Classes

May 21, 2012 by Tania Marien

The Quinta Mazatlan Nature Center in McAllen, Texas is a historic adobe mansion featuring birding trails, an art gallery, a nature store and educational programs. The nature center has been added to Classes Near You > Texas. Take a look!

Quinta Mazatlan Nature Center
www.quintamazatlan.com
Built in 1935 as a private residence, Quinta Mazatlan is now an urban sanctuary dedicated to “sharing knowledge about birds, plants, and environmental stewardship in South Texas.” The nature center has partnered with the World Birding Center, Inc. and recently opened their first LEED-certified building, a Discovery Center for children. Quinta Mazatlan offers classes for adults and children and hosts art exhibitions too. The botanical art of Sue Sill is currently on view in the Art in Nature Gallery.

Botanical Illustration – Saturday, May 26, 2012; 10 AM – 4 PM. New students are welcome to attend the third installment of a workshop series about botanical illustration taught by Sue Sill. In this class, students will learn how to add watercolor to a drawing or sketch. Cost: $55 per person. Materials included. Bring lunch. View Details/Register.

Nature Journaling – Saturday, August 4, 2012; 1-4 PM. Explore techniques you can use to record your observations. Learn techniques from sketching to writing to scrap booking. Cost: $5 per person. Bring water, hat, sunscreen and bug spray. View Details/Register