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Take a Mixed Media Approach to Botanical Art

May 21, 2012 by Tania Marien

Mixed media artist, Jane La Fazio, has announced an updated schedule that includes workshops well into 2013. The classes listed below are only a glimpse of what Jane has to offer. Be sure you visit her website to see her complete schedule.

Here is what’s new at Classes Near You in Southern California, New Mexico, Maryland, Texas and Greece.


Jane LaFazio, Plain Jane Studio
www.plainjanestudio.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 the sketching classes, Jane teaches workshops in collage, mixed media, and quilting. A detailed class schedule can be viewed on her blog. Also see an interview with Jane and her Ask The Artist Q&A with readers.

  • Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style – Begins June 7, 2012. This six-week class is taught online via Joggles.com. View Details/Register
  • Sketching & Watercolor in a Mixed Media Journal – July 9-10, 2012; 9 AM – 4 PM. Learn Jane’s quick and intuitive method to drawing and watercolor. Create designs based on your sketches and learn how to create backgrounds to enhance your journal entries. View Details/Register
  • Tesoro del Corazon – April 21-28, 2013. Mixed media art retreat in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Interested? Let them know
  • Red Thread Retreats – May 16-20, 2013. Mixed media retreat in Maryland. Learn more about Red Thread Retreats. Contact info@ArtistSuccess.com to be placed on interest list.
  • Lavender Sage Art Retreat with Pamela Underwood – June 10-14, 2013. Mixed media retreat in Taos, New Mexico. View Details/Register
  • Art Journaling Workshop – July 8-14, 2013. Lakonia, Greece. Learn how to incorporate watercolor sketches and memorable prose in a journal format. Writers’ Workshops International. View Details/Register
  • Lavender Sage Art Retreat with Pamela Underwood – October 3-7, 2013. Mixed media retreat in Austin, Texas. Click here for more information. Join Interest List

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

Kitchen Counter Botany

May 18, 2012 by Tania Marien

Know your veggies.
Eat your veggies.
Draw your veggies.

Making vegetables and plants irresistibly interesting to the next generation is the goal of Botany on Your Plate: Investigating the Plants We Eat, a ready-to-use curriculum written by Katharine D. Barrett, Jennifer M. White and Christine Manoux.

The eight interdisciplinary lessons in this book written for K-4 students are based on the Grocery Store Botany program taught at the UC Botanical Garden Berkeley. Each lesson includes a materials list and instruction on how to lead students to an understanding of plants through inquiry. Drawing is an essential part of each lesson and clearly enhances student observation skills and student understanding of plants and how they grow. Here is a summary of each lesson:

  • Lesson 1: Let’s Become Botanists! – During this lesson, teachers will determine students’ prior knowledge about plants and learn about the plants their students eat. Students create the botany journal they will use throughout the unit and learn about the “plant snack process”. A recurring feature, the “plant snack” activity encourages students to “taste and describe” the fruit and vegetables they are learning about.
  • Lesson 2: Roots – Students learn about roots and their function through observation, dissection and drawing. Suggestions about how to relate this lesson to math, nutrition, cooking, social science, language arts and plant propagation are provided.
  • Lesson 3: Stems – Students learn about stems and how water and nutrients travel through plants while dissecting and drawing stems. Students learn about the scientific process while conducting an experiment and learn about products made from stems. Suggestions about how to relate this lesson to math, nutrition, cooking, social science and language arts are provided.
  • Lesson 4: Leaves – Leaf structure and photosynthesis are the focus of this lesson. Dissection and drawing again play an integral role. Suggestions about how to relate this lesson to math, nutrition, social studies and language arts are provided.
  • Lesson 5: Flowers – Students study flowers and learn about pollinators while dissecting flowers and drawing floral structures in their botany journals. Suggestions about how to relate this lesson to math, nutrition, pollination ecology, cooking, social science and language arts are provided.
  • Lesson 6: Fruit – A study of two types of fruit leads to discussion about seeds and seed dispersal. Suggestions about how to relate this lesson to math, nutrition, ethnobotany, social science, cooking and language arts are provided.
  • Lesson 7: Seeds – In this lesson, students explore seeds in more detail. They learn about a seed’s function through dissection and drawing. Suggestions about how to relate this lesson to math, nutrition, cooking, gardening, social science, and language arts are provided.
  • Lesson 8: Plants – Top to Bottom – A recap of the many elements in this unit, students end the eight-lesson series drawing and writing about plants in their journals.

Background information about plant biology is provided for teachers, as are copies of the handouts required for each lesson. A helpful glossary is also included.

Botany on Your Plate: Investigating the Plants We Eat is an invaluable resource that should be in every classroom or at least in every school library.


Literature Cited
Barrett, Katharine D. and Jennifer M. White and Christine Manoux. 2008. Botany on Your Plate: Investigating the Plants We Eat. Burlington, VT: National Gardening Association.


Related Topics

Posted in botany, drawing, Teaching & Learning, teaching and learning |

Draw and Paint Herbs!

May 16, 2012 by Tania Marien

Herb Sampler, ©Val Webb. All rights reserved

Draw and Paint Six Culinary Herbs
Saturday, June 30 from 10am-4pm
Studio at Alabama Art Supply
1006 23rd Street South
Birmingham, AL
$120 includes all art supplies and six potted organic herbs to take home

Learn the basic structure of a leaf, then put that knowledge to work as you create a color rendering of six culinary herbs in layered watercolor and colored pencil. Step-by-step guidance, no previous experience necessary, and all supplies are provided. Take home your completed botanical art and six potted herb plants at the end of the day. This is a very limited small-group workshop, and it is expected to fill up very quickly. Your registration fee must be received to reserve your spot. To register, contact instructor Val Webb or call 251-510-9615.

Val Webb, award-winning illustrator of 11 books for children, is known for her images of nature and garden subjects. Her artwork appears nationwide on seed packages, and is featured in public and private art collections around the world. Val lives in Fairhope, Alabama.

This information can also be viewed in Classes Near You > Alabama.

Posted in botanical art, general botany |

Artist Feedback About ‘Botany for Artists’

May 16, 2012 by Tania Marien

Euonymus europaeus. © Liz Leech. All rights reserved

Questions for You!

This morning Liz has questions for readers who own a copy of Botany for Artists. Liz’s book was released in the UK in November and was released in the US on May 1. Liz has specific questions about reader’s experiences with her new book.

Reader comments about the book have begun to appear in your ongoing conversation with Liz. This is perfect timing because today Liz has questions for all of you.

See what Liz is asking readers.

Join this conversation already in progress…

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

Botanical Art Exhibition in New York’s Hudson Valley

May 16, 2012 by Tania Marien

Artist and teacher, Wendy Hollender, will host a exhibition of botanical art on May 19 at Hollengold Farm, her organic farm located in the Hudson Valley in New York. This exhibition will feature the artwork of Carol Woodin, Paul Harwood and Wendy Hollender. Meet the artists and learn about the summer workshops each will teach at the farm.

Carol Woodin and Wendy Hollender will teach Botanical Art Basics twice per month on Friday afternoons beginning June 1, 2012.

Paul Harwood, Carol Woodin and Wendy Hollender will each teach Saturday workshops at the farm. These all-day workshops include a farm-fresh lunch! Choose from these summer workshops at Hollengold Farm:

  • Botanical Field Sketching in Pencil and Watercolor with Carol Woodin – May 26
  • Drawing Trees in Charcoal and Chalk with Paul Harwood – June 23
  • Drawing Fresh Produce in Colored Pencil and Watercolor with Wendy Hollender – July 28
  • Drawing Still Lifes with Charcoal and Chalk with Paul Harwood – Aug. 11
  • Heirloom Fruits in Watercolor with Carol Woodin – September 8
  • Drawing Dahlias in Colored Pencil and Watercolor Pencil with Wendy Hollender – October 6

Botanical Art Exhibition at Hollengold Farm
Meet the artists!
Learn about classes at the farm!
Accord, NY
May 19, 2012
6-8 PM

Workshop information can also be viewed at Classes Near You > New York.

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Special Events |

Ask the Botanist: Liz Leech Continues Conversation about Botany, Botanical Art

May 14, 2012 by Tania Marien

Sempervivum arachnoideum. © Liz Leech. All rights reserved

Ask Liz!
Liz and I hope you have enjoyed learning about her approach to teaching botanical artists about plants. Today Liz and I would like to open up the conversation. Do you have any questions you would like to ask Liz?

Click here to join the conversation

Posted in botanical art, botany, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Photography | 1 Comment »

Denver Botanic Gardens Announces Classes, Special Workshops in Botanical Art

May 14, 2012 by Tania Marien

Denver Botanic Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration
Denver Botanic Gardens
A complete program offering classes in pencil drawing, colored pencil, watercolor, sketching, botany, art history, scratch board, and classes dedicated to specific techniques and plant groups. This program works collaboratively with El Charco del Ingenio, a nature reserve and botanical garden in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. To learn more about the Garden’s certificate program, visit the program’s blog at http://botanicalillustration.blogspot.com. This blog is maintained by Program Coordinator, Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski.


GUEST WORKSHOPS FOR SUMMER/FALL 2012

  • Traditional Techniques: Plastic Pencils on Film with Alice Tangerini,
    August 3-5, 2012
  • Hidden Treasures: Fore-edge Painting for Everyone with Jeanne Bennet, August 18-19, 2012
  • Painting with the Needle: Silk Shading with Sarah Homfray,
    September 26-28, 2012
  • Drawing on Tradition: Silverpoint with Scott Rawlins, October 5-7, 2012
  • Seedpods in Colored Pencil with Ann Swan, October 22-24, 2012
  • Leaves and All Things Leafy with Ann Swan, October 26-28, 2012
  • From Dancing Ink to Pictures of Ownership: Creating Book Plates with Symbolic Chinese Botanical Motifs with Sally Yu Leung,
    November 30 – December 2, 2012


CERTIFICATE PROGRAM at DBG
A comprehensive series of botanical illustration classes designed for dedicated illustrators and devoted amateurs. Participants must complete all required courses, elective courses and a portfolio review to satisfy requirements necessary for a certificate in botanical art.

    Required Courses
    Botanical Illustration in Pencil I
    Botany for the Botanical Illustrator
    Botanical Illustration in Pencil II
    Composition for Botanical Illustration
    Color Layering for Colored Pencil
    Botanical Illustration in Colored Pencil I
    Perfecting Perspective
    Botanical Illustration in Colored Pencil II
    Color Mixing for Artists
    Botanical Illustration in Pen and Ink I
    Botanical Illustration in Pen and Ink II
    Botanical Illustration in Watercolor I
    Botanical Illustration in Watercolor II


DISTANCE LEARNING at DBG
This new program combines in-class instruction with online instruction. Students accepted into this new certificate program must live more than 100 miles from Denver Botanic Gardens.

    Required Courses Taught at DBG
    Botanical Illustration in Pencil I
    Botany for the Botanical Illustrator
    Composition for Botanical Illustration
    Perfecting Perspective
    Color Layering for Colored Pencil

    Required Courses Taught Online with On-site Component     (two days of in-class instruction followed by three weekly Internet sessions)
    Botanical Illustration in Pencil II
    Botanical Illustration in Colored Pencil I
    Botanical Illustration in Colored Pencil II
    Color Mixing for Artists
    Botanical Illustration in Pen and Ink I
    Botanical Illustration in Pen and Ink II
    Botanical Illustration in Watercolor I
    Botanical Illustration in Watercolor II

View and download Summer/Fall 2012 schedule:

This information can also be viewed at Classes Near You > Colorado.

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

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