ArtPlantae Today

Learn nature journaling techniques online

March 11, 2016 by Tania Marien

Val Webb of The Illustrated Garden will lead journaling enthusiasts on a year-long exploration of the natural world. This wonderful online learning opportunity begins March 21.

In Draw Paint Letter, Val will teach participants how to draw in pencil, charcoal, pen-and-ink and colored pencil and teach participants how to paint in watercolor. Projects will combine drawing, painting and lettering. Subjects will include animals wild and domestic, birds of all kinds including shorebirds and birds of prey, butterflies and moths, marine life, frog and turtles, botanical drawing techniques, wildflowers, heirloom vegetable varieties, tropical flowers and ferns, historic and medicinal plants, herbs, trees, the cottage garden setting, natural landscapes (forest, coastal, mountain and desert), creeks and rivers, open water, skies, and much more.

Draw Paint Letter is available through a monthly subscription. Students can join at anytime and leave the program at anytime. Students will enjoy lifetime access to materials sent to paid subscribers. This class costs $30 per month and is billed monthly through PayPal.

Learn more about this class and alternate payment option at Draw Paint Letter: A New Way to Learn.

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

Posted in Education |

ASBA Call for Artists

March 8, 2016 by Tania Marien

The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) has issued a “call for artists” to all ASBA members. This exhibition has a very short lead time. Deadline is April 3!

Click on the image below for details and guidelines for online submission.

Posted in Special Announcements |

Learn about plants through art, science and engineering

March 7, 2016 by Tania Marien

The Chelsea Physic Garden invites you to join them for Family Activity Days. Learn about chocolate, Shakespearean herbology, art, flight, garden photography and more. Family activities scheduled for 2016 are for participants age 7 and older, unless otherwise specified.

Here is what’s new at Classes Near You > England:

Chocolate Tuesday

Potions and Poison: Shakespearean Herbology
Thursdays, April 7, August 18, October 28
10:30 am – 3:00 pm
Learn about the world of apothecaries through a Shakespearean lens. The Chelsea Physic Garden partners with Studio Cultivate to create new experiences for families.

Spectacular Seeds
Tuesday, March 29
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Learn about seeds, make seed art and eat seeds too!

Water World
Wednesday, March 30
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Learn about water through art, meteorology, physics and botany. Participants will make a wall fountain, rain gauge, water drop microscope and mini aquatic ecosystem.

Puppetry in Motion
Thursday, March 31
10:30 am – 3:00 pm
Design garden-inspired creatures with artist Hyunjung Choi.

Animal Encounters
Tuesday, April 5 or Wednesday, October 26
10:30 am – Noon or 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Children ages 4+ will learn about animals and their habitats and have the opportunity to hold the animals.

Art of the Garden
Create garden-inspired art and craft projects. Print, paint, sketch and build! Schedule options for this session are:
Ages 4+, Wednesday, April 6, 10:30-Noon or 1:00-2:30 pm
Ages 6+, Tuesday, October 25, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm

Marvelous Masks
Wednesday, June 1
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Learn about masks from around the world and then make your mask using materials found in the Garden.

Thinking with Your Nose: An Introduction to Plant Perfumes
Thursday, June 2, 10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Participants ages 11+ will learn about perfumery and how how to make their own perfumes.

A Passion for Plants: Gardening for Beginners
Tuesday, August 2
10:30 – Noon or 1:00-2:30 pm
Gardeners ages 4 and up will learn how to care for plants and learn how to create garden-inspired gifts.

The Power of Plants: Ethnobotany for Beginners
Wednesday, August 3
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Learn about the plants we use everyday. Did you know you will most likely use ten plants before arriving for this session?

Pulp Fiction: Paper-making, Paper Stixx, Wonderful Wire & More
Thursday, August 4
10:30 am – 3:00 pm
Artist, inventor and designer Darcy Turner will show you how to see paper, metal and wire in new ways. Also, learn how to make your own paper. For ages 6+.

Garden Safari
Tuesday, August 9
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
More animal encounters, plus explore the Garden’s jungle room, medicinal plants, poisonous plants and vampire plants. For ages 10+.

Recycled Garden Sculptures
Sculptor Michelle Reader will show participants ages 8+ how to use everyday items to create sculptures of garden plants and animals.

Flight Club: An Introduction to Things That Fly
Thursday, August 11
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Learn about the science and history of flight by studying pollen, seeds, insects, birds and humans. Participants will make flying seeds, kites and paper airplanes. Rocket? Did someone say rocket?!

Garden Photography
Photographers ages 7 and up are invited to bring their cameras and smartphones to learn about lighting, composition, texture and form. They will also receive tips about wildlife photography and about how to make plant portraits.

Animation Station
Tuesday, August 23
10;30 am – 3:00 pm
Professional film-maker Emma Sullivan will lead this workshop for storytellers ages 11+. She will help them create characters and a story inspired by the Garden’s own plants and animals.

Living Color
Wednesday, August 24
10:30 am – 3:00 pm
Textile artist Lara Hailey will talk about textiles and dyes. Participants age 11+ will make their own dyed creations and plant a garden to take home.

Fire!!
Learn about the science, folklore, customs and beliefs associated with fir as the Garden marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London, the 150th anniversary of the London Brigade and the 50th anniversary of the Chelsea fire station. The Museum of London will lead activities and a fire engine will be onsite.

Fungi Town: An Introduction to the Weird World of Mushrooms
Thursday, October 27
10:30 am – 2:30 pm
Participants ages 8+ will learn about fungi through tasty treats and mushroom printing and continue their learning at home with their own mini growing kit.

Sunday Sundays
Don’t forget the drop-in activities for families scheduled from 12-4 pm on April 10 June 10, August 14 and October 2.

About the Chelsea Physic Garden
Hidden in the heart of London, Chelsea Physic Garden is both a peaceful oasis in the city and a center for learning. It was founded by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London in 1673 for apprentices to study the medicinal qualities of plants and by the 18th century the Garden was one of the most important centers of botany and plant exchange in the world.

Today the Garden’s features include Europe’s oldest pond rockery, the Cool Fernery, the Garden of Edible & Useful Plants, the Garden of Medicinal Plants and the World Woodland Garden. Its education and outreach program reaches over 5,000 children a year from across London in addition to the program of Family Activity Days and Walks, Talks & Workshops.

Posted in Learning Opportunities |

The #SciArt Tweet Storm has begun!

March 2, 2016 by Tania Marien

This week ArtPlantae is participating in the #SciArt Tweet Storm hosted by Scientific American’s science-art bloggers Glendon Mellow, Kalliopi Monoyios and Katie McKissick.

Natural science illustrators, science communicators and science fans are invited to take part in this event that occurs the first week of March. Illustrators Mellow, Monoyios and McKissick have outlined three easy-to-follow rules for this event. They are:

Tweet 3 pieces of your own #SciArt
Retweet 5 pieces of #SciArt by other people
Make sure you use the hashtag #SciArt

Works-in-progress, sketches, bioart and work from your personal archives can be shared. Nothing has to have been created within the past 12 months.

Do you write about science and art? You can join in too.

Follow the #SciArt Twitter stream for up-to-the-minute activity. Alternatively, you can follow the ArtPlantae Twitter feed located in the column to your right. This feed has been expanded for this event.

Interested?

Start Here!

Posted in Teaching & Learning |

Nature Reportage Drawing at Art.Science.Gallery.

February 19, 2016 by Tania Marien

Please welcome the Art.Science.Gallery. to
Classes Near You > Texas!

Art.Science.Gallery.
http://artsciencegallery.com
Art.Science.Gallery. is an art gallery and science communication space in Austin, TX and the first art gallery in the nation to feature science-related artwork exclusively. Follow the Gallery on Twitter (@artscigallery) and Facebook.

Field-Based Sketching & Nature Reportage Drawing

Illustrator Jedidiah Dore will teach you how to create location-based drawings and illustrations with emphasis on natural and botanical scenes, and will inspire you to create projects based on class drawings. Drawing trips to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Zilker Botanical Garden, and the Austin Nature & Science Center will begin or end with short lectures and group critique. There is an optional full-day field trip on the last day of class for an extra fee. Students are responsible for admission fees to each park and location (est. $3-10 per trip). No drawing experience is necessary. This class will be based at Art.Science.Gallery. in Austin, TX.

Cost: $155 per student (5 meetings, 12.5 hours)

View Details/Register

About Jedidiah Dore, MFA
An award-winning illustrator, Jedidiah Dore is founder/owner of
Ink & Sword art and design studio. He earned a BFA in drawing and communication design and an MFA in painting from the Pratt Institute and studied under artist Dave Passalacqua at the Passalacqua School of Drawing and Illustration. Follow him on Twitter (@inkandsword).

Posted in Education, Learning Opportunities, Sketching & Journaling |

Trompe l’Oeil for Botanical Artists

February 19, 2016 by Tania Marien

Florida Society of Botanical Artists
www.floridasocietyofbotanicalartists.com
A chapter of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the FSBA hosts workshops with visiting instructors and conducts public demonstrations at group exhibitions. Visit their website to learn more.

Trompe l’Oeil Workshop

Trompe l’Oeil is a French term that means “to fool the eye”. Trompe l’Oeil artwork attempts to be so realistic that the viewer is fooled into thinking that the three-dimensional object presented is real instead of being a two-dimensional representation. In this workshop, botanical artist and instructor Diane Harm will introduce botanical artists to this style of work. Participants will explore the full range of values from white to black using graphite, charcoal and carbon pencils. They will also learn a variety of blending methods for use in the creation of a botanical drawing. Colored pencil can be added as an option.

This workshop is sponsored by the Florida Society of Botanical Artists and will be taught at the Roskamp Center for Arts and Humanities located at 1226 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL (view map).

Cost: Members $125; Non-Members $150

Registration Info
Mail your check made out to the FSBA to:

This information has also been posted to Classes Near You > Florida.

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities |

Entomology workshop introduction to exhibition about Maria Sibylla Merian

February 17, 2016 by Tania Marien

Click image to register

The Lloyd Library and Museum in Cincinnati will host an entomology workshop in partnership with Meddling with Nature, an organization known for their educational theatrics and hands-on DIY workshops whose specialty is creating opportunities for individuals to experience art within the natural sciences. Guests will be encouraged to “touch with their own hands and see with their own eyes”. Meddlers big and small, armed with their new-found knowledge, will mount and take home their very own large exotic specimen.

This workshop is a precursor to the Lloyd Library’s Summer 2016 exhibition showcasing Maria Sibylla Merian’s Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. Meddling with Nature will bring this epic work to life by presenting Surinam native plants and insects alongside the Lloyd Library’s original copies.

Learn about entomology and gain new insight into the work of Maria Sibyl Merian. Register for Meddling with Nature’s entomology workshop. The workshop will be held on Friday, February 19 (7-9 PM). Doors open at 6:30 PM.

General adult ticket: $49 advanced purchase
Additional child ticket: $22

Register Today!

About Meddling with Nature
Meddling with Nature is dedicated to exploring the connection between art and natural science. Starting with a love for medical illustration, Meddling with Nature quickly incorporated naturalistic, artistic, and anthropomorphic taxidermy. Meddling with Nature’s goal includes a mandate to educate the public on both biological and naturalist themes through direct, hands on experience. Meddling with Nature is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2016 and is producing a number of events throughout the year.

About Lloyd Library and Museum
Lloyd Library and Museum is committed to providing engaging public programming through lectures, exhibitions, instructional events (for students of all ages) and symposia, that highlights the breadth and depth of the collection in all new ways. Offering a collection of botanical, medical, pharmaceutical, scientific books and periodicals, the library offers services and programming that bring science, art, and history to life.