ArtPlantae Today

ArtPlantae Herbarium Expanding

August 10, 2009 by Tania Marien

It has always been ArtPlantae’s objective to make the subject of botany more palatable and easy to understand. In its earliest days, the focus was to assist botanical artists with their understanding of plant morphology so that they could understand the structures they so skillfully capture on paper. As ArtPlantae developed, it became clear that it was in a position to not only assist artists, but to assist others as well.

Visit the new Herbarium page to learn about original research pertaining to botany education.

Posted in About, Education, History, Special Announcements |

“Botanicals: Near and Far” in New York

August 10, 2009 by Tania Marien

The Bruynswick Art Studio and Gallery has announced an exhibition featuring the artwork of Wendy Hollender. Meet Wendy at the opening reception on Saturday, September 5, 2009 from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The exhibition Botanicals: Near and Far will continue through October 10, 2009.

Wendy will teach a botanical drawing workshop on Friday, September 5, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Workshop participants must bring their own watercolor paints and colored pencils. Paper will be provided. Space is limited, so sign up as soon as possible. Registration closes on August 31, 2009. Here are the details:

Botanical Drawing in Watercolor and Colored Pencil
Date: Friday, September 5, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Location: 1058 Bruynswick Rd., Gardiner, NY 12525
Cost: $75 (includes lunch)
Contact: Pattie Eakin at (845) 255-5693 or Wendy Hollender at (212) 580-4855
Note: Rain date is September 6, 2009

Posted in Learning Opportunities |

Documentation of Orchids Takes 16 Years to Complete

August 3, 2009 by Tania Marien

The comprehensive Orchids of Western Australia is the result of a 16-year effort by botanists Andrew Brown, Kingsley Dixon, and Stephen Hopper, and botanical artist Pat Dundas. All of the orchids of Western Australia are represented in this book.

Thirty-nine genera are described and each species of orchid was painted by artist Pat Dundas. The orchids of Western Australia are not the sturdy robust orchids usually portrayed in botanical paintings, so do not expect to see the typical Slipper Orchid or corsage cymbidium. The orchids of Australia’s South-West Region and Kimberly Region are slender, delicate, and can have spider-like willowy features. Dundas painted 185 paintings during the course of this project. A monumental task!

In addition to species descriptions, the authors include an introduction to the orchid family (ORCHIDACEAE) and a review of orchid morphology and how orchids are named by taxonomists. The distribution, flowering season, plant-pollinator interactions, and reproduction of Western Australian orchid species are also discussed. The examples of floral mimicry and sexual deception among this group of orchids are especially fascinating.

While the species described in this book are specific to Australia, the contribution Orchids of Western Australia makes to our knowledge of the orchid family is of significance to us all. This reference also serves as another example of how botanical illustration can contribute to our understanding and awareness of plants.

Orchids of Western Australia can be purchased at ArtPlantae Books. This is a special order item. ($80)

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art, general botany |

New York Botanical Artist Featured in “Artists Magazine”

August 3, 2009 by Tania Marien

Artist and author, Wendy Hollender, is featured in the September 2009 issue of Artists Magazine. Freelance writer, Meredith E. Lewis, interviewed Wendy and traces Wendy’s career from successful designer to coordinator of the botanical art and illustration program at the New York Botanical Garden.

Wendy discusses how she works in her studio and shares her preferences when it comes to colored pencil, her chosen medium. She also lists the individual colors she uses to create the colors found in nature.

The September issue of Artists Magazine is on sale now at the North Light Shop. Also online and available for download, are a drawing exercise and a colored pencil exercise from Wendy’s book, Botanical Drawing: A Beginner’s Guide.

Wendy teaches at the New York Botanical Garden, Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Hollengold Farm. She also teaches classes in the field in exotic locations such as Hawaii.

Visit DrawingInColor.com to learn more about Wendy and to view her colored pencil gallery.

Posted in botanical art, Special Articles & Interviews |

Potatoes & Food Chains

August 3, 2009 by Tania Marien

Helping you become better acquainted with the plants in your world has always been one of ArtPlantae’s objectives. One of the favorite topics around here is economic botany (i.e., the origin and domestication of plants). Always interesting, this subject defines the role plants play in our lives like no other subject. It is real-world, everyday, practical botany. We’re into that. This is why the economic botany category in the bookstore was renamed “Plants & YOU”. The phrase “economic botany” wasn’t particularly “everyday” and caused too many people to scratch their heads and ask, “What’s that?”

For your reading pleasure, the following titles have been added to the Plants & YOU category at ArtPlantae Books:

Food Chains: From Farmyard to Shopping Cart
Features case studies documenting the handling of food from farmyard to grocery store.

Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent
Photojournalist, John Reader, traces this popular tuber from its domestication in Peru 8,000 years ago to its current status as the world’s fourth largest food crop.

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, general botany |

Alexander Von Humboldt’s Botanical Discoveries & Prints

July 27, 2009 by Tania Marien

In 1799, naturalist and scholar Alexander Von Humboldt embarked on a five-year expedition to explore the Americas. He was accompanied by Aimé Bonpland, a French botanist, and together they described the plants they observed during their journey. Their botanical findings have been described by H. Walter Lack in Alexander Von Humboldt: The Botanical Exploration of the Americas. This title was published in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of Von Humboldt’s death.

The Library of Congress has posted a webcast of a lecture about Alexander Von Humboldt, also in commemoration of his death. This presentation is 80 minutes in length and is worth every viewing minute. Von Humboldt was an accomplished researcher. He has been described as “the last universal scholar” in the natural sciences, meaning he was the last person to have command over the information in his fields of study. View “Alexander Von Humboldt in the United States, 1859-2009”.

If you don’t have 80 minutes to watch a video and would prefer to read a summary about Von Humboldt, view the summary posted on the website of Humboldt State University here.

Alexander Von Humboldt: The Botanical Exploration of the Americas is available at ArtPlantae Books.

Posted in botanical art, botanical art books, general botany |

Fruitarians, Hunters, Politics & You

July 27, 2009 by Tania Marien

Most of us do not know a fruit hunter, much less a durianarian and their passion for durians. And what about fruitarians and their all-fruit diet? You might think you have very little in common with passionate individuals such as these, but you would be wrong. The common thread that ties us together is the global fruit industry and all its forms, from the produce section of markets to fruit drinks in the beverage aisle to agricultural checkpoints at airports and along highways. TheFruitHunters

Adam Leith Gollner traveled the world to interview fruit hunters, growers, enthusiasts, researchers, and vendors to explore the fruit industry. He explains how fruit makes it to our grocery store and why the selection of fruit at our local market is so uninspiring. He explains how the kiwi made it big and lets us in on fruit varieties that may become available in the near future. Gollner describes his encounters with fruit hunters so vividly, you will feel as if you experienced the “fruit underworld” yourself. To make the experience even more complete, Gollner has posted photos of his adventures online. View these photos after you have started to read The Fruit Hunters to help visualize the people and places described in the book.

Gollner is a writer who has written for The New York Times, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, and Good magazine. The Fruit Hunters is his first book.

Cover, paperback edition, 2013