ArtPlantae Today

Use silverpoint and pastel dust to create botanical patterns

September 22, 2015 by Tania Marien

The New England Society of Botanical Artists invites you to join them!

Botanical Patterns in Silverpoint & Pastel Dust

N.E.S.B.A Sponsored Workshop
Princeton, MA.

Information:
Before graphite pencils, artists used metal point, a small rod of metal sharpened to a point, to make marks on a prepared surface. Silver is the most popular metal because it produces an extremely delicate pale gray line – perfect for drawing plant life. Silver is easy to apply and will tarnish over time to mellow browns. The class will include discussions of the historical context of silverpoint as well as a survey of the various studio-prepared surfaces used by the Old Masters. Using plant material as our inspiration, we will treat this old art technique to a modern twist! We will apply a special ground to watercolor paper that easily accepts silverpoint; and enhance our work with the colorful addition of pastel dust. Students are encouraged to bring a small (6 – 8” potted plant) or any related (botanical) reference materials. At the beginning of the first class, we will make a paper sampler with different silverpoint grounds using a simple white watercolor paint and a sumptuous Old Masters recipe provided by the instructor. To economize class time, students are encouraged to come to class with a completed line drawing of their chosen specimen plus any related reference materials (jpegs, prints, or live plant material).

Instructor:

Kathie Miranda is an award-winning botanical artist and educator and recently taught this workshop for the Art League in NYC. She studied at Lyme Academy of Art and at Paier College of Art, and holds a Certificate of Botanical Art and Illustration from The New York Botanical Garden, where she is a highly sought-after instructor in their adult education art program. She serves on the Board of the American Society of Botanical Artists; is Past President of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Greater New York Chapter; and maintains active memberships in the Connecticut Watercolor Society, Pencil Art Society, and the Colored Pencil Society of America. She exhibits her work nationally, and is currently researching and illustrating flora of Connecticut for future exhibition and publication.

Friday/Saturday, 2-day workshop 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m daily
Fee: $150 (plus $5 material fee to instructor)
Pre-registration required with fee paid in advance by October 9, 2015.

Please Register Early – Enrollment limited to 12 students

Contact:
Kathleen Kummer, Treasurer, NESBA.

This information has been added to Classes Near You > Massachusetts.

More Information
Visit the New England Society of Botanical Artists

Posted in botanical art, Education, Learning Opportunities |

Upcoming Fall Events

September 22, 2015 by Tania Marien

ArtPlantae brings the InterpretPlants™ program to community venues and events to encourage an interest in plants. Fall events include two for the public and one for local Girl Scouts.

History of Botanical Illustration

Register

Girl_Derness – An Outdoor Adventure
Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio
Hidden Valley Nature Center
Riverside County Parks
October 10, 2015

Observing California Desert Plants
La Quinta Museum
La Quinta, CA
October 29, 2015
4-5 pm
FREE

John Muir is a well-known naturalist who had a passion for plants and who recorded this passion in his journals. However Muir was not the only naturalist to document the flora of California. Did you know an equally passionate East coast artist documented desert wildflowers of the Coachella Valley? This artist’s drawings, paintings and prints of California desert plants earned him acclaim not only locally, but also at a respected institution whose specialty is the history of botany.

You’re invited to learn more about this artist and resident of Twentynine Palms.
Directions

Posted in Learning Opportunities |

Solar-powered Movie Nights at UCR Community Garden

September 22, 2015 by Tania Marien

The community garden at UC Riverside has announced their schedule for Fall garden workshops and solar-powered movie nights. They have also announced that there are some plots available in the garden. Students, staff, faculty and the public can be plot holders.
If you’re interested, contact R’Garden, UCR’s Community Garden.

Learn more about R’Garden and all of Riverside’s wonderful community gardens. Download the flyers below.

Plants, Life, Riverside is an ongoing interpretive project about plants in the bustling urban landscape of Riverside, CA.

Posted in Plants Everyday, Plants Life Riverside |

A new school year begins at Wellesley Botanic Garden

September 3, 2015 by Tania Marien

A new school year begins in the Certificate Program in Botanical Art and Illustration at Wellesley College Botanic Gardens. Here is what’s new at Classes Near You > Massachusetts:

Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
Certificate Program in Botanical Art and Illustration
http://www.wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends

This program offers several weekly and one- to three-day classes on botanical art with lead instructor and Education Director Sarah Roche as well as Carol Govan, Carrie Megan, Carol Ann Morley, Esther Klahne, and other visiting instructors. The courses offered through this program cover all aspects of botanical art. Along with Sarah’s twice-yearly offerings, Foundations of Botanical Drawing and Painting and the more advanced Techniques of Botanical Drawing and Painting, here is a brief overview of the 2015-2016 course offerings:

Carrie Megan’s Beginning Botanical Drawing I and II classes and Seed Pods: Larger than Life in Black & White and Ranunculus (or Roses) in Spring
Carol Govan’s Introduction to Botany Through Drawing
Susan Fisher’s Color Mixing for Artists
Carol Ann Morley’s Pen & Ink I: Foundations for Botanical Rendering
Ann Swan’s Taster Day and Tactile Textures, Tips and Tricks
Esther Klahne’s Season of Wither: A Studio Focus on Vellum
Denise Walser-Kolar’s Painting on Vellum
Lara Call Gastinger’s Painting in Sepia
Sarah Roche’s beginner class, Drawing and Painting for the Petrified
Sarah Roche’s studio focus class Leafy Greens

Learn more about Wellesley’s certificate program

View current Programs, Courses, & Travel schedule

Posted in Education, Learning Opportunities |

The Legacy of Luther Burbank, A Gallery Show

September 2, 2015 by Tania Marien

Poster, Sonoma County Colored Pencil Artists

Courtesy: Sonoma County Colored Pencil Artists

The Legacy of
Luther Burbank
Helen Crocker Russell Library
San Francisco Botanical Gardens
Sept. 2 – Dec. 30, 2015

The Sonoma County Colored Pencil Botanical Artists are exhibiting 32 paintings of plants from the Luther Burbank Gold Ridge Experiment Farm in Sebastopol, CA and the
Luther Burbank Home & Garden in Santa Rosa, CA.

Artists worked with specimens from both locations to create a botanical record (florilegium) of Burbank’s work in Sonoma County. An Artists’ Reception will be held on Thursday, September 17th (5-7 pm). You are invited to the reception to meet the artists and to learn about this special project.

Artists participating in this exhibition:

Nina Antze
Adrianne Bowes
Suzanne Cogen
Margie Goff
Nancy W Klippert
Victoria A. Kochergin
Rebecca Lichau
Jackie Lueder
Joanne Page
Elizabeth Peyton
Ginny Ritama Spencer
Vi Strain
Chris Woodward

Exhibition Coordinator, Nina Antze, will teach two colored pencil workshops in conjunction with the exhibition. These workshops will be taught
September 17 and November 5. For more information, please contact Nina.

More Information

Posted in Education, Special Events |

Draw and paint mushrooms with artist Margaret Saylor

September 2, 2015 by Tania Marien

Please welcome Margaret Saylor to
Classes Near You > Pennsylvania!

Margaret Saylor
margaretsaylor.com
Margaret Saylor is a Pennsylvania artist with many years of design experience. She earned a Certificate in Botanical Art & Illustration from the New York Botanical Garden and teaches botanical art in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York. Margaret is the Editor/Designer of The Botanical Artist, the quarterly journal of the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Margaret’s complete teaching schedule is available on her website.

Here is what’s coming up this next!

Painting Mushrooms: Woodland Jewels of the Forest

Much of the mystery and intrigue surrounding mushrooms stems from the tiny kingdom on the forest floor that they inhabit. Join Margaret Saylor for a three-day workshop where you will examine different types of fungi and mushrooms, then sketch, compose, and build a unique and accurate painting. Including secondary elements such as spiky grasses, brittle leaves, satiny acorns, or even woodland critters adds interest to your composition while teaching the viewer more about the habitat of the particular mushroom the artist has chosen to depict. Concepts will be taught through demonstrations and individual instruction. All levels of ability are welcome!

View Details/Register

Posted in Education, Learning Opportunities |

Graphite, pen and ink classes begin this month in distance learning program

September 1, 2015 by Tania Marien

Gretchen Kai Halpert
www.gretchenhalpert.com
Gretchen Kai Halpert is the founder and instructor of a new online program in scientific illustration. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Gretchen has many years of experience working as a scientific illustrator and teaching programs about natural science illustration.

Learn more about the distance learning program in scientific illustration at http://www.gretchenhalpert-distanceprogram.com.

Scientific Illustration, Session I, Graphite
September 21-November 23, 2015
Mondays 7:00 pm EDT (or email)
On-line

Session I includes basic drawing skills that are the background to any and all illustration. We cover lighting, scientific conventions, proportion, perspective and value, working from life and from a variety of natural history objects. Students work in graphite, and are introduced to crow quill with ink. This class is appropriate for both beginners and intermediate students. Advanced students should talk with Gretchen before enrolling.

Scientific Illustration, Session II, Pen and Ink

Session II Focuses on composition, technical accuracy, how to conduct research, and producing portfolio pieces. In this class, students become adept with crow quill and ink on paper and scratchboard.

Register Today