ArtPlantae Today

The Art & Science of Gardens and Nature

April 16, 2013 by Tania Marien

Welcome EE Week visitors! Hope you enjoy your visit.

A popular feature on this site is the Classes Near You section. Today there are great examples of the types of classes you can find in this section. Allow me to introduce you naturalist and artist, Maria Hodkins from Colorado and to North Cascades Basecamp in Mazama, WA.

Maria Hodkins has announced her schedule of classes for Spring and Summer. You are invited to join her in Colorado.

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

Maria Hodkins, Windword Writing Services
www.windword.net
Maria is a naturalist, mixed-media artist and book artist who teaches classes in journaling, creative writing and bookbinding in Colorado. Visit her website to learn more about her and the books she has written.

Illustrated
Garden Journals

Do you love gardening? Keeping a garden journal is a way to celebrate your garden in an artful way. Gardening is more than just digging holes, planting seeds, pulling weeds, and watering your plants — it’s about nurturing your soil and your soul. A garden journal will help you remember all that beauty and delicious bounty for years to come. It’s a visual record of gardening dates, ideas, plant and flower documentation, and personal stories. In this weekend workshop, you will learn nature sketching & watercolor, page design, lettering, and artful journaling techniques with artist-naturalist Maria Hodkins in the classroom. After learning these techniques, you will tour local gardens and sketch plants plein air with field notes. By the end of the workshop you’ll experience the joys of keeping a garden journal and discover how it can be used to plan your garden and serve as a lasting record of your gardening trials, triumphs, and treasures.
Cost: $90 CCAH members, $100 nonmembers. View Details/Register

Handmade Art Journals
June 1, 2013
9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Carbondale Council on Arts & Humanities (CCAH)
Carbondale, CO

Learn to make a practical and beautiful journal for your own daily use to capture images and writings. In this one-day class you will make a simple hand-made book, with multi-media paper, a decorative cover, and a beautiful exposed spine binding using the ancient 2-needle Coptic stitch. We will then explore a variety of options to personalize the journal with cover embellishments, colophon, and dedication page. This journal can be used for sketching or journaling with any mixed media, such as watercolor, pen & ink, or collage.
Cost: $40 CCAH members, $50 nonmembers. View Details/Register

Plant Portraits: The Confluence of Art & Science
June 27-28, 2013
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
Aspen, CO

Come for an artistic romp in the field, sketching and painting plant life in flattering illustrations, botanical-style. Participants will study leaves, wildflowers, trees, and lichens, creating artful portraits focused on form, function, habitat, plant surfaces, gestures, and growth patterns. This two-day workshop will hone observational skills and art techniques, including basic nature sketching to more formal methods in botanical illustration. Work in the field as you explore pencil and ink sketches, and finish portraits in the classroom with beautiful watercolor and colored pencil. These portraits will be rendered with both botanical accuracy and beauty. Anyone with an interest in drawing plants will discover the charm and appeal of this art form–gardeners, hikers, nature guides, biology students, informal science educators, and teachers. All skill levels are welcome! 1 College Credit available.
Cost: $125 members, $160 nonmembers. View Materials List/Register

Partners in Wonder: Sharing Nature Through Field Journaling
June 29, 2013
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
Aspen, CO

Discover a world of magic with your child in the tiniest leaf, a bird’s feather, and the puffy clouds overhead. Ask “what is happening outside in nature today?” then tromp outdoors together, journals in hand, to take in the world with all of your senses. Map out and find the incredible creatures contained in one square yard of ground. Become keen observers and adventurers together while recording the wonders that you see. This one-day workshop will acquaint you with basic instruction for keeping a nature journal, including observation skills, sketching, writing, and playing with color. Parents, relatives, friends, or teachers – this is your chance to learn how to develop a deep and lasting connection to nature together with your children.
Cost: $110 members, $130 nonmembers (1 adult & 1 child); $40 each additional person. View Materials List/Register

Posted in botanical art, Education, gardening, general botany, Learning Opportunities, nature, Sketching & Journaling | 1 Comment »

Journals, Landscapes, Butterflies and Hints of an Expedition at North Cascades Basecamp

April 16, 2013 by Tania Marien

Ready for Summer in the Cascades?
Here is the latest update at Classes Near You > Washington:

North Cascades Basecamp, Mazama
www.NorthCascadesBasecamp.com
A bed-and-breakfast style lodge surrounded by acres of protected cedar forest, the North Cascades Basecamp serves as a homebase for outdoor adventures such as hiking, fishing, cross-country skiing and a host of other activities offered through the camp’s Ecology Center. Biologists Kim and Steve Bondi purchased the recreation center in 2010 and created the Ecology Center to offer learning opportunities for guests. Visit the website to view the entire course schedule.

Nature in Art and Science: A Field Journaling~Naturalist Workshop with Hannah Hinchman and Bruce Thompson

View Details/Register

The Art and Science of Nature Presentation by Hannah Hinchman
May 24
Cost: $5/person
Register at 509/996-2334 or info@northcascadesbasecamp.com

Painting Balsamroot Landscapes with John Adams
June 15, 2013
10 AM – 2 PM
Learn techniques to paint the beautiful landscape at North Cascades Basecamp. John Adams will demonstrate techniques and discuss composition and color. Cost: $40/person. View Details/Register

Treasured Landscapes of the Methow Valley
Monday, July 29 – Thursday, August 1, 2013
US Forest Service, National Forest Foundation, and the North Cascades Basecamp
Daily outings all week to exploration, educate, and participate in hands-on learning projects where you will learn from experts in the field about the North Cascades Ecosystem. Projects include : beavers, wolverines, wildflowers, and native plant restoration. Be a part of the Treasured Landscape Initiative to restore and revitalize this amazing landscape.
Register at 509/996-2334 or info@northcascadesbasecamp.com.

Monarchs in the Pacific Northwest Presentation
by Robert Michael Pyle
August 16, 2013
Cost: $5/person
Register at 509/996-2334 or info@northcascadesbasecamp.com

Butterflies of the North Cascades Workshop
with Robert Michael Pyle
August 16-18, 2013
Explore high valleys, slopes, meadows, and peaks of the North Cascades seeking butterflies. Discover how to find, harmlessly detain, identify, and learn about their lifeways, needs, and natural history. Cost: $225 Locals Rate includes partial meals; $385 shared lodging and 6 meals. Clock hours: 8. View Details/Register

Plein Air Watercolor Retreat with Maria Coryell-Martin
September 6-8, 2013
Explore the summer landscape of the Methow Valley with expeditionary artist Maria Coryell-Martin and learn techniques for painting expressive skies, wooded forests, and rocky peaks. Cost: $185 Locals Rate includes partial meals; $345 shared lodging and 6 meals. Clock hours: 8.
View Details/Register

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

Welcome to National Environmental Education Week

April 15, 2013 by Tania Marien

Learn more about EE Week.

Welcome to National Environmental Education Week (EE Week) at ArtPlantae!

Our community of artists, naturalists and educators welcome you to our gathering place. Here you will find interesting dialog between readers and featured guests, and engaging conversation among readers as they help each other by sharing tips and tools. You will also discover classes about botanical art, natural science illustration, botany and the book arts that are taught across the U.S., in Europe and at other exciting locations (Morocco, anyone?). This week we will learn about a class with an artist/explorer, a class about how to create a garden journal, and much more.

Looking for an exhibition about plants and natural history art?
See the “Exhibits to Visit” section located in the column at right.

Interested in using drawing as a learning tool when teaching about plants in your classroom or program? See the “Teaching & Learning” section also in the column to your right.

This month we are exploring how technology can be used to encourage an interest in plants and botanical art. We are also taking a traditional look at botanical art. Glad you can join us.

To be notified about new classes, new guests and new conversation among readers, click on the “Follow” tab in your browser’s window or join the mailing list.

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

Tips & Tools: Interactive Field Guides

April 15, 2013 by Tania Marien

There are many apps on the market that enable naturalists to explore the great outdoors without carrying a backpack full of books. Even large traditional references such as The Jepson Manual: Vascular Plants of California are now available as easy-to-carry ebooks.

What type of interactive field guides or apps have you used to learn about plants? Did you find them to be user-friendly or simply too frustrating to use?

Share your experiences below in the Comment box.

More Tips & Tools:

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

Seeing Trees: In Print and Digitally

April 12, 2013 by Tania Marien

If we all approached drawing as a means of fixing a memory as opposed to creating a work of art, we’d do more of it and see more as a result.

— Nancy Ross Hugo

If you want to spend time getting to know trees, begin your journey with
Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees by author and educator, Nancy Ross Hugo, and photographer Robert Llewellyn. Together they lure readers out of their reading chairs and take them outside to look at trees in a new way.

Hugo and Llewellyn accomplish this through their discussion of thirteen viewing strategies and by teaching readers how to look at leaves, flowers, cones, fruit, buds, leaf scars, bark and twigs. Llewellyn’s informative and beautiful photographs support Hugo’s text and helps readers zero in on the details they need to see.

This same attention to detail is applied to the tree profiles featured in the book. You don’t have to get too far with even the first tree profile to realize you’ve looked at trees all wrong and that you’ve taken them for granted.

As you know, we’re focusing on technology this month and how technology can be taken outdoors. Seeing Trees is a great example of how technology can be used to enhance our understanding of plants. Hugo and Llewellyn’s book is more than a print book. It is available in ebook format and as an interactive book. It is the interactive format I will focus on today.

The interactive version of Seeing Trees is available through Inkling, a Web-based service that is transforming how readers interact with books. They have eliminated the “book” part and focus on how users view and consume content on iPads, iPhones, MACs and PCs.

When visiting Inkling’s website, the first thing you’ll notice is that you can buy the individual chapters of a book for as little as $1.99. The second thing you’ll notice is that the books are interactive and much more than simply a print book in a digital format. The types of interactive components vary among books. In the case of Seeing Trees, readers will find images they can enlarge, words they can highlight and define, and will enjoy the ability to conduct an in-depth search around a specific word. In the introduction section of the Inkling version, there is also a video about how the book was made and how Llewellyn’s approach to photographing this book was inspired by the botanical illustrators of long ago.

Other interactive features of Seeing Trees include:

A slideshow of Japanese maple leaves (Acer palmatum and A. japonicum)
A slideshow of sweetgum leaves (Liquidambar styraciflua)
A slideshow of twigs from 14 species of trees.
Links to resources about plants and trees
A feature enabling readers to watch fruit development in Liquidambar styraciflua.

While the trees in this book are common to the East Coast, this does not take away from its effectiveness as a tool for seeing. The viewing strategies Hugo and Llewellyn recommend can be applied to any tree (and any plant) regardless of one’s geographic location.

The Inkling edition of Seeing Trees is available for $16.99. The chapter price for this title is $4.99 per chapter.

Literature Cited
Hugo, Ross Nancy. 2011. Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees.
Photography by Robert Llewellyn. Portland: Timber Press.

Also See

Posted in book review, teaching & learning, Teaching & Learning |

Booklet About Bartram Botanical Art Exhibition Now Available

April 10, 2013 by Tania Marien

Buy guide, $5

The booklet about the Bartram exhibition is now available for sale at ArtPlantae. This beautiful complement to the exhibition, Following in the Bartrams’ Footsteps: Contemporary Botanical Artists Explore the Bartrams’ Legacy, includes an introduction by Joel Fry, Curator, Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia. It also includes an essay by Patricia Jonas, Exhibitions Chair of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA). In her essay, Jonas provides background information about the artwork in this traveling exhibition.

This 20-page booklet includes drawings and paintings by: Maryann Roper, Lizzie Sanders, Bobbi Angell, John Bartram, William Bartram, Beverly Duncan, Catherine Watters, Betsy Rogers-Knox, Wendy Cortesi, Lara Call Gastinger, Karen Kluglein, Dick Rauh, Joan Lavigueur Geyer, Judith Simon, Maria Cecilia Freeman, Derek Norman and Diane McElwain.

Following in the Bartrams’ Footsteps is now on view at Bartram’s Garden Gallery in Philadelphia, PA through May 24, 2013. It will be on view at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, FL from September 19 – December 30, 2013 and then travel to the Cherokee Garden Library at Atlanta History Center in Atlanta, GA (March 17 – June 17, 2014) and the North Carolina Botanical Garden at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where it will be on view
August 30 – November 2, 2014.

This exhibition guide, as well as ASBA exhibition catalogs, can be purchased online at ArtPlantae Books.

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art, botanical art books, Education, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements |

Sketching Flora, Fauna and Artifacts in New Mexico

April 10, 2013 by Tania Marien

Boston-based artist, Helen Byers, will teach in Concord, MA and at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. Here is more information about Helen and her classes:

Helen Byers
www.helenbyers.com
Helen Byers is an artist and educator with a background in literary and educational publishing. Her drawings and paintings have been exhibited in solo and group shows in the West and East and are held in various private collections. Her illustration credits include six children’s books and six literary book covers. She teaches courses and workshops in botanical drawing and painting, as well as field sketching and nature journaling, to students at all levels.

For more information about Helen Byers and her work, including slideshows from her courses, visit http://www.helenbyers.com.

Botanical Drawing and Painting

Students will study and sketch live plants in the garden of the Concord Art Association (weather permitting) and work in a controlled indoor setting. Instruction will cover conventional drawing and botanical watercolor painting techniques. Close observation and detailed rendering will be our goals. Daily demos and plenty of personal attention. Some drawing and watercolor painting experience helpful, but not required.
Cost: $250 members, $300 nonmembers
View Details/Register

Field Sketching Ghost Ranch Flora & Fauna
Helen Byers and Janet Darrow, PhD
Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center
Abiquiu, New Mexico
June 3–9, 2013

Join artist Helen Byers and biologist Janet Darrow at Ghost Ranch to identify and record the summer plants and creatures of Ghost Ranch’s several ecosystems. Hone your skills of observation and practice the art of nature journaling. Daily demos will provide instruction in field sketching and the basics of botanical illustration in watercolor. Participants have the option to submit artwork for possible inclusion in a nature guide about Ghost Ranch. This project was launched in 2009. This workshop is fun, informative and allows for personal attention and time for independent work. All levels welcome. Cost: $375
View Details/Register

Still-Life Drawing: Museum Artifacts and Bones
Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center
Abiquiu, New Mexico
June 17–23, 2013

Discover the fun of still-life drawing! Our subjects will be treasures borrowed from the Ghost Ranch museums of anthropology and paleontology — Hispanic and Native American artifacts, dinosaur bones and more. Our materials will include traditional drawing media on paper. Instruction will cover classical drawing techniques as well as composition, line, proportion and value. Daily demos, relaxed individual instruction and helpful group critiques. All levels welcome. Cost: $360
View Details/Register

This information can also be found on the Classes Near You pages for Massachusetts and New Mexico.