30-Day Challenge 2017

by Judy Thomas

The next 30-Day Challenge begins tomorrow, Jan. 1, 2017!  By the end of today, Jan 31, everyone should have received instructions on how to post photos of your work to a Dropbox I have set up.  Create something every day, and post it to dated folder on the 30-Day Challenge Dropbox. You should be able to see all the work submitted.  Remember to put your last name in the file name of the photo, for example:
Thomasbegonia.jpg.

If I have the time, I will post entries to this blog.

What to post?  Anything with a botanical subject in any medium, including fiber arts.  A winner, selected at the end of the challenge, will receive a small prize, which will announced at our February meeting!

Happy Creating!  Happy New Year!

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon: Member Reports on the ASBA Conference in Pittsburgh!

Stay tuned......

A sneak peak...

Saw a special visitor to Pittsburgh:

Cathedral of Learning soaring high:

And LOTS of art!

America Society of Botanical Artists Convention Circle Report

by Judy Thomas

As you might know, the ASBA annual convention will be in Pittsburgh, PA this year, on Oct. 13-15 (welcome reception on the 12th).  Several of us are going and are we excited!  

Ever year there is a Chapters and Circles meeting, and this year, we were asked for a few slides to illustrate our activities for the year, Thought I would share screenshots of our slides, so, here is a very brief annual report summary!

Plants and Pollinators

by Judy Thomas

In celebration of National Pollinators' Week, our annual June exhibit theme was "Plants and Pollinators."  Members created works that included appropriate pollinators, and/or described the pollinators for the plant depicted on accompanying signs.  Some even included information on wind and water pollination, and self-pollinated plants. As we all know, insect and animal pollinators, so necessary to our survival, are under threat.  On June 25, 2016, CVABA held a community outreach event at Tuckahoe Library in Henrico, VA, in conjunction with the exhibit to educate the public about the importance of pollinators.  Twelve members of our organization presented activities about plants and pollinators.   Over 100 individuals attended, from children, parents, and grandparents, to entire families.  The library staff asked us to provide a similar event next year!  

Here is the crowd (and me, bottom left corner, teaching "How to Draw a Flower in Perspective"'):

Here are some of the other activities!

Minh-Chau Truong and Angel Zhao presented an activity in Chinese brush painting and calligraphy

Judith Towers presented activities about cotton in "Think Cotton!"

Celeste Johnston teaches botany

Susan Estes helps guest make a paper flower and add a pollinator.

Paula Blair helps guests make flower cards.

Kay Lindberg demonstrates needle felting

Gail Goodrich Harwood helps visitors make a "Pollinator 'Zine."

Ellen Keane (and special helper) teach watercolor

And not pictured, Winnifred Hebb helped guests make a field sketching journal.

Colored Pencil Exhibit

By Judy Thomas

Come by the Atlee Library and see the Chickahominy Colored Pencil Artists' exhibit (most of whom are CVABA members), on display until June 30. Also, Celeste Johnston, Angel Zhao and I are teaching free, beginning art lessons at the library again this summer. Please spread the word!

Atlee Library:  http://www.pamunkeylibrary.org/atlee.htm

Class titles and dates:

Learn to Draw

June 11, 1-4 pm

June 18, 1-4 pm

Ink It!

July 9, 1-4 pm

July 16, 1-4 pm

Beginning Watercolor

August 20, 10-1 pm

August 27, 1-4 pm

"Plants and Pollinators" Exhibit

By Judy Thomas

The annual CVABA exhibit opened June 1, 2016 at the Tuckahoe Public Library.  This year's theme is "Plants and Pollinators."  Each piece depicts, or shares information on, the pollinator that is associated with the plant illustrated. As many of you know, many pollinators are in decline. This exhibit hopes to raise awareness about the importance of pollinators, educate the public about the unique ways various creatures (along with wind and water) pollinate plants and display some beautiful art!

Also, on June 25, from 1-4PM, CVABA members will have a "Family Fun Day" at the library (registration required).  Come learn about pollinators, make a nature journal, try your hand at watercolors and more!

Contact the library for more information (see below). 

Come visit!

The exhibit is open through June 2016.

Infirmation about Tuckahoe Library can be found at: http://www.henricolibrary.org/locations/tuckahoe

Direct-Printing Lesson

[Note: Celeste Johnston gave our group a fun, interesting and informative "hands-on" lesson about nature printing during our April meeting, and here are her thoughts]:

                            About Nature-printing, Direct Printing/Monoprinting

                                                   By Celeste Johnston

I would like to start with a quote by Henry Bradbury when he addressed The Royal Institution of Great Britain in 1856:
He exclaimed "How powerful are the results direct from Nature herself", during the lecture
entitled 'Nature Printing: Its Origin and Objects.' He stated that nature printing had  "come to the 

aid of science".  Despite its decline as a scientific tool, nature printing  has stood the test of time and there has been a revival of this ancient art form.  The Nature Printing Society was formed in 1976 by a group of dedicated professionals employing nature printing as an extension of their scientific work.
The Nature Printing Society, at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, is an international organization devoted to the artistic and educational pursuit of nature printing.

Artists and scientists have been inspired by nature printing. Leonardo da Vinci, in his manuscript Codex Atlantis, includes the first know written record of nature printing.  It is accompanied by a printed impression of a sage leaf. In the later half of the 1600's when the science of botany was born, nature printing was found to be extremely helpful to botanists who had no artistic talent. The first female botanist  in this country compiled a major volume describing the plants of New York and illustrated it with 340 nature printed specimens. Her name was Jane Colden 

Later techniques evolved and over a thousand impressions from one plant could be cast in soft metal. Out of this evolved the imprinting of plants on a copper plate coated with a soft ground. Nature printing will continue to evolve and I am glad to know  about this  important part of our botanical history. 

Maymont

Maymont Tour 

by Judy Thomas

with photos by Gail Goodrich Harwood

On April 1, CVABA members had a real treat, a wonderful tour of the Maymont Estate house by our own Paula Blair. 

The Maymont Estate, now a public park, was the home of James and Sallie Dooley, who lived there from 1893 to 1925, during America's "Guilded Age."  Maymont was bequeathed to the City of Richmond after the death of Sallie Dooley in 1925, and  is now run by the Maymont Foundation.  For more information:  https://maymont.org/estate/mansion/upstairs-belowstairs/

Paula gave us an excellent tour of the home/museum. We learned a lot about the Dooley family, how the wealthy (and the not-so-wealthy) lived during that era, and the decorative and fine arts collections in the home.  The website states there are over 900 period objects in the mansion, about 60% of them original to the Dooleys: 

(go to: https://maymont.org/estate/mansion/upstairs-belowstairs/mansion-collection/  ).

For example, the mansion is home to several pieces of Tiffany glass, including a large window.  The Dooleys also purchased a full, duplicate set of Presidential china (made by Haviland), each piece different, that was sold to raise funds for its manufacture for the Rutherford B. Hayes White House:

The design on each piece is based on an original watercolor by Theodore R. Davis.  For more images of some of the plates, go to: http://travelphotobase.com/u/OH/OHEBD.HTM

It seems that everywhere we looked we found a treasure, many nature themed!

Thank you to Paula, and kudos for a great, personalized tour!

Juliet Kirby to Exhibit at the RTD Gallery

by Judith Towers

     Works by Juliet Kirby, Botanical Illustration Advanced Watercolor instructor at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden will be featured at the Richmond Times-Dispatch Gallery, 300 E. Franklin Street, Richmond, VA, 23219, beginning with the show opening Friday, April 1, 6:30-8:00 as part of RVA First Fridays Art Walk, and 9-5, Monday through Friday until April 29, 2016

     If you missed the colorful article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Sunday, March 27, follow these links to see some of Juliet’s work and read about her early experiences in art school in England, her studies at the New York Botanical Garden, and classes that she has taught in Williamsburg, at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, and here in Richmond: 

http://www.richmond.com/life/collection_370428c6-82bd-5f55-959d-997dc973f0ca.html

http://www.richmond.com/life/article_c5b46d11-099d-5e60-ad7b-e3055b31b9de.html

     Don’t forget to check the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden website where the new spring/summer schedule of art classes soon will be posted!  At http://www.lewisginter.org/

Member Happenings!

By Judy Thomas

[ Note: Please let me know if you would like me to post any botanically-related news about you on the blog!]

Our very own Winnifred, drawing a plumeria branch that she found on the ground in HI!

Having fun there, eh Winnifred?

What Fun!

Skills and Techniques Showcase

by Judy Thomas

As part of our "teaching/learning" model, we held our first "Skills and Techniques Showcase," with thanks to MinhChau Truong, Angel Zhao and Gail Goodrich Harwood!

Angel and MinhChau teaching

Angel began the first session by discussing the traditions, methods and materials of Chinese calligraphy (photo above).  She described the process to make the character for the word "flower" and members tried their hand at it, first on simple newsprint, then on xuan paper.  Angel gave the members handouts for other Chinese characters that we can try on our own.

Members practicing Chinese calligraphy

MinhChau demonstrated the various ways to paint orchids with black ink, in many different spatial orientations and stages of development, using black ink and Chinese brushes.  She made this difficult task look easy, and also demonstrated how to create different shades with ink and water.

MinhChau demonstrating painting orchids

The "Four Treasures of the Study" of Chinese brush painting and calligraphy.

Angel and MinhChau shared papers, tools and displayed traditional tools and materials.

In the second showcase, Gail showed members how to paint and draw (with colored pencil) water or dew drops.  Gail learned this method at an ASBA workshop.  She provided prepared papers, showed how to lift dry watercolor off the paper to create the water drop reflection, and how to use several colored pencils to draw the drops.

Thanks to these member/teachers, our first showcase was a success!

My Talk: Following in the Bartrams' Footsteps

By Judy Thomas

I had the great good fortune of being selected to participate in the ASBA, juried, traveling exhibit, "Following in the Bartrams' Footsteps." I am giving a talk about the Colonial plantsman and explorer, John Bartram, my fascination with him, and the exhibit, on February 21, 2016, 1PM, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.  It is free to members, and with a paid garden admission. I am giving the talk in conjunction with the Student and Teachers Exhibition, so you can see the lovely art on exhibit as well!

http://www.lewisginter.org/event/artist-talk-bartram/

Biannual Student and Teachers' Exhibition, through March 13, 2016

By Judy Thomas

Several members are exhibiting in the Student and Teachers' Exhibition at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, come check it out!

http://www.lewisginter.org/event/student-teacher-exhibition/2016-01-30/

Judith Towers' work on the left, Gail Goodrich Harwood's work on right

Some lovely zinnias by Becky Spangler

And 

Some assertive color...

...by me.

Interesting Website

By Judy Thomas

Here is a link to a website I stumbled on (I think, though someone could have sent me the link), Botanical Art & Artists:

http://www.botanicalartandartists.com

In looking through it, I saw some potentially interesting content: definitions and descriptions of botanical art; famous botanical artists and: classes worldwide.  If you have a moment, take a peek!

Drawing in Precious (and Not-So-Precious) Metals: Silverpoint

By Judy Thomas

As part of our new "Teaching/Learning" schedule for CVABA meetings, Celeste Johnston and I recently gave an introductory lesson on silverpoint. This is the Old Masters' technique of drawing with metals, some of them precious.  Before the discovery of graphite (in around 1560), artists drew with metal on surfaces prepared with a ground, often made with marble dust, zinc and rabbit skin glue. The metal (with the exception of gold) tarnishes over time, deepening the value of the line.

Thank goodness, we can now buy a prepared silverpoint ground or use diluted casein paint (see photo above).  During the session, members found the process far easier than they thought it would be, though drawing with metals takes some practice, as the drawing is built up in layers, and there is limited ability to erase (it damages the ground).

Here are some resources I provided, including a link to some truly beautiful, contemporary silverpoint drawings:

More than you want to know about metalpoint:
http://bethantoine.com/research/Metalpoint_Final.pdf

How to apply pre-made ground:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YD8QHSCsd7M

Silverpoint drawing instruction, parts 1 and 2:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8gOi89R3PI8
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VPBNwZl4qOs

Some contemporary silverpoint drawings:
http://www.tommazzullo.com/more-about-silverpoint.html

Golden's silverpoint ground:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/golden-silverpointdrawing-ground/

Shiva casein paint, titanium white:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/shiva-casein-colors/

A basic book on silverpoint instruction:
http://www.amazon.com/Silver-Linings-Introduction-Silverpoint-Drawing/dp/1468041673/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453826755&sr=1-1&keywords=silverpoint

2016 Schedule

2016 Prediction:  Learning and Growing!

by Judy Thomas

We have a vast variety of skills and abilities, not to mention artistic inspiration, among our membership.  In order to learn more from each other and stimulate discussion, several of us (Celeste, Gail, Judith, Paula, and I) have developed a schedule of artistic activities for 2016.  The activities, for our 9-meeting per year schedule, will include (with some additions):

Member-Directed Skills Building Activity: This could be a demonstration, instruction or a facilitated discussion on some aspect of botanical art. For example, Judy and Celeste demonstrated silverpoint in January and gave everyone a chance to try it.  Participants came away with enthusiasm and their own silver wire.

Portfolio Sharing (see description below)

Skills and Materials Showcase:  Have a tool, material. technique you are crazy about or just love? Show it, along with several others, as members rotate among the stations.

Please, consider participating. It will take our whole "village" to grow our skills and knowledge!

2016

January 20
9:30-10:30 Member-directed skills building or activity: Join Judy and Celeste to try your hand at silverpoint or metal point.

10:30-11:30 Networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork)
11:30 lunch
12:00-3:30 work session

February 17
9:00-10:00 Set up and draw

10:00-11:00 Portfolio sharing: bring a portfolio or some work to share, or come to look!
11:00-12:00 networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork),  lunch
12:00-3:30 work session

March meeting

9:00-10:00 Set up and draw

10:00-11:00 Skills and Materials Showcase:  rotate through three stations where member volunteers will share a tool, technique, material or paper they love with other members
11:00-12:00 networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork), lunch
12:00-3:30 work session

April meeting
10:00-11:00 Member-directed skills building or activity: TBA
11:00-12:00 Networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork), lunch
12:00-3:30 work session
In April:  look for a tour at Maymont, lead by our own Paula Blair!

May Meeting
9:00-10:00 15-minute drawing activity or do your own work

10:00-11:00  Portfolio sharing: bring a portfolio or some work to share, or come to look!
11:00-12:00 Networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork), lunch
12:00-3:30 work session

June meeting: June 1. Hanging the Tuckahoe Show, Plants and Pollinators!

9:00-10:00 Set up and draw

10:00-12:00 HANGING THE TUCKAHOE SHOW, networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork), lunch

12:00-3:30 work session
Saturday. June 25, 1:00-4:00 FAMILY FUN DAY: A CVABA botanical art event for the public at Tuckahoe Library relating to our exhibit, Plants and Pollinators!  Look for more information about this soon!

July, August:  no meeting

September meeting:  

9:00-10:00  Set up and draw

10:00-11:00 Portfolio Sharing
10:30-11:30 networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork)
11:30 lunch
12:00-3:30 work session

October meeting:  

9:00-10:00  Set up and draw

10:00-11:00  :  Skills and Materials Showcase

11:00-12:00 Networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork), lunch
12:00-3:30 work session
Look for a tour of trees at Lewis Ginter, led by Lorrie Lincoln!

November meeting:

9:00-10:00  Set up and draw
10:00-11:00: Draw an autumn leaf, compare styles.
11:00-12:00 Networking, business meeting, input session (anyone asking for help or suggestions regarding artwork), lunch
12:00-3:30 work session
Look for a tour of Fine Arts and Flowers at the VMFA by our own Celeste Johnston!

December: No meeting. Happy Holidays!