ASBA Conference: 2

By Paula Blair

I thought about making the title of this post "Pittsburgh - Who Knew?!"  I'd never been to Pittsburgh before - and now I'm so glad I went to the ASBA Annual Conference.  What a great city!  Attendees got to enjoy the benefits of being near the Phipps Conservatory and the campus of Carnegie-Mellon University.  

                                                                                            The Phipps:

First up was the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.  The Institute is part of the Library of Carnegie-Mellon. The Library holds a dazzling collection of books, manuscripts, and folios of botanical illustration through hundreds of years.  Along with the collection, they offer research services, and the International Exhibition.  This year's show featured work of 43 artists from 15 countries.  

                                                                              Some images from the Hunt:

The workshops I attended this year were the best from the three conferences I've attended so far.  Margaret Saylor got me excited about painting mushrooms (and taught us to mix some new combinations of brown!) Martha Kemp's class, "Drawing with a Lead Holder" got me reacquainted with an old friend.  My trusty lead holder had been sitting unused in a drawer for many years, but Martha's class prompted me to get it out and start using it again.  Finally, an all-day watercolor class with Margaret Best taught me new techniques, ideas, and ways of using the medium. All three teachers provided the right mix of lecture and "hands-on" practice.  They also all provided great handouts and worksheets to take with us.  

                                                                          WIP shown by Margaret Best:

The conference also provided free time to explore the city and the beautiful Phipps Conservatory.  I might also add that I got to eat at Primanti Brothers, a Pittsburgh tradition, and the largest sandwich I've ever eaten!  

ASBA Conference

By Judith Towers

Every third year the American Society of Botanical Artists holds its annual conference in Pittsburgh, PA. Five CVABA members attended the October conference and what an experience it is to find yourself among 227 botanical artists, many of whom are world renowned! The group was welcoming, sharing, and oh so inspiring!

https://www.asba-art.org/

Some favorite activities were the portfolio sharing where we could walk right up to tables of gorgeous work and talk to the artists about subjects, techniques, and materials.

Next came classes: Mushrooms: Painting Browns with Margaret Saylor was one of the highlights of the second day. Margaret brought many freshly picked mushrooms for our use, and taught us her technique for making the “ultimate brown” which was layered over short strokes of brighter blues, pinks, and yellows so that the colors mingled, creating a realistic but radiant glow. See some of Margaret’s work on the ASBA site:

https://www.asba-art.org/member-gallery/margaret-saylor

Each of us enjoyed the opportunity to visit the 15th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, within walking distance from our hotel.

http://www.huntbotanical.org/exhibitions/current/

Well worth a long visit is the nearby Phipps Conservatory. From the photos you can see that several prickly things, even the Dale Chihuly glass sculpture, caught my eye!

https://phipps.conservatory.org/visit-and-explore/

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!

ASBA 2015: Miami

Reflections Contributed by Gail Goodrich Harwood and Paula Blair

When asked to describe their favorite parts of the ASBA Conference, Gail wrote:

“- The Small Works exhibition featuring works from artists new to botanical art alongside world-renowned artists.

- All beautiful works, even more so because of the use of neutral, standard frames.  The most instructive aspect for me was the range of imaginative composition treatments.

- The Portfolio Sharing session - loved the opportunity to look at both finished and in-progress works.

- Classes - the chance to learn new techniques and tips for correcting mistakes.

-Hanging out with 200 people who are completely into botanical art!”

And Paula wrote:

“Ditto to what Gail said!

-I loved meeting so many interesting people who also love art, botanical art, flowers, gardens, etc.  My workshops/classes were great! 

-I got to meet some of the people whose names I see in the Journal - all were welcoming, encouraging, friendly . . .

-I sat by Lea Rohrbaugh and Catherine Watters on the bus going to Vizcaya and took a class with Derek Norman . . .

-Now I am fired up to go to Pittsburgh 2016 and Filoli 2017!!"

Destination: ASBA Denver

Photos from top left, all at the Denver Botanical Garden: Chihuly glass tree; perennial garden; in the conservatory and; the desert garden.

The American Society of Botanical Artists Annual Conference was held in October, 2014, in Denver Colorado.  Here are the impressions of three CVABA members who attended.

By Paula Dabbs

Wow . . . my first visit to Denver and my first ASBA Conference.  My impressions of both include the wow factor.  To be with over 200 botanical artists for three days is inspiring, to say the least.  From the opening reception of "Small Works" to the portfolio reviews to the Techniques Showcase, the talent on display was impressive.  I was especially taken with Ann Swan's colored-pencil techniques which she put to good effect in her demonstration of a kiwi (hair and all!)

The biggest surprise was Annie Reiser's Botanical Zentangle class: I think we were all hooked when we left.  Especially fun was seeing some of the other teachers (who are stars in their own right) sitting in as students in the class.  

Also, unexpected for me was the incredible beauty of the Denver Botanic Garden.  It includes a huge conservatory and many garden "rooms."  Especially lovely for me was the Japanese Garden with a Ceremonial Tea House.  Fall was a perfect time to visit as the gold cottonwood trees and scarlet staghorn sumac added extra pops of color.  To top it all off, the Chihuly in the Garden exhibit was taking place while we were there.  I loved turning a corner to see another beautiful vista with a carefully placed piece of Chihuly glass.

I'm already thinking about next year's conference.  I hope to see you in Miami!

By Anne McCahill

The ASBA Convention's  small works exhibit reflected the use of different media and encouraged beginners to attempt new techniques.  For me, the highlight of the Convention was indeed the portfolio sharing by accomplished botanical artists, as well as visiting the DENVER botanical gardens, a haven of color and variety of species. The abundance  of Chihuly glass  added magic to the display.  Having access to the Daniel Smith display and sales  as well as the sale of ASBA books and catalogs on the premises appealed to many of us.
I am sorry that only a modicum of accomplished artists gave one class with a limited number of students, thus denying the opportunity to some of us to be exposed to different techniques.
The half day classes that took place at the Denver botanical gardens were reduced given the
bus ride of 30 minutes to the venue from the hotel. Not a good idea!
However....Miami, we shall be there for more inspiration!

By Judy Thomas

What I like most about the two ASBA conferences I have attended is seeing all the wonderful and inspiring work by the members.  There are several ways you get to see these great works: through the member small works show, portfolio sharing, the techniques showcase, and during classes.  Portfolio sharing is by far my favorite.  You get to see new and exciting works, new media and get to talk to the artists who created it.  Here are some examples:

Works by Connie Scanlon

b

Lotus McElfish's handmade botanical books

Another huge bonus at the Denver conference was the Denver Botanical Garden.  Anne and I flew out a day early to spend it at the garden and boy, was it worth it.  The garden is a series of densely packed and planted garden "rooms," each with a different theme.  The plant architecture seems carefully planned for shaped dimension, color and texture (we both fell in love with the autumn colors of stag horn sumac).  I made some photo collages of my favorites, at top and below.  As you will see, we were also treated to a Chihuly glass exhibit, which looks very different in a garden setting, versus in a museum.

From top left: Annual color; staghorn sumac in its glory; pink and purple sedum planting; Chihuly glass on the lake and: more glass.

I took two color pencil classes, both taught by great teachers:  Susan Rubin, of the Denver Botanical Garden illustration program, taught a class on color pencil on Mylar.  She was very patient, demoed and explained the process well.  Though I do not want to give up paper, Mylar presents some interesting advantages: it is quick, fully erasable, and the drawing can be worked from both sides of the sheet!  I think I will work with it in the future.

Susan Rubin teaching at the DBG.

The other class was "Tips and Tricks" taught by Ann Swan.  Anne is an excellent and experienced teacher, and also gave several demos and good explanation of her process.  She showed us how to use a surprising blender/solvent: baby oil!  Baby oil is not really an oil, but is liquid paraffin and it dissolves the color pencil and mixes it.

Ann Swan teaching.

The conference was inspiring, so hello to Miami in 2015!

American Society of Botanical Artists, Pittsburgh, PA, 2013

by Judy Thomas

The Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA

I attended my first American Society of Botanical Artists conference September 24-28 in Pittsburgh, PA (that includes a two-day, pre-conference workshop taught by Libbie Kyer called "Colored Pencil: Wet and Wild.")  I am full of impressions, skills, ideas and experiences I want to share, and am also totally swamped after missing a week of work and home life!  So, I will do my best and will hit what I think were the highlights of the conference.

I took the pre-conference workshop with six other colored pencil (CP) artists or those exploring the medium.  Libby had a structured approach to teaching specific materials, tools and techniques.  We first learned how to achieve deep hues (and avoid paper speckle) using a partial, black CP underpainting (yes, many CP artists call their work a "painting," not a "drawing" and yes, black!) and lightly touching it with an alcohol solvent.  The subject for this was an eggplant, though we also did studies of a pepper. Next, we worked on contours and shading, then we moved onto gestural drawing (a quick capture of the object using a graphite pencil held flat, in the tips of one's fingers). Libby stated this this does a great job in capturing the size and dimensions of the subject of study without measurement.  After a few tries, I found it worked, and it created an image with greater movement and life than my usual, more tediously and minutely-drawn subjects.  This is a technique I will use in the future. After working to find up contours and shapes, we transferred the image to our final paper and began CP work.

End of workshop review, Libby in center.

Another highpoint of the conference was the portfolio review. Any member can sign up to do this (though the total number is limited) and it demonstrated the breadth and depth of work ASBA members produce.  I came away elated, determined to improve my work and slightly intimidated by the skill on display!

Portfolio review in the Pittsburgh Athletic Center

Wow!

I also attended an educator's workshop. The presentations were geared toward teaching watercolor, but I learned a few things about skill practice and critique. I attended Wendy Hollender's "Racing Nature" class where she taught her method of quickly achieving depth of color.  Wendy often uses sepia, and other dark tones (indigo, a dark green and burgundy) for shading, and applies water color pencil and other color pencils over the top.  I used a deep purple-brown (Faber Castell Caput Mortem) for shading on my bright pink zinnia and it worked!

The last class I attended was "Complex Subjects."  The only objection I had to this class (and Wendy's class) was that three hours is too short a time to learn and practice what you have learned. The teacher, Lee McCaffree was excellent.  She showed us different ways to simplify complex forms of line, texture and form. In the class, we tried to capture the pattern of what we were drawing, to simplify it to its geometric elements, and add in details.

 Complex subjects class

Below is my attempt at a sequoia cone. See the bit of kneaded eraser on the cone? This is to mark a reference point, so I can keep track of where I am.  With a larger object, you can move the marker (a bit of tape, tack or kneaded eraser) as you go so you can track what you have already done. This cone follows a pattern of a double spiral. We also tried to draw flowers using a circular spiral or bulls-eye pattern (depending on the flower), but time was too limited to get far.

I don't have pictures of the Hunt Institute botanical art opening (a huge crush-I wish I had gone on my own). I took many photos in the Phipps Conservatory, too many to post.  I did take many photos walking around Pittsburgh, and met some interesting people (Phyllida Barlow, an installation artist who was assembling a massive installation in front of the Carnegie Art Museum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllida_Barlow  She is a descendant of Charles Darwin!  I also spoke to a CMU art professor, and went to a bizarre art show at the CMU student gallery).  I will leave you with a charming image of Pittsburgh, a community-grassroots art project, "Locks of Love" (for more info, see http://weburbanist.com/2011/01/12/locks-of-love-urban-padlock-monuments-to-commitment/    )

Next year Denver?