Celeste and Judy T at the LoVA Again!

by Judy Thomas

Celeste Johnston and I were invited by educator Donna Kouri to teach her students in her "Junior Master Gardeners' Camp" from the MathScience Innovation Center (MSIC).  The class was making a visit to the Library of Virginia in Richmond to see the "Flora of Virginia" exhibit on July 10.  Donna originally asked us to teach a class in flower drawing, but we also offered a botany lesson and flower dissection.  We brought a wealth of flowers and plant materials to use in our discussion, along with tools used in our art.  The MSIC provides school-year and summer educational opportunities to engage students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Celeste and I had a great deal of fun!

CVABA at The LOVA

CVABA at The LOVA

By Judy Thomas

The Central Virginia Botanical Artists teamed up with the Library of Virginia to exhibit our art in May (the last full day for the exhibit is May 27) and hold a free family fun day on May 3rd. Though crowds on the 3rd were light due to a national bike raced held in downtown Richmond, we had fun with the visitors who attended.

One part of the exhibit: from top left clockwise, works by: Scott Vrana, Judy Thomas. Minh-Chau Truong, Jane Zander and Gail Goodrich Harwood 

Celeste Johnston, a teacher at Lewis Ginter Botanical garden, provided botany lessons.

Judy Thomas teaches some children "How to Draw a Flower in Perspective"

Becky Spangler helps a family (and me!) make some beautiful flower cards.

All in all, we had a lot of fun, though we wished the crowds would have been larger!  Those present (in addition to those mentioned in the captions above, were: Gail Goodrich Harwood, Ellen Keane, Elizabeth Binnings, Kay Lindberg, and Lara Call Gastinger) had a great time and hope this was just a "dry run" for a future similar event!