Get out the Sparklin’ – Here’s to Better Days in 2020!

Alert! The Lost in the Woods Artists’ Reception at Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, Colorado, on January 4, 2020, 1 – 4 pm, IS CANCELLED for that date, because of heavy weather and avalanche peril. Perhaps we can postpone the party for a bit...

ASBA encourages us to pay our 2020 dues (newly enlarged), and do check off the box for RMSBA, on the ASBA web page forthwith and posthaste (by February 10). The MotherShip also sent us all mailers in the fall, soliciting contributions to the ASBA General Fund, etc. Our RMSBA Treasurer, Vanessa Martin, might welcome some small gifts to our own General Fund from the occasional member, also tax deductible.

Cannabis: A Visual Perspective has been dismounted from the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado. Your Editor stopped by the gallery for a quick visit before pre-Graduation events began – and found them repacking our bags, which they love, by the way. Museum staff was very engaging about the collaboration they had with the Biology Department and Aurum Labs cannabis testing laboratory in Durango to develop supporting displays. Many educational tours of our works in that setting, with area fourth-grade visitors expressing high interest in the exhibit; lots of traffic. They love RMSBA and are proud of our collaborations. We love them right back.

Exhibits for 2020! We plan two exhibits. We encourage artists to participate as committee members for each of these efforts, as well as presenting your skilled portrayals. Proposals and subject lists are in preparation.

“Plant – Insect Intersections“ calls for renderings of the insect and arachnid collection – and associated plants, of course – held by the CU Museum of Natural History. Vanessa Martin is the contact.

“From Platte to Peak” calls for illustration of specimens collected by Edwin James during the first actual scientific expedition to the western High Plains, led by Major Stephen H. Long, during the summer of 1820. Martha Narey is the contact.

More information will appear on this Blog and via MailChimp. Do plan to attend the Sunday, February 23, 2020 Member Meeting (Gates Hall, Denver Botanic Gardens) for details and presentations about these upcoming opportunities.

Your board of directors for 2020-2021, listed below. If you want to serve RMSBA by joining the board, please consider how you might steer your talents in that direction. Members serve two-year terms, unless extended.

President - Carol Till

Vice President - open

Treasurer – Vanessa Martin

Recording Secretary – Kristi Czaijkowski

Exhibits Co-Chairs – Dorothy DePaulo and Sharon Garrett

Programs – Judy Vanderbosch

Special Projects – Irma Sturgell

Communications Editor – Martha Narey

2019 Review. Three exhibits on the road: Cannabis: A Visual Perspective; Lost in the Woods; Feathers and Flora: A Natural Relationship. Show and Sales: Gathering of the Guilds; Tagawa Gardens’ Lavender Festival. Meetings: Boulder, Lakewood, and the Rocky Mountain Land Library in Denver. Holiday Party in Centennial. Workshops: Dorothy DePaulo’s Colored Pencil on Mylar at Valkarie, Tom Mazzullo’s Silverpoint at the LAAC.

Happy New Year!

Diggin’ Out Again – But We’re Grateful for the Moisture

Nov 28

Reminder: Holiday Party on December 8, 1 – 4 pm, at the lovely abode of Irma Sturgell, to whom you should RSVP (303-349-5263), so that she will send you her address near South University and County Line Road.

Your board of directors has been infiltrated by volunteers and for 2020-2021 will consist as listed below. If you want to serve RMSBA by joining the board, please consider how you might steer your talents in that direction. These members serve two-year terms, unless extended.

President - Carol Till

Vice President - open

Treasurer – Vanessa Martin

Recording Secretary – Kristi Czaijkowski

Exhibits Co-Chairs – Dorothy DePaulo and Sharon Garrett

Programs – Judy Vanderbosch

Special Projects – Irma Sturgell

Communications Editor – Martha Narey

Exhibits forthcoming! For 2020, we plan to mount two exhibits. One depicts the insect and arachnid collection – and associated vegetation, of course – held by the CU Museum of Natural History, and the other will illustrate specimens collected by the first actual scientific expedition to the western High Plains in 1820, led by Major Stephen H. Long. Information will be coming your way on this Blog and via MailChimp. Do plan to attend the February 23, 2020 Member Meeting (Gates Hall, Denver Botanic Gardens) for details and presentations about these upcoming opportunities.

Workshops! Next year, plan to attend an RMSBA workshop: Calligraphy, Sketchbooks, Quill pens (actual!), and Lino prints are in the offing for 2020. More information soon.

Reminder: Lost in the Woods Opening Reception at Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, Colorado, on January 4, 2020, 1 – 4 pm. Barring major weather events and avalanches, please do come join the party.

Cannabis: A Visual Perspective remains on display at the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado. Stop by on your way to Grand Canyon for Christmas break…

ASBA is bringing on a new logo for 2020:

When this appears in January, you will know what it is.

Shovelin’ Out – Mind the Trick-or-Treaters in the Snowbank…

The Member Meeting at Rocky Mountain Land Library on September 29 was sparsely attended, but those who did enjoyed themselves immensely. Teresa Burkert won the Door Prize, a lovely hand-bound sketchbook from the prolific studio of Judy Vanderbosch. Several guests came and asked many questions of the artists and the Librarians, Jeff Lee and Anne Miller.

The RMSBA Board met earlier that day. We are glad to announce that a new meeting schedule will shortly be published, and we will conduct meetings at the Denver Botanic Gardens in 2020. More info will be forthcoming. The Board meets on November 10 to plan next year’s activities. Please bring to the attention of a board member any suggestions, concerns, or new ideas so they may be discussed.

Published Illustrator? If your illustrations are included in an ASBA Small Works Catalog or two, in either (or both) of SBAI’s Practice Makes Perfect volumes, or other book or catalog, or a magazine or a website where your work is shown, this InfoBud’s for you, from our colleagues at the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Thank you, Taina Litwak, for this:

Hi All - Check it out.

If you are a published illustrator (with minimum of 3 publications with ISBN numbers) and [have] not already signed up/joined ASCRL - the American Society for Collective Rights Licensing, you really should join. And if you are a member and have hesitated to sign onto one of the open claims, please do not hesitate.  The system is working well now.  The second claim just paid out and a third will open next month.  I am on the ASCRL Advisory Board and I want as many illustrators to benefit as possible.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.ascrl.org_endorsements.html&d=DwIFaQ&c=Cu5g146wZdoqVuKpTNsYHeFX_rg6kWhlkLF8Eft-wwo&r=AGYZ7-AeerjxzYnIwL-lBLFI3SPYN3BDmku4qGQB4Tg&m=rmaE7erhnp6dHhm20bAAkRL_Mzq49xs6zVm7hjNlz14&s=bEMDqSP7XGY2eXfI8VvbAm5biO8S7XFyGWK9H_2pjoQ&e=

Many GNSI members got bank deposits from these claim payments last week.  The more of us who join, the better the position ASCRL will be in to receive more funds from other international Reprographic Rights Organizations.  The 2 payments so far have just been from only two RRO's, (Pictorights of the Netherlands and BUS (Bildupphovsrätt i Sverige) of Sweden).  It’s a big world out there, and many countries collect non-title-specific reprographic monies and are charged by the laws of their countries to get the money to the creatives who made the images.

Cheers - Taina

Cite the publication number (ISBN), along with title of the illustration, which does not have to be registered individually with the copyright office. You may be eligible for a surprise bonus check for your work – don’t let that get away!

Congratulations to Linda Feltner, Bird Maven, of the GNSI. The Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in China has purchased her "Where Eagles Dare" for their Art Collection. Transparent watercolor, 27x50", of Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and White-throated Swift (Aeronautes saxatalis) at Chiricahua National Monument. Linda met their representatives at the 2017 GNSI Conference Portfolio Review in Asheville, NC, told they were there scouting artists. They found the painting on her web page. She recommends “… bring your stuff to the Portfolio Review! Not only [do] you share your amazing skills with friends and colleagues, we never know how such exchange will later develop.”

Last Week of Summer, Aspenpeeper Season Looms, Still Hot

Open Meeting September 29. Here are the details:

Congratulations to colored pencil master and RMSBA member Heidi Snyder, whose work was accepted into ASBA’s 22^nd Annual International Exhibition, this year opening in Fort Ross, CA.

16 September – Mexico Independence Day. Immediate results were not forthcoming in 1810 after Hidalgo’s Cry (“el grito”) to rise up against the Crown. It took years of struggle, but in 1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain and declared slavery illegal in its domain. Subsequent conquest by British incursions from the south and US invasions from the north and east, as well as local resistance to government from Mexico City such as the Texas situation, reduced the land base of the country.

1821

1864

2020 is a Leap Year, and a MoPrints year. If you’re in the print lane of our artistic pursuit, be getting’ ready for the big event. We’re looking forward to it.

Battle against the Japanese Beetles Over for another Year

Feathers and Flora: A Natural Relationship opening in Boulder at the CU Museum of Natural History! Congratulations to Karen Boggs Bryant, Mary Crabtree, Dorothy DePaulo, Patti Hearn, Karen May, Shiere Melin, Martha Narey, Eileen Richardson, Heidi Snyder, Irma Sturgell, Suzanne Stutzman, Valerie Teska, Daniel Teska, Carol Till, Judy Vanderbosch, and Patricia Whalen, and thank you for your work. Artists’ Reception on Wednesday, September 4, 5 – 7 pm, Henderson Hall. Come see what everybody did!

For those of you in exile on Pluto, or otherwise unavoidably unable to attend or to visit the exhibit during the fall semester, see here.

Member Meeting Pre-minder: Sunday, September 29 meeting at the Rocky Mountain Land Library in Globeville: 4800 Washington Street, Denver, Colorado, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. We have a number of things to talk about for the upcoming year, and we encourage you to consider joining in the processes of planning and execution.

Hot Days and Afternoon Thunderstorms -- Again

Feathers and Flora. It’s heeere: the last minute, Thursday, August 1, 11:59 pm MDT. Get ‘em submitted, folks.

Member Exhibit Reminder: Compelling images of nature’s variety by Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder on display at Valkarie Gallery through August 18, 2019.

Dorothy DePaulo’s artist’s talk begins at 7 pm, Friday, August 2.

Tagawa Gardens RMSBA Show & Sale on July 13 was interesting and fun. In response to requests from Tagawa organizers, Irma Sturgell demonstrated Silverpoint drawing techniques at her table, Judy Vanderbosch demonstrated Colored Pencil layering techniques (with a sample lesson!), and Martha Narey demonstrated Carbon Dust techniques on Mylar film. We generated some interest among the visitors and shoppers and scored some sales (one JV had the top score: people just love her stuff, card sets and boxes and whatnot.) Less interest in originals (too $) and small prints (too bad). Cards do well enough.

Mt Goliath and other high-elevation alpine sites are in full – if rather oddly delayed – bloom. Fremont Pass is lined with red paintbrush on the slopes, and the Guanella Pass approaches from Georgetown show an abundance of coneflowers. Go fill up your eyes.

Lots of Fireworks Shows along Front Range – Check Them Out!

Reminder: Deadline today for the Manitou Springs Labor Day Art Festival. If you’re participating, now’s the last minute.

Feathers and Flora. Speaking of exhibit entry deadlines and the last minute, it’s coming up on Thursday, August 1. Get ‘em finished and submitted, folks.

Member Exhibit: Compelling images of nature’s variety by Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder can be seen at Valkarie Gallery, July 24 through August 18, 2019. Opening reception Saturday, August 27.

Dorothy DePaulo will host an artist’s talk at 7 pm on Friday, August 2.

Independence Day is coming up on Thursday. You’ll need sunscreen, PeptoAbysmal, DEET, a hat, shades, probably some bandaids, wetwipes, and good digestion. That’s just during the daytime. At night, you’ll need the bitty flashlight (not so blindingly bright as your Smartphone Flashlight), more DEET, Tumms, burn ointment, and a secure grip on the car keys. Enjoy our national birthday party. Take an aspirin before going to bed.

Tagawa Gardens Lavender Fields Forever event and Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists Show & Sale, Saturday, July 13, 2019; 9 am - 3 pm. Be there or be square [we handle sales via Square…] and get a few rhizomes from the High Plains Iris Society.

Workshop. About 10 members had a great time with Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder as they demo’ed techniques for color pencil on Mylar drafting film on Saturday, June 22. We each got a practice piece and had a blast puttin’ down the pigment. Visit with friends and learn new stuff? Priceless.

Arts Activities, Exhibits, and Festivals A-Plenty

Announcement. This in from Helen Smithwick in the Pikes Peak region:

Hi!

I am a new member of the Commonwheel Artist Coop in Manitou Springs.  We are holding our annual Labor Day Festival from Aug 31 - Sep 2.

I was wondering if any of the members might be interested in entering the festival, or just visiting it. We have extended our application deadline to June 30. The application is available on our website: https://www.commonwheel.com.

Thank you for considering this!

Sincerely,

Helen Smithwick

Check it out. Maybe a few more RMSBA artists will take up the challenge. You who live in central and southern Colorado definitely should make the trip. Parking in Manitou probably will be limited, so make your plans…

75th Anniversary of the Allied Invasion of Normandy in France

Member meeting will convene on Saturday, June 22. Following the business to be discussed, Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder will share their experience and technique with the membership during this excellent (and free) workshop on rendering birds and vegetation.

Colored Pencils on Drafting Film
Saturday, June 22
9 am to noon
VALKARIE Gallery & Studio   
445 S Saulsbury St, Lakewood CO 80226

Please Bring:
-Artist quality colored pencils
-Tombow Mono Zero Elastomer Eraser (ultra-fine tip) (available at Dick Blick or most art supply stores)
-Qtips

-Pencil sharpener either battery operated or manual hand-held that produces a long sharp point. 

-Small container (like a pill bottle with a screw top) of Formula 409 Household Cleaner
-Clipboard or a 9” x 12” piece of foamcore to use as a drawing surface 

We hope to see you there!

Reminder. Carol Till invites you to her show in the Santa Fe Arts District.

Tequila Hues - Carol Till

June 5 - 29, 2019

First Friday Art Walk: June 7, 6-9 pm

Third Friday Artist’s Reception, June 21, 5-8 pm

Beautiful metal etchings of agaves, botanically accurate and finely detailed, printed in the intense colors of the desert using colored inks and handmade papers. Have a nice visit with Carol during 1st and 3rd Friday evening openings or Tuesdays 10 -1:30 in June. Join her for a little tequila-themed refreshment at the Artist’s Reception on June 21, 6-8 pm, Artists on Santa Fe Gallery, 747 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, Colorado 80204.

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango features the traveling exhibit from RMSBA, "Cannabis: A Visual Perspective." Up through 2019. Drop in on your way to Mesa Verde or Grand Canyon.

Call for Entries. “Feathers and Flora: A Natural Relationship” prospectus remains available for download at OnlineJuriedShows.com. We do recommend the YouTube journey with John Muir Laws’ “How to Draw Birds” offering, recently revised according to the New Birds Drawing Systems. Check it out! Last day to enter August 1 (notices by August 7).

Reminder: Tagawa Gardens Lavender Fields Forever event!

Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists Show & Sale

Saturday, July 13, 2019; 9 am - 3 pm

A variety of media, including colored pencil, watercolor, etchings, ink, and graphite. Original works, prints, greeting cards, and similar offerings available for purchase.

Do say yes to providing a demonstration of technique or work on new projects -- actually creating art -- while at the garden center. Tagawa believe it would be wonderful to have a couple artists working on some art pieces as guests stroll by.

Contact Irma Sturgell (isturgell@gmail.com) if you want to participate.

Sticks and Litter Where Once Blossoms Stood – Oh, Hail!

Exhibit. Carol Till invites you to her show in the Santa Fe Arts District.

Artists on Santa Fe Gallery + Studios

June exhibition features new work by printmaker Carol Till.

Tequila Hues - Carol Till

June 5 - 29, 2019

First Friday Art Walk: June 7, 6-9 pm

Third Friday Artist’s Reception, June 21, 5-8 pm

This show includes a series of beautiful metal etchings of agaves, botanically accurate and finely detailed, printed in the intense colors of the desert using colored inks and handmade papers. Don’t miss visiting with Carol during 1st and 3rd Friday evening openings or Tuesdays 10-1:30 in June. Join her for tequila themed refreshments at the Artist’s Reception on June 21, 6-8 pm, Artists on Santa Fe Gallery, 747 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, Colorado 80204 

Spring Bloom on the Colorado Plateau. May bountifully produced the outcome of the wettest spring in years on the Colorado Plateau. Early in Cortez and Hovenweep areas, and later in Moab and Grand Junction areas. In Navajo State Park (NM), every shrub and bush on the canyon walls was in bloom. In the slick rock, cacti blooming yellow and hot pink. The tallest Utah Mallows your Editor may ever have seen. Grasses thick and Sego lilies carpeting the ground like bindweed in a pasture. This bang-up nature show is moving northward from Grand Junction toward Wyoming, so go visit Hayden or Steamboat or Dinosaur and fill up your eyes.

Silverpoint Workshop (in homage to ASBA’s 25^th Anniversary Year efforts) April 27 with Tom Mazzullo was awesome. Participants gesso-coated papers, impatiently allowed them to dry while sampling techniques on sample papers. The most amazing marks are left by the edge of a silver dollar! Copper bits – like pennies or bits of solid-strand electrical wire – for fine or broad strokes. Silver wire (and copper wire) is held in a 2mm lead holder; sharpen the tip for fine, soften for broad. Both these media age to lovely patinae, while gold wire makes a delicate pale mark that will never tarnish. We had flowers, critter skulls, and various objects to practice on. Other metals (like, well, lead) also serve as mark-makers. He told us it was a pleasure to teach technique to people who already know how to draw. Well, it was a pleasure for us, too, Tom.

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Durango has exhibits in its two permanent galleries: “Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Honors & Awards” and “Hispanidad! Treasures of the Southwest." A third gallery features the traveling exhibit from RMSBA, "Cannabis: A Visual Perspective." Exhibits are up throughout 2019. Drop in on your way to Hovenweep or Monument Valley.

Call for Entries. Once more we announce the upcoming member show “Feathers and Flora: A Natural Relationship.” The Prospectus remains available for download at OnlineJuriedShows.com. We continue to recommend the YouTube journey with John Muir Laws’ “How to Draw Birds” offering, recently revised according to the New Birds Drawing Systems. Check it out! Last day to enter August 1 (notifications by August 7).

Wall of Birds. Jeanne Benson offers this link about depicting the evolution of birds. “Huge project and very inspiring. In the video, the artist talks about tweaking the birds through their eyes and bills to make them more interesting.”

Beyond the Studio: Make a Difference! – 2019 ASBA Artist Grants 
If you have been a member of ASBA for two years, you can apply. Grants may be awarded either to individuals or to groups.

New this year: Do not submit applications online; instead, use the downloadable application form. Submit the form with supporting documents via email using the WeTransfer program, which can accommodate large files up to 2GB for free.

Three grants may be awarded to worthy projects this year:

             1. The Esther M. Plotnick Artist Grant in the amount of $3,000.

             2. The Dorothy R. Peck Artist Grant in the amount of $1,000.

             3. The BAEE Artist Grant in the amount of $3,000 for a project focused on native plants.

Applications must be submitted by August 1, 2019. Artist Grant awards will be announced at the ASBA Conference Awards Banquet, October 19, 2019, in Pittsburgh.

To learn more and apply, go here. Review the past project archive here for inspiration!

Tagawa Gardens Lavender Fields Forever event!

Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists Show & Sale

Saturday, July 13, 2019; 9 am - 3 pm

As always, a beautiful selection of botanical art! RMSBA artists display our exquisitely detailed works in a variety of media, including colored pencil, watercolor, etchings, ink, and graphite. Original works, prints, greeting cards, and similar offerings will be available for purchase.

Any artist is welcome to provide a demonstration of technique and to work on new projects -- actually creating art -- while at the garden center. This sort of activity might serve to slow down the hopefuls racing toward the High Plains Iris Show, so as to siphon off a few shekels from the rhizome sales. Tagawa believe it would be wonderful to have a couple artists working on some art pieces as guests stroll by.

Contact Irma Sturgell (isturgell@gmail.com) if you are interested in bringing your work to the show.

Preminder: June member meeting Sunday, June 23. Dorothy DePaulo will conduct a workshop on rendering birds in colored pencil on Mylar at Valkarie Gallery. More details to follow.

Desole pour Notre Dame!

Link to story at DemocracyNow!

Equinox and more than 12 hours of daylight!

Reminder. Upcoming member meeting Sunday March 31 at the Museum of Natural History (Henderson Hall) at CU Boulder, 1pm, room 212. We will introduce the Feathers and Flora Call for Entry, talk about RMSBA's plans for the year then adjourn to the bio lounge for some specimen sketching. Please bring your sketching materials!

Gathering of the Guilds of the Colorado Arts & Crafts Society is at the American Mountaineering Center in Golden on April 14. Come see us and shop around for paper, cards, jewelry, artworks, textiles and so much more.

Exhibit. Our Past Prez Vanessa Martin invites you to a show.

The Center of Southwest Studies Museum unveiled its new exhibits rotation in its two permanent galleries: “Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Honors & Awards” and “Hispanidad! Treasures of the Southwest." A third gallery features the traveling exhibit from RMSBA, "Cannabis: A Visual Perspective." Exhibits are up throughout 2019.

Call for Entries. Again, we announce the upcoming member show “Feathers and Flora: A Natural Relationship.” The Prospectus is available for download at OnlineJuriedShows.com. We recommend a YouTube journey with John Muir Laws’ “How to Draw Birds” offering, recently revised according to the New Birds Drawing Systems. Check it out!