Lots of News

I had to take a month off as BlogMeister, due to some health needs. Feeling much better, and with my apologies regarding timeliness of posting, here's all the news that's fit to print!

First up: ASBA Conference!
This was an amazing event. Attendees were blown away by the organization, support and content offered to them. At the banquet, Susan Fisher called up Committee Chairs, and then, in her inimitable style, thanked each committee members. In your Botanical Artist, which should have just arrived, you'll find a rundown on the happenings and most importantly, the vibe of this conference, which included the most intense sharing, conversation, friendships and fun I ever seen. So, check out the details in TBA!

Conference Coordinator Marilyn Garber loved working with us, and sent this lovely card and note:

Dear RMSBA Members,

Thank you soooo much for everything you did to make the ASBA Denver Conference successful!  Your great team made my job easy.  We could never accomplish such a diverse and interesting conference without the support of people "on the ground"  Your willingness to pitch in and get the job done is much appreciated.  Every detail was taken care of by you all - from the complexity of putting on Small Works to choosing the right hotel the right transportation company, to the lovely brush holder gift, to the beautiful banquet center pieces - and much, much, much, more.  Even the zombie event was lots of fun for our members!  Like the first conference in Denver, this second one was a huge success - all due to your work.

With great appreciation,

Marilyn

The wrap party happened at our regular October Member Meeting. Becky Hall organized and managed amazing finger food, Heidi Snyder provided an heirloom Black Forest Cake made with, truly, an heirloom kirschwasser (cherry liquor) as a a special ingredient, as well as sugar/gluten free individual cakes for those who require them. There was champagne, mimosas, and faux-mimosas with great sparkling apple cider.

Dorothy DePaulo led the discussion assessing strengths and weaknesses, how to help the next Conference organizers for the event in Miami next year, and then passed the podium to floor, asking each member present who had attended the conference to discuss their individual experiences. Again, there were helpful comments, but the theme of all comments was the absolute pleasure working together provided. We were all somewhat tearful that the effort was over, and yet happy to have done it right!

In closing, on behalf of RMSBA, Dorothy presented Susan Fisher, Conference Coordinator, and Ronda Ballard, who were present at committee meetings, work sessions, stuffing events and pretty much anywhere you needed them for the entire year of planning, with gift certificates. Many thank yous,  followed by applause from the entire group and hugs all around closed the meeting. Susan and Ronda send many thanks to the members for their help AND the lovely gift certificates.

Susan (left) and Ronda say, "Thank you, RMSBA, for your kind thank you gift. The ASBA conference was a great experience for us because of this terrific group of hard working botanical enthusiasts!"

 

Changes Afoot!

Every healthy organization benefits from changes in leadership, and we are definitely a healthy organization! In that vein, here are some things to look forward to in 2015:

RMSBA President: Vanessa Martin has accepted the position of RMSBA president. You know Vanessa from her tireless work for Exhibitions. In her new position, she'll continue to lead us into new growth and adventures.

Treasurer: Vicki MacWilliam has served in this position forever! Many thanks for her amazing dedication. She has now passed the baton to Ronda Ballard. Ronda was our first Treasurer, and we're so pleased she's helping again!

November Member Meeting:
Don't miss this opportunity to hang out with fellow artists at the Rocky Mountain Land Library. This amazing resource serves botanists, artists, authors, naturalists and historians with a collection of books that exist because of this land we live on.

 

The meeting this month will be on Sunday, November 30th at 1:00 p.m. at the Rocky Mountain Library's  Waterton Canyon Library (located at Denver Water's Kassler Center). 

This library is so unique and such an important resource for us as botanic artists. It is truly one of the most unusual libraries in America! and it is right here in Colorado! You don't want to miss this.
Please visit the Rocky Mountain Land Library at https://landlibrary.wordpress.com/ to find out more about about this unusual library.
We will be visiting their Waterton Canyon Library and they will be telling us more about their South Park Library/Inn as well. 
As always, feel free to bring a piece of art to share with us.

Directions from C-470 & Wadsworth Blvd:

Go south on Wadsworth, 4.4 miles. Turn Left onto Waterton Road. You'll quickly pass the Audubon Center to your left. Continue on Waterton and you'll see a cluster of White brick buildings to your right. At the far end of those buildings, turn right into the Kassler Center parking lot. The library is located in the brown building, which is the first building to your right as you pass through the gate. 

Here's anAudubon link that has a couple of maps (folks just need to remember that we are just south of Audubon, and on the opposite side of Waterton Road):

http://www.denveraudubon.org/auduboncenter/location-hours/

New BlogMeister: Libby Kyer (that's me!) created our blog 3.5 years ago. I offered to do this when the Board was trying to decide how/if to continue the website. At that time, the best option for an easily updated web presence was a blog. Benefits included it's complete timeliness, as it could be updated each and every day if needed, as well as flexibility in layout and design. Since then, it has become a valuable tool for RMSBA functions and mission goals. However, it's time for Libby to pass our blog to a new BlogMeister. Our immediate past president Dorothy DePaulo has volunteered to step in and learn the ropes.  Here's Dorothy!

 

Dorothy is an accomplished artist and becoming an author with her book with Heidi Snyder about Wild in the City - the flora and fauna that thrive in city parks and preserves. To add to her busy schedule, she's volunteered to be your BlogMeister starting in January of 2015. Here's a sample of her artwork, entitled "Spotted Towhee," created in colored pencil on film:

 



Dorothy is excited about learning to create an interesting and informative blog for you. You can help her by emailing her images and words about your life as an artist and RMSBA member. Let her know if March's Drawing a Day theme is something you enjoyed and benefitted from. Have a conversation about online exhibitions using the blog - pro or con! Update your member gallery, to provide fresh new artwork for members and patrons to enjoy. And look for great new things right here! Starting with about 12,000 views in our first full year, we now total over 74,000 views from interested folks around the world! Yep, WORLD!! Take advantage of this wonderful service to you, your art, and our organization.

I'll continue until the end of the year, and then help Dorothy learn the ropes in the next couple of months. This has been a great learning experience for me, and rather unexpectedly, so much fun! I'll miss providing this service to you, but have loved the support offered, and know the new Blogmeister will love it as much as I have.

 

Wild in the City Opening Tomorrow Evening

You won't want to miss this opening! Here are the details, and few images to encourage you! And remember, you can click on any image for a larger version. See you there!

 

 

 

 

Western Painted Turtle, colored pencil on Mylar, Heidi Snyder

 

 

 

Meadow, colored pencil on Mylar, Heidi Snyder

 

Egret and Shore Birds, colored pencil on Mylar, Heidi Snyder

 

 

 

Black Hooded Night Heron, colored pencil, Dorothy DePaulo

Holiday Gifts Created with Botanical Art

In November, 11 colored pencil students gathered in a class led by Libby Kyer to create festive cutting boards in “Cutting Edge Art.” Over 3 days, we made strong compositions suitable to be reproduced for glass cutting boards. Many students ordered multiples of their works after they saw the finished results on their first cutting board. It was a great class, resulting in new skills in colored pencil and composition and a great gift, hand-made for the holidays. Check out some of the results!

 

"Pumpkin Fest," the completed cutting board photographed on a dark cloth. You can see the pattern of the glass on the board, which is why artists created images with strong color and detail, to show well through the glass. This one is by Jan Boyd-Haring. Her finished artwork is shown below.

 

This vibrant image reproduced well under glass, and shows up  more clearly than in the photo above, but design must take the glass texture into consideration.

 

One of the great pleasures of this class was seeing the variety of composition, color and approach exhibited among the artists. Check it out!

 

 

Autumn Leaves by Kristi Czajkowski

 

 

 

Cherry Lattice by Carol Varian

 

 

 

The Gourd by Elizabeth Lococz

 

 

 

 



Gourd #1 by Mary Barnes

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest by Vickey Wood

 

 

 

 

Herbs by Katy Howe

 

 

 

 

Sunflower by Hannah Rottman

 

 

It being the beginning of a new year, perhaps it's time to look into classes you might find inspiring, challenging or needed. Take a look and some good leads under Workshop Listings. You'll find drawing classes from Susan Rubin and Marjorie Leggitt, a range of botanical art classes from the School of Botanical Art and Illustration at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and links to Colorado Institute of Art and Art Students League of Denver. Especially in cold weather, it's nice to have a good studio to go to and share a learning experience with other artists. Hope to see you in the educational scence soon! 

 

Heidi Snyder's Work Accepted into FON XIII

Congratulations, Heidi! She tells us:
All [images] are based on my personal reference photos (yes, I saw the osprey), and done in pencil [and colored pencil] on drafting film, with some ink and pastel on the back and in case of the osprey, 2 layers of drafting film with a third layer of pastel on paper. I am humbled and elated to have gotten in."

Mullein by Heidi Snyder

Alamos Barrel Cactus, colored pencil, Heidi Snyder

 

 

Osprey, colored pencil, Heidi Snyder

New Gallery Opens with RMSBA Member

Valkarie Gallery originated from the creative minds of founding members Frank Farrar, Valerie Savarie and Karrie York. Together, they envisioned a space where they could collectively create and display their art. A place where they could invite a diverse collection of artists to exhibit their work and whose art greatly inspired the creation of their own. Both gallery and working studio, Valkarie is owned and run by artists, for artists and invites the community to join us in the celebration of all things creative! RMSBA member Dorothy DePaulo is a contributing member to this new gallery.

Opening and Inaugural Exhibition: November 1, 2013 - January 12, 2014
Valkarie Gallery
445 South Saulsbury Street
Lakewood, CO

Find out more by clicking here.

Dorothy's featured piece is Mesquite, colored pencil on film, which was recently purchased by the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for their permanent collection. Congratulations, Dorothy.

Planning for your garden

This summer, gardens will need to be very water thrifty. Not enough precipitation means less moisture - falling or collected - for garden plants. What to do? Well, selecting plants that can handle a hotter, drier climate than usual is a good place to start. An excellent place to locate plants that are up to the task is Plant Select. One of this year's winners is Narbonne Blue Flax, Linum narbonense.

This Mediterranean form of blue flax is much more long-lived and fuller than the western native species. Blooming for months on end, the deep sky blue flowers are larger and more flaring. This robust plant offers a dense mound of attractive, nearly evergreen foliage for garden borders, wildflower gardens and informal plantings.

Another selection blooms for most of the growing season. The lustrous, fuchsia-colored flowers are an improvement on Delosperma cooperi. During the winter the leaves remain turgid and green, often tinged with purple. This image is by Libby Kyer, in graphite and colored pencil, and was used in the publication which celebrated the Plant Select project.

Click here  Durable Plants for the Garden to take a look at the book produced locally, which includes lots of great tips for designing and selecting plants for your garden. 

 

Drawing a Day

Tulipa, Tulips, in colored pencil on film, Dorothy DePaulo

 

Well, today is the last day of our March Drawing a Day project, to jump start you into art. Hopefully, you've found helpful hints, technique tips, and most importantly, inspiration from other members. Spring has sprung, and it's pretty exciting to see living things poking up through the warmed soil, ready for us to discover and represent.

Many thanks to all the members who participated. Seventeen members sent artworks! Can't do it without you. And, if you have a piece you'd like featured on our blog, please send a .jpg to rmsbartists@gmail.com. We'll post it for you.

Remember, our annual online exhibit, Remembering Summer, is posted for 2 months in October and November. It's a great way to get your art seen and generally has thousands of hits on the Internet. Now that you're all ready to capture nature this summer, plan ahead to submit several images to this exhibit. Entries are not jurored, and yet, we receive amazing beautiful artworks each year. Looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labors.

Drawing a Day

Populus tremuloidis, Quaking Aspen, colored pencil on film, Heidi Snyder

Drawing a Day

Study of leaf arrangements on miniature Dendrobium, colored pencil on toned paper, Libby Kyer
Using toned paper allows for quick (10 minutes) exploration of form and light. Actual size of little orchid leaves here is 2" for the center leaf. The leaves are very succulent, so form is extra important.

Drawing a Day

Aliciella sedifolia, colored pencil, Teresa Burkert

 

Teresa reports, I have been doing this little kid a lot...more than it shows!...instead of small items on a daily basis." And that's another really helpful way to do a drawing a day - focus on one specimen.

Draw the specimen again and again until you like your drawing, then start finishing techniques. The benefits of working this way are many. You get to know your specimen in a way few have the time. Each time you rework, re-see, re-imagine, or re-toss, you're learning more and more and more. Building on your on work, in a series, or simply in a longer creation process hits all the right notes for growth and improvement. What could be better?

Drawing a Day

Blossoms on an egg! colored pencil, Dorothy DePaulo

Drawing a Day

 

Blue flax, colored pencil, Cathy Cridhbaugh

Drawing a Day

Tulip, colored pencil, Heidi Snyder

Drawing a Day

 

 

Wild Rose, colored pencil, Roberta Lutgens

ASBA Selects Artists for Bartram's Exhibitioin

The traveling exhibition Following in the Bartrams’ Footsteps will open at Bartram’s Garden in Philadelphia on April 26, 2013. An Opening Reception will be held May 6, 2013. Forty-three original botanical artworks have been selected.

 

Franklinia altamaha, watercolor, Karen Kluglein

 

Franklinia is the signature plant discovery of William Bartram, the son of John Bartram, in colonial tiimes. The plant is difficult to grow domestically, but would have disappeared without the Bartram's conservation efforts, as it was virtually extinct when first found by William.

 

A collaboration between the American Society of Botanical Artists and Bartram’s Garden, the exhibition features contemporary botanical artworks depicting plants discovered and introduced by two generations of the Bartram family. It will reflect John and William Bartram’s passionate observation and discovery of nature, which has influenced generations of artists and explorers throughout the world.

The forty-three original artworks have been selected from a field of nearly 200 entries submitted by ASBA members from around the world and Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators members. Focusing on the native plant discoveries made by John and William in their travels through the eastern wilderness between the 1730’s and 1790’s, the exhibition allows a fresh look at their seminal body of knowledge and art. Beautiful native rarities including Franklinia, Dodecatheon, and American Lotus have been depicted. Other subjects include Foxglove, Morning Glory and Cockscomb, introductions the Bartrams made to American and worldwide gardening through their plant business. The exhibition promises to appeal to a wide audience as it ties together art, science, history, nature, and culture.

 

Artists have enthusiastically sought and captured images for the past two years, with some having gone so far as to track down heirloom seeds and cultivate them in their own gardens in order to be able to paint a particularly appealing subject. Artists have worked with Bartram’s Garden itself, or other botanical gardens to find their inspiration, and still others have explored subjects in the wilds of North America. The exhibition will open in the gallery of the restored Barn, built in 1775 by John Bartram, and the oldest barn in Philadelphia.

William’s natural history illustrations were often the first images seen of North American plants and animals and are an under-utilized cultural resource. A recent project of American artist Mark Dion reconsidered and re-enacted the travels of William Bartram throughout the southeast. In a similar vein, Following in the Bartrams’ Footsteps seeks to draw attention to the history and culture of 18th-century American naturalists including those of botanical and artistic bent, and to illuminate the role contemporary artists play in depicting these same plants for today’s audience and preserving their record for generations to come. 

Check The Botanical Artist, Journal of the ASBA, for more information on planned and possible sites for this innovative exhibition.