You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October 2012.
by Janice Sharp, Leslie Walker and Deb Shaw
BAGSC members are invited, with their significant others, to join BAGSC for a night of eating, drinking and merrymaking(!) on:
Saturday, December 8th
Janice’s house
5:00 pm – whenever
Janice is sending out a paperless invitation via email (you should have already received it). R.S.V.P to Janice via the paperless invite by December 1st, or via email.
As always, our BAGSC holiday event will be a POTLUCK DINNER. Please indicate if you will bring an appetizer, side dish (to accompany ham and turkey) or dessert on your R.S.V.P.
We will hold a very brief meeting, and a silent auction of art materials and books (so bring money). If you have something you would like to contribute to the auction, please contact Leslie.
Please also bring any artwork (or any other creative endeavors) you’ve been working on for the past year to show in our “mini-sharing show” again — it was a lot of fun to see everyone’s work last year.
See you there!
by John Keesey, posted by Deb Shaw
Sally’s beautiful studio space was all set up when we arrived, with handouts and gifts from Anita.
For three lovely days in mid-October twelve eager botanical artists enjoyed the warm personality and dazzling expertise of Anita Walsmit Sachs from the Netherlands. They met each morning in the pleasant downstairs classroom of Sally Jacobs’ Studio near LACMA to learn botanical line drawing from Anita, the head of the Art Department of the Nationaal Herbarium Nederland of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. She brought many examples of the beautifully composed line drawings she creates for scientific articles, complete with ink stippling to suggest shading and shape. She has also contributed exquisite watercolors of Acer and Syinga to the Florilegium of the Prince of Wales’ Estate at Highgrove, and has won two gold medals from the Royal Horticultural Society of England.
Mimulus ‘Dave’, by John Keesey, pen and ink, © 2012
We brought our own plant to draw, first in pencil to show the “habit” or repeating part of the plant, then details of structure often viewed under a dissecting microscope and drawn over graph paper. These pencil drawings were cut out and taped into a suitable composition, which was perhaps the most challenging aspect of the project. This was then transferred via tracing paper and a light box to a paper with a vellum finish suitable for inking, which was done using Rotring or Staedler pens of several sizes to indicate the light source and overlapping. Finally graduated stippling with these pens to indicate shading and shape was discovered to be an excellent form of meditation!
Salvia ‘Hot Salsa’ by Joan Keesey, pen and ink, © 2012
Botanical artists who attended these sessions included Sally Jacobs, Leslie Walker, Deborah Shaw, Tania Norris, Norma Sarkin, Janice Sharp, Bonnie Born Ash, Joan Keesey, Tania Marien, Mitsuko Schultz, Alyse Ochniak and Estelle DeRidder. Also present was Yours Truly, John Keesey.
Part of a Western Sycamore by Estelle DeRidder, pen and ink, © 2012
Note to all who attended the class: Please email a photo of your drawing and/or sketches to Deb, so she can post them to the blog.
Anita discusses inking techniques with the class.
by Janice Sharp, posted by Deb Shaw
When you first click on the link in the story to the Google map of the locations of Arboretum introductions, this is what you’ll see; a list of all the plants with their locations as dots on the map. Click on “Satellite” view in the upper right corner of the map to see the information displayed over a photographic map.
For all of us who are painting the plants introduced by the Los Angeles Arboretum (or even those of us who want to find those plants from the list), we have a link to a Google map of the locations of Arboretum introductions throughout the grounds (thank you Frank!).
This this data is about five years old, so some plants from our list may be missing from the map, but it’s a great start. When you open the site, click on “satellite” view and zoom in. Then you’ll be able to see the paths and roads in the Arboretum, which will make it easier to find things and find your way around.
Questions? Contact Janice Sharp.
Happy painting!
In the “Satellite” view, zoom in to see the roads, paths and familiar landmarks of the Arboretum grounds.
Click on the red pin marker next to a plant name you’re interested in, and the plant information will pop up on the map where the plant is located. Or, click on any red marker pin on the map, and the plant information will pop up there, too.
by Diane Daly, posted by Deb Shaw
Finally, we have the dates for our Chapman show on drought tolerant plants. We will have the Leatherby Library Henley Reading Room and the Clarke wall just like we used in the Brush with Nature exhibit.
We will set up and hang the exhibit on January 25, 2013. We will have an evening reception on February 7, and we will take down the paintings on February 25.
The botanist, Jennifer Funk will have her students write descriptions of drought tolerant plant groups with explanations of how the plants retain moisture and survive the heat.
Reminder, all paintings should be framed in the Dick Blick bamboo frame, white mat, and plexiglass. Use the same label on the back as we do for other exhibits. All members can submit up to four paintings. Paintings can be delivered to Diane Daly’s house the week before Jan 25 or brought to Chapman on that date at 10 am to be hung.
More details will be coming. Questions? Contact Diane Daly or Clara Josephs.
A plant selections list follows below. This list is just a “ working list” to let everyone know what other artists are working on. We hope this will inspire other members to paint for this exhibit. Don’t worry if you’re interested in painting something that is already listed below. Duplicates are not automatically excluded. Feel free to add, delete or change, depending on how your paintings are going. Let Diane Daly know. We’ll continue to publish updated lists.
Arillyn Moran-Lawrence
Dudleya Farinosa
Salvia Chamaedroyides, Electric blue sage
Desert Marigold, Baileya multiradiata
Echeveria graptoveria or Kalanchoe thyrsiflora
Bonnie Ash
Agave Utahensis var. nevadensis
Pacific Mist Manzanita Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Linda Ericksen
Prickly pear cactus, Opuntia
Joan Keesey
California Buckeye Flower, Aesculus californica
Flannel Bush Fremontodendron
California Poppy Eschscholzia californica
Foothill Penstemon Penstemon heterophyllus
Or
Heart Leaf Penstemon Keckiella cordiforlia
Toyon Heteromeles arbutifolia
Bush Monkey Flower Mimulus aurantiacus
Patricia VanOsterhoudt
Crape Myrtle, Lagerstroemai indica
Columbine Aquilegia
Mountain Phlox
Yucca (another view)
Sue Kuuskmae
Fortnight Lily, Dietus vegeta
Rock Rose, Kalanchoe
Toyonberry
Matilija poppy, Romneya coulteri
Estelle DeRidder
Coastal Prickly Pear, Opuntia littoralis
Baja Fairy Duster, Dalliandra eriophylla
California Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia
Chia Salvia, Columbriae
Clara Josephs
Coffeeberry, Rhamnus californica
Diane Daly
Island Alum Root, Heuchera maxima
Seaside Daisy Erigeron glaucus
Carmen Lindsay
Bladder Sage
Ocotillo
Buckwheat
Veronica Raymond
Coffeeberry, Rhamnus californica
Bladderpod, Isomeris arborea
Nevins Barberry, Mahonia nevinii
Englemann Oak Quercus engelmannii
Deborah Shaw
Fuschia Flowered Gooseberry, Ribes speciosum
Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium bellum
Chalk Dudleya, Dudleya pulverulenta
White sage, Salvia apiana
Mitsuko Schultz
Nevin’s Barberry, Berberis nevinii
California Sycamore, Platanus racemosa
by Akiko Enokido, posted by Deb Shaw
Mieko Ishikawa with her watercolor, “Amorphophallus titanum”. © 2012, all rights reserved.
I was lucky to be able to attend the exhibition of Mieko Ishikawa’s work, 9/1 to 9/9/2012 at Keio Plaza Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Approximately 60 pieces of her work from the past ten years were exhibited. Included in the exhibits were the cherry blossoms series that received the gold medal at RHS, the plants of Borneo, and Conifers.
On the weekend, Mieko had a special event with lectures and photos from her trip to Borneo. From her fascinating lectures, we learned how she found and sketched the plants in the wild rain forest.
Her most recent work is this huge flowering plant Amorphophallus titanum. This originally grows in the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia. The bloom normally reaches up to 8 to 9 ft tall there.
Mieko drew this particular piece at Koishikawa, Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, the University of Tokyo. Since the one there was only about 6ft tall, she decided to paint it in its actual size. The flower died in two to three days. While she was sketching it, she couldn’t help but notice the terrible smell of the blooming plant. When I visited her studio last March, she was working on 6.5 x 3.2 ft stretched Arches paper. The final work was so beautiful it was hard to imagine that it could give out a terrible odor as she described.
Mieko Ishikawa presentation about painting the plants in the wild rain forest of Borneo.
Mieko has visited Borneo more than ten times. In the rainforest, you can’t take any specimens to confirm the specific plant species. But she became good friends with the guide, and one day he gave her one dead pitcher with a plant. And another time, when the director of the national park gifted her a huge acorn from the herbarium, she trembled with joy as if she was presented with a diamond.
Mieko Ishikawa with painting at Exhibition at Keio Plaza Hotel, Shinjuku, Tokyo.
We generally are not able to go to the rain-forest; we just have knowledge through photos and videos. The plants in Mieko’s works are drawn actual size and look so lively, it makes you feel as if they are going to move right in front of your eyes. She also taught botanical painting to the people who work at the national park, but the papers were so moistened due to wet weather. She said it was extremely difficult to paint. Mieko hopes that botanical art will spread throughout their country. Her works are valuable records of the precious species in Malaysia. Mieko wants to be even more active in drawing Borneo plants, presenting their ecology and fascinating morphology in order to protect the nature in Borneo for many more years to come.
by Deb Shaw
Acer saccharum, Sugar Maple, by Margaret Best, watercolor on paper, © 2012, all rights reserved.
BAGSC members Margaret Best and Akiko Enokido were selected to exhibit in the 15th Annual International exhibition for the American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York. The show is comprised of forty-three artworks by thirty-nine different artists from the US, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and the UK.
Jurors Patricia Jonas, Kathie Miranda and Derek Norman had the difficult task of selecting from 192 entries. The artwork in the show can be viewed in the exhibition section on the new ASBA website. Be sure to read interviews with Margaret and Akiko about their work in the show on the website as well.
Camellia japonica ‘Chandleri Elegans’, Variegated Camellia, by Akiko Enokido, watercolor on vellum, © 2012, all rights reserved.
Want a catalog of the exhibition? Order from ArtPlantae for $20.
The exhibition will be on display from September 14 – November 21, 2012 at The Horticultural Society of New York, 148 W. 37th Street, 13th Floor, New York, New York, 10018. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.
Congratulations to all!
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