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by Nancy Beckham, posted by Deb Shaw
Artwork on postcard: Slipper Orchid Maudiae, © 2017, Kathy Morgan
The Botanical Art and Illustration Class of the Los Angeles County Arboretum is proud to announce their Second ARTboretum Art show, an annual art exhibit and sale to be held Friday April 28 through Sunday, April 30 from 10 am – 4:30 pm, and 10:00 am until 2:00 pm on Sunday. Last year’s first event was an amazing success, with more than 60 works of framed art available for purchase, demonstrations, a reception, and sales of beautiful cards and prints of the artists work. More than 700 people attended this three-day event.
ARTboretum is back this year, with exciting hands-on demonstrations so the public can experience the thrill of drawing and painting plants. Framed or unframed originals and fine art giclées, cards and prints of the work will be available for purchase just before Mothers’ Day. The artists will be on hand to welcome the public and to share their knowledge and love of their art. A reception for the artists will be held on Saturday, April 29 from 1 – 3 pm in the Oak Room.
The LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden is located at 301 North Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia. Hope to see you at this exciting event in April.
by Jennifer Muto; and Rose Marie James, ASBA On-Line Manager; posted by Deb Shaw
As you know, ASBA continues to be a wonderful resource for all information about what is happening in the world of botanical art. It brings us together in the way of conferences, a terrific quarterly magazine and as a means of showing our work to the world through exhibitions, our website gallery and our annual on-line auction.
The ASBA online auction offers us the most exposure because it provides a broad opportunity for friends and associates, and their friends and acquaintances, to see and purchase our work through social media. It benefits everyone – you the artist, the buyers and ASBA.
ASBA needs the help of our members to participate in this very important fundraiser. Submit an original piece or a gicleé print you have in your library of work. If it’s an original you get half the sale price back. This is about the same as any gallery but the balance goes to our wonderful organization.
Please help support the ASBA so that we can continue to provide those enriching resources we have all come to enjoy. The ASBA On-Line Auction is approaching its submission deadline in eight days, on Monday, March 13th. Here is the link to the ASBA website where you can register to participate in the online aution. Just send a digital copy of your art and the PDF application form and you are good to go. It will make us happy.
You may have seen the copy below in the recent ASBA highlights newsletter. We would love to get more submissions from ASBA members and was hoping you’d be willing to submit something and/or reach out to your ASBA friends to help us rally submissions. No submission is too small!
Tick tock, tick tock. Time is getting short. The ASBA Online Auction needs you! You need the Online Auction! It’s a Win-Win! It’s a chance to show your botanical artwork to a world-wide audience. Plus, if you make a sale of an original work, 50 percent comes back to you, and you help ASBA at the same time. It really is easy to send a digital image of your art (sized to 72 dpi, 8 inches high) with a brief description of the art work or item, plus its value. You may submit one or more original pieces, or giclée prints (five per artist maximum), art materials or equipment, and classes. Here – is the link for further details and submission – just click it – it is easy! We’ll take care of the rest. Deadline to submit: March 13th, 2016.
Thanks and looking forward to seeing you in October at Filoli for the ASBA Conference & Annual Meeting!
by Jude Wiesenfeld and Lee McCaffree, posted by Deb Shaw
BAGSC will be sponsoring a one-day Leaf Detail workshop with Lee McCaffree, on:
Saturday, May 6, 2017
9:30 am – 4:00 pm
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, Botanical Education Center
Cost, BAGSC Members: $100
Non-Members: $120
Maximum Registration: 16 students
Roger’s Red Grape, watercolor by Lee McCaffree, © 2017.
Leaves form the background for most botanical paintings. It is important to spend the time to make them accurate. We will work to make the veins and margins realistic in their finishing touches while following the form and texture of several leaves. This workshop will cover leaf-painting techniques using dry brush work, masking fluid, lifting and leaving the white paper.
For more information about the workshop, sign-up, and the materials list, please see the BAGSC website “Classes” and “Class Details” page.
About the Instructor
Lee McCaffree is a botanical illustrator in watercolor. She shares the coordination and implementation of the Filoli Botanical Art Certificate Program and is a primary instructor. She served on the Board of Directors of The American Society of Botanical Artists. She gives regular private classes in the Bay area and instructed at the ASBA Annual meetings and the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. She supports botanical artists by participating in coordinating teams for art exhibits and jurying.
Lee McCaffree
She began her career in London, England studying under Christabel King of Kew Gardens. She received Medals for showing her “Pinus” series and “Plants in Peril” series at the Royal Horticultural Society exhibitions in London. Her works are in the permanent collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew Collection, London, the Filoli Florilegium and Hunt Institute of Botanical Documentation; Lee won Best of Show at the Northwest ASBA Exhibition in Portland, OR. Her showings include juried exhibitions at Contemporary Art Center, MOMA-New York; Longwood Gardens; Hunt Institute, Pittsburgh; Seattle Science Center; Flinn Gallery Greenwich, CT; Horticultural Society of New York; Missouri, Chicago, Denver and UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens; Strybing Arboretum, CA; Arizona Desert Museum, New York State Museum; Johnson & Johnson Headquarters; Oakland Museum; Loveland Museum (Colorado); Filoli exhibits and Florilegium; Northern California Society of Botanical Artist’s Alcatraz Florilegium and other venues. She created the poster for the California Native Plant Sale for the East Bay for ten years. Her work is published in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, England and Today’s Botanical Artist. Her work was included in “Losing Paradise”, an exhibit of endangered species illustrations which traveled throughout the U.S and to the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens, London. Currently, she is exhibiting in the Weird, Wild and Wonderful Traveling Exhibit from the New York Botanical Gardens.
Lee’s work concentrates on native plants which she hopes will increase their visibility and use in public and private landscaping. Her skill as a botanical artist allows her to focus her creativity on the finest details of each plant she paints. Her enthusiasm inspires her students to develop their own skills and enjoy the creative process.
by Gilly Shaeffer, posted by Deb Shaw
Save-the-date postcard, designed by Jan and Chas Clouse, featuring Gilly Shaeffer’s watercolor of a California native walnut, © 2017.
The Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California (BAGSC) is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Mark your calendars–on August 26, 2017, the Guild will be having a gala celebration in honor of our Anniversary.
Since its inception in 1997, our group has grown, changed and keeps getting better. So, we have good reason to celebrate. Members continue to develop their botanical art skills through classes and workshops, and, as a result of this dedication and hard work, we have more and more opportunities to show our art. Through outreach, exhibition and educational activities, BAGSC has increased southern Californian’s awareness and appreciation for this art form.
We have many activities planned in honor of our 20-year milestone.
The Los Angeles Arboretum Library, one of our earliest supporters, will be hosting a BAGSC exhibition, entitled “Illustrating the Urban Forest: 20 Years of Botanical Art”. The exhibition will feature trees that grow in Mediterranean climates. Opening in early July, 2017, the exhibition will run until the end of September.
On August 26 we will hold a 20th Anniversary Celebration at the Los Angeles Arboretum:
4:00 – Artists will lead a tour of the exhibition and discuss the art.
5:00 – A special presentation will be given by Matt Ritter, author of A Californian’s Guide to Trees Among Us. Matt is a professor at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, a tree expert and a photographer. This promises to be a delightful and informative presentation.
6:00 – The Anniversary Dinner will be held at the Peacock Café Patio at sunset. Olga Eysymontt, long time botanical art instructor, will share memories of BAGSC beginnings and how botanical art got started in Los Angeles. And there will be opportunities for all to connect with old friends and meet new ones.
Invitations to this special event will be available soon. The suggested donation for attending is $60.
Keep your eyes open for invitations and more information. Entries for the exhibition at the LA Arboretum Library, “Illustrating the Urban Forest: 20 Years of Botanical Art” are due May 12, 2017. The “Call for Entries” can be found on the BAGSC website Exhibitions page and in the Members Only section. Questions on the exhibition? Please contact Janice Sharp. Questions about the 20th Anniversary Celebration? Please contact Gilly Shaeffer.
We are looking forward to sharing a beautiful afternoon and evening with members, friends, family, special guests from the Los Angeles botanical gardens community and more. We hope all will join us for this magical anniversary celebration.
BAGSC News 