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by Deb Shaw
The San Diego Botanic Garden will be hosting a BAGSC exhibition of botanical art titled Artist’s Favorites. This juried show will feature botanical works near and dear to each artist’s heart. A work might be a favorite because of a particular plant specimen, because of a specific technique, or because it evokes a treasured memory of a place or time.
This exhibition is not only “artists’ choice” for artwork, but “artist’s choice” for framing too! If you would like to stick to the ASBA standards of a light wood, simple, L-shape frame, feel free to do so. If you have artwork framed in other styles, this is your chance to submit them in the frames you’ve chosen.
- Submission deadline: August 15, 2014
- Exhibition Dates: September 21, 2014 – mid-November 2014

Consider volunteering to help with the “Artist’s Favorite” SDBG exhibition—we have a good time. Photo of BAGSC members Joan Keesey (left) and Janice Sharp (right) enjoying a laugh during the hanging of the 2013 BAGSC exhibition at the SDBG.
Some of the nitty gritty details:
All BAGSC members in good standing (dues paid) are eligible to enter up to 4 (four) pieces, which may consist of original, two-dimensional botanical art and illustration in any media, or archival giclée prints of original artwork. No photography or digital art. Work may have been shown in previous BAGSC, ASBA, Filoli or other exhibitions. THIS IS A JURIED SHOW. It is possible that multiple entries may not be accepted, depending on space availability and the number of submissions. Artwork or prints may be for sale if desired. The San Diego Botanic Garden will take a commission of ten percent of all sales.
A submission fee of $35.00 must be made out to BAGSC and sent with the submission form to BAGSC Treasurer and Exhibit Chair, Lesley Randall. Please write “Artist’s Favorite” on the subject line of your check. Your check must be received by Lesley Randall on or before August 15, 2014. If you would like to bring your submission check (and CD) to the BAGSC Pen and Ink class on August 9 and 10, 2014, OR to the July 20, 2014 BAGCS Quarterly meeting, please bring them then.
Files should be labeled with your name and artwork title. You can email your digital artwork with the entry form to Lesley Randall or mail it on a CD with a hard copy of the entry form. Your artwork, entry form and check must also be accompanied by a digital file with a written description of why each painting you’ve submitted is a “favorite.”
An email blast also will be sent out to BAGSC members with the submission form and additional information. Details about artwork delivery and pick-up will be sent out to all accepted artists at a later date.
Volunteering:
BAGSC members are needed to help set up and break down the exhibition.
Volunteers also are needed:
- for hanging the exhibition;
- at the opening reception to talk with guests and answer questions;
- for signing in and signing out the artwork for the exhibition;
- for breaking down the exhibition;
- for collection and transport of artwork to and/or from SDBG;
- and other show-related activities as needed.
To volunteer for the activities above (or any other help you can provide) please contact Lesley Randall.
Important Dates:
- August 15, 2014: Entry deadline
- September 2: Acceptance Notification
- September 21: Installation of exhibit
- September 21: Reception
- Mid-November: Show Closes And Paintings Removed
Questions about the show?
Please contact Lesley Randall.
Happy painting!
by Deb Shaw
The Paper Farm exhibition has been seen by more than 1,800 first grade students in Orange County including schools from Buena Park, Garden Grove, Irvine, Newport-Mesa, Santa Ana, and Tustin Unified. Both students and teachers have been inspired by the artwork and installation.
Unfortunately, The Great Park had to cancel the opening reception on Sunday, May 4, due to maintenance repairs in the Artists Studios. The building will continue to stay closed to the public until May 31, 2014.
After several days of brainstorming, the staff was able to schedule and move the Paper Farm exhibition to the Irvine Fine Arts Center. The Paper Farm exhibition will be featured in the main gallery from June 14 until July 12, 2014 with a special opening reception on Saturday, June 14 from 1-3pm. The Great Park is reprinting marketing collateral and will post updated information to the website soon, but here are the basics:
Exhibition: Paper Farm: Works on Paper
Exhibition Dates: Saturday, June 14 – Saturday, July 12, 2014
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 14, 1-3pm
Venue: Irvine Fine Arts Center, 14321 Yale Ave, Irvine, CA 92604
Hours:
Monday – Thursday, 10am-9pm
Friday, 10am-5pm
Saturday, 9am-5pm
Sunday, closed
The Irvine Fine Arts Center has extended hours and a wonderful space. The Great Park would like to apologize if these changes have caused any inconvenience.
By Clara Josephs, posted by Deb Shaw

Camellia japonica, taken by
fir0002, flagstaffotos.com.au, from Wikimedia Commons. Licensing/copyright: This image is not in the public domain. Under the CC BY-NC: free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt this work provided that correct attribution is provided.
Need camellia inspiration? Here are camellia shows you can visit in the coming weekends. Some of these shows include plant sales. Or, combine a show visit with a trip to Nuccio’s Nurseries, growers of rare camellias and azaleas since 1935! If you’ve never been to Nuccio’s, it’s a Southern California landmark and treasure.
Camellia show this weekend at the Huntington Library: 1:00 – 5 pm, Saturday and Sunday
February 15: Camellia show, LaVerne Community Center, 1:00 – 4:30 pm
February 22 & 23: Descanso Gardens, 1:00 – 4:30 pm
March 8 & 9: Descanso Gardens, 1:00 – 4:30 pm
by Leslie Walker, posted by Deb Shaw

Consider adding a pollinator to your artwork. Enlargement of Salvia apiana image, with friendly bee. © Deborah Shaw, 2012, all rights reserved.
We received an Invitation from the Theodore Payne Foundation (TPF) for a BAGSC Show in 2014, which will require us to work in “Fast Track Mode.” This wonderful new opportunity will showcase our California native artwork, and be titled:
“Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California, the Art and Science of Native Plants”
The juried show will open on January 11, 2014, and go into March 2014. (Exact closing date to be determined.)
Entry deadline is November 30, 2013 when entry forms and scans or photos are due. (Instructions on where and how to send entries will be sent out later.)
Details are being worked out, but there is not a lot of time between now and the entry deadline, so we should be painting now. Each artist will be allowed a maximum of two works, no larger than 16″ w x 20″ l, featuring California natives and their pollinators (if you would like to include them).
The BAGSC entry fee will be $25.00, due prior to November 30, 2013.
All submissions must have the correct scientific binomial identification, which will be verified by Lily Singer at the Theodore Payne Foundation (TPF). All California natives and their pollinators are welcome, but, if you need specimens, you may go to TPF in Sun Valley to find plants to draw on their grounds, or purchase in their nursery. You can also speak to Lily if you need a cutting, which they may be able to provide.
Questions? Please email me.
by Leslie Walker, posted by Deb Shaw
TAG Gallery has invited BAGSC members to enter the 2013 California Open Juried Exhibition. Deadline for submission is June 26, 2013.
Details:
2013 CALIFORNIA OPEN EXHIBITION
TAG Gallery Juried Exhibition
August 14-30, 2013
at Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica
Juror: Edward Goldman, Art Critic, National Public Radio and The Huffington Post
Open to U.S. artists 18+ working in drawing, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, computer art and sculpture. Maximum size 48″h x 36″w, sculptures maximum size 48″h x 20″w and maximum weight 40 lbs.
Cash awards. Fee: $40/1 to 2 entries, $10/each additional, 6 maximum. Online submissions.
Entry Deadline: June 26, 2013. The prospectus can be viewed here: CA Open Prospectus Brochure, or at: http://www.caopen.net. Questions: 310-829-9556 or e-mail.
Please visit the California Open Exhibition website for more information and additional copies of the Prospectus.
by Deb Shaw

Janice Sharp (left) and Pat Mark (right) demonstrating and staffing the BAGSC Botanical Art Information Table. photo by Peter Conlon
On Saturday, February 2, 2013, BAGSC participated in Roger’s Garden’s first “Day of Art” in Newport Beach. Fifty artists, using different media participated in a full day of drawing and painting demonstrations and workshops. The “Day of Art” was free to the public and for all ages.

Pat Mark talking with visitors to the BAGSC Botanical Art Information Table. The Information Table also displayed books, originals and prints of contemporary and historical botanical art and scientific illustration. Photo by Peter Conlon.
Additionally, BAGSC had an interactive table where visitors could explore the botany (and some unusual) fruits and vegetables, and make stamp prints with them. BAGSC also had a botanical art information table, with a display of originals, prints and books of all kinds of botanical art, from scientific illustration to plant portraits, historical and current.
BAGSC artists participating included: Diane Daly, Clara Josephs, Arillyn Moran-Lawrence, Sue Kuuskmae, Alyse Ochniak, Tania Marien, Deborah Shaw, Pat Mark, and Janice Sharp.
Tania Marien and Deb Shaw gave a two-hour workshop in the afternoon in the outdoor amphitheater on drawing flowers and leaves in pencil, with drawing boards, drawing paper and pencils provided by Roger’s. A watercolor and pastel workshop was offered in the morning by plein aire artists David Damm and Gill Dillinger, and a gourmet food truck, “Bite Me Foods” provided lunch for those who were hungry.

Tania Marien and visitors to the BAGSC Interactive Table. Kids of all ages used fruits and vegetables to create stamp art.
The event had been postponed from the previous Saturday due to rain. The weather held out this Saturday, and the event was packed with enthusiastic participants, even with the change in schedule. People and their dogs strolled the grounds, bought plants and took in the art.
Attendees were eager to watch the demonstrations, and BAGSC members spent the day talking about botanical art, different media and techniques to interested customers. Many inquired about botanical art classes and were complimentary about the day’s events. Roger’s reported overwhelmingly positive comments from their guests.
Thank you to all who participated, and to Roger’s for hosting the event. We hope there will be more in the future!

Deb Shaw (left) and Tania Marien (right) teaching a workshop about how to draw flowers and leaves in pencil. Photo by Peter Conlon.
by Deb Shaw

(left to right) Leslie Walker, Joan Keesey and Lesley Randall hang and straighten artwork, photo by John Keesey.
Botanical Visions, an exhibition of botanical art by the Botanical Artist Guild of Southern California opened on January 12th in the Ecke Building of the San Diego Botanic Garden.
The exhibit features paintings, drawings and prints in watercolor, pen and ink, graphite and colored pencil. BAGSC member Lesley Randall organized this wonderful exhibition of ten BAGSC artists: Estelle DeRidder, Linda Ericksen, Polly Jones, Joan Keesey, Lesley Randall, Gilly Shaeffer, Janice Sharp, Deborah Shaw, Mitsuko Schultz and Patricia Van Osterhoudt.
The artwork was hung the day of the opening artists’ reception in the Ecke Building. The light-filled, open-beamed room is used as a classroom, so the artwork will have lots of exposure for the duration of the show, from January 13 – March 23, 2013.

(left to right) Joan Keesey and Janice Sharp share a laugh before the Artists’ Reception, photo by Deborah Shaw.
Lesley Randall, Leslie Walker, Estelle DeRidder, Joan Keesey (and BAGSC helper John), Polly Jones (and husband), Patty Van Osterhoudt (and BAGSC helper Chris), Janice Sharp, Mitsuko Schultz and I were all on hand to hang the show. Linda Ericksen joined us for the reception.

(right to left) Polly Jones, Polly’s husband and Estelle DeRidder place artwork labels, photo by Deborah Shaw.
Formerly called “Quail Gardens”, the San Diego Botanic Gardens are absolutely beautiful, and this is a wonderful time of year to see them. Although the gardens are extensive, with different sections devoted to plants from different parts of the world, each section feels like an intimate treasure, with delightful surprises around each bend of the path.
The exhibit will be open during regular garden hours January 13 – March 23, 2013.
Thank you Lesley!
by Clara Josephs, posted by Deb Shaw

Before: The BAGSC crew arrives and unpacks artwork. Thank you to all the BAGSC members (and supporters) who came to help!
The Chapman show, “Drought Tolerant Beauty”, is up and it is stunning! There are 59 pieces by 18 of our members. The art is arranged through the gallery areas by drought tolerant mechanisms. Dr. Jennifer Funk’s students have written wonderful commentaries to accompany the groupings.
Our Artist Reception is Thursday evening, February 7 from 7 – 9 pm.
In addition to the tasty hors d’oeuvres and adult libations, Dr. Funk will talk briefly about her involvement with restoration ecology and drought tolerant plants.
Plan to attend with your family and friends. Even if you don’t have a piece in the show, you will enjoy seeing this collection of works by our members. You will see work that was inspired by Anita Walsmit Sachs’ workshop, works in a variety of media, and some very unique ways of composing challenging subjects.
Take time to notice the framing. Almost all the paintings were framed to ASBA show specifications, using a blonde L profile frame. Many of the frames are the Dick Blick renewable bamboo frame we recommended. Several frames are “look-alikes” that blend perfectly with the Dick Blick frame. Do you like the standardized framing look? Proponents say it helps focus attention on the art, and give the art a more professional, less “décor” appearance. Let us know what you think!
If you would like to demonstrate during the reception, please call or email Diane Daly. If you weren’t able to paint for the show, demonstrating during the reception is another great way to participate!
Don’t forget to WEAR YOUR BAGSC NAME TAG! If you don’t have one, please let Deb Shaw know and she will bring one for you.
Looking forward to seeing everyone on the evening of February 7.
by Janice Sharp
JANUARY 15 – MARCH 31, 2013 at
Descanso Gardens in the Sturt Haaga Gallery
The WILD Flowers presents work by 17 contemporary artists who live and work in California. The show was conceived and curated to complement the exhibition When They Were Wild, which opens March 9, 2013, at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.
Running concurrently with the WILD Flowers are works of contemporary botanical illustration provided by the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California. This exhibit is presented in the Boddy House’s Heritage Gallery and features selected works by Suzanne Kuuskmae, Joan Keesey, Janice Sharp, Deborah Shaw, and Gilly Shaeffer.
Both exhibits are free with admission and open during regular business hours: the Sturt Haaga Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Mondays.
by Diane Daly and Deb Shaw
The Chapman University exhibition and opening reception are coming together! Diane Daly was interviewed by Julie Bawden-Davis for the Old Towne Orange Plaza Review. Read the column “Botanical Art” in Garden Clippings.

Front side of Announcement/Invitation postcard for the “Drought Tolerant Beauty” exhibition at Chapman University.
The announcement postcards/opening reception invitation have been printed for “Drought Tolerant Beauty: Artists and Students Respond to California’s Changing Environment”.
The 5″ x 7″ postcards are available for BAGSC members to send to their mailing lists. Please let Deb know the quantity you would like to receive by Friday, 18 January. A BAGSC team will package them all up on the weekend and put them in the mail for you by Monday.
by Janice Sharp, posted by Deb Shaw
As you know, BAGSC has produced the first round of the Arboretum Introduction card collection. To get a very good rate for the production of the cards we bought a relatively large number.
We would like to offer members the opportunity to buy copies of the cards, with envelopes and boxes at a price of:
$2.00 per card, in packs of 5 (5 different cards/pack), $10/pack; or,
in packs of 10 (2 cards each of the 5 different cards/pack) $20 per pack.
The cards are beautiful and include a description of the Arboretum, BAGSC, the image and artist on the back. This is a very good price for high quality cards (I know I cannot produce cards at this price). See the original article about the cards, with an image, at https://bagscblog.com/2012/12/13/update-on-the-arboretum-introductions-project/
If you would like to buy cards contact Janice Sharp with the number of cards you want to purchase.
We are continuing to print additional cards as members paint the LA Arboretum introductions. Please contact Janice with information about any paintings you are doing. A list of LA Arboretum introductions can be found on our blog at: https://bagscblog.com/2012/09/03/call-for-images-of-the-los-angeles-county-arboretum-and-botanical-garden-introductions/
A map of the introductions is at: https://bagscblog.com/2012/10/06/google-map-of-la-arboretum-plant-introductions/
by Janice Sharp

The initial five-pack of LA Arboretum Introduction cards include cards by Cristina Baltayian, Akiko Enokido, and Janice Sharp. The cards are blank inside for messages; the back has text about the Los Angeles Arboretum, BAGSC, the plant, and the artist.
BAGSC has been asking its Members to “donate” the use of images they may have, or will create, to be included in an “Arboretum Introduction” card collection. So far we have put together a test run of five cards that are now on sale in the Los Angeles Arboretum Gift Store. The cards have been well received and we are moving forward with the project. If you have Introduction plants you have painted/drawn and would like to have them included in this project please contact Janice Sharp or Deborah Shaw.
For those who have painted plants and are not sure if they are “Introductions”, please contact Deborah to send a digital image, or mail a print to me and I will take them to the botanists at the Arboretum to get an opinion as to whether they are “Introduction” plants.
Read about the LA Arboretum Introduction project and see the Google map to the plants at the Arboretum on the BAGSC blog by clicking the links in this sentence.
For those who have found the Google map difficult to use to locate the Introductions contact Janice Sharp and she will arrange a tour of the Arboretum to find the Introductions.
by Diane Daly and Clara Josephs, posted by Deb Shaw
January’s coming up fast, and the Chapman University Leatherby Library Drought Tolerant Plant Exhibition will be upon us (along with all the other exhibition opportunities we have stacked up for the month — but more on those later!).
Students from Jennifer Funk‘s Ecology course currently are writing descriptions of the plants’ drought-tolerant traits now. We are planning to have at least one species that fits into each of the following seven categories:
- Drought-deciduousness (plants that lose their leaves during the dry season, or during periods of dryness)
- Small leaves (better adapted to dry soils and conditions)
- Deep taproot (a tap root that penetrates deep into the ground can access water when it is scarce during a drought or dry conditions, as well as store water in the root)
- Succulent leaves (thick, fleshy leaves and stems can store water)
- Pubescent leaves (pubescent, or furry leaves can slow the air flowing over the leaf to reduce water evaporation, hold water, reflect sunlight, and provide shade for the surface of the leaf)
- Evergreen, sclerophylous leaves (evergreen leaves, of course, stay on the plant year-round; sclerophylous leaves have a hard surface and are frequently spaced close together
- Annual life habit (one way to avoid dry periods is to quickly grow, bloom and develop seeds during the wet season, skipping the dry season altogether!)
Important Deadlines:
- Artist entry deadline: January 11 (BAGSC needs the list for handouts, Chapman University needs the list for labels and insurance)
- Set up show in Henley reading room: January 25
- Reception: February 7 , 7-9 pm
- Take down the show: February 25
All BAGSC members will receive an email with the official BAGSC “Call for Entries” packet. If you do not receive this email with the attachment by 30 November, please contact Deb.
Drought Tolerant Plant Choices for the Chapman Exhibition
The following are plants that BAGSC members are planning to submit. Botanical and common names, of course, will need to be reviewed and verified. Don’t worry if you have to change your mind, or if you’re already painting something that someone else is painting on the list below. This is a preliminary list and is not set in cement. Space allowing, species duplicates will be accepted (see the Call for Entries packet).
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; Yucca
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; Topsy Turvy, Echeveria; Bladderpod, Isomeris arborea
Diane Daly:
Island Alum Root, Heuchera maxima; Seaside Daisy, Erigeron glaucus; Bird of Paradise, Caesalpinia pulcherrima
Carmen Lindsay:
Bladder Sage; Ocotillo; Buckwheat
Veronica Raymond:
Coffeeberry, Rhamnus californica; Bladderpod, Isomeris arborea; Nevins Barberry, Mahonia nevinii; Englemann Oak Quercus engelmannii
Cristina Baltayian:
Lemon, C. limon; Bougainvillea; Fig, Ficus carica L. (Brown turkey); Olives, Olea europaea; Cabernet grape vitis vinfera L.; Pomegranate, Punica granatum
Mitsuko Shultz:
Nevins Barberry, Berberis nevinii; California Sycamore, Platanus racemosa
Patricia Mark:
Manfreda masculosa; Aeonium
Deborah Shaw:
Dudleya pulverulenta, Chalk Dudleya; Dudleya viscida, Sticky Dudleya; Arctostaphylos glauca, Big Berry Manzanita
Add your name and plants to the list: contact Diane.
It’s shaping up to be a great show!!!
by Leslie Walker, posted by Deb Shaw
Here is another show opportunity for BAGSC members. Descanso Gardens has asked us to exhibit paintings of Wild Flowers from January through March — exact dates to come later.
Paintings for the exhibition must be originals, framed and matted, and can have been shown elsewhere.
Contact Leslie with information regarding which wild flowers you would like to exhibit, and how many paintings you might have for this show as soon as possible.
More information will be passed on to you as it is received.
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!



















