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by Estelle DeRidder, Clara Josephs and Deb Shaw
Estelle DeRidder with her artwork in the exhibition. Photo by Clara Josephs, © 2015, all rights reserved.
As previously posted here in the BAGSC Blog, Estelle DeRidder held an exhibition of twelve more paintings of California Native species, as an extension of her ‘Flashcard Project’, started through a grant from the ASBA to illustrate the plants of the Madrona Marsh in Torrance, California.
The exhibit was open to the public until December 3, 2015.
A selection of Estelle DeRidder’s cards at the exhibition. Photo by Clara Joseph, © 2015 all rights reserved.
Estelle also conducted an ornament-making session at Madrona Marsh in December, with botanical art and pollinators as the theme. There were 45 participants, who industriously produced 120 ornaments in three hours! Birds and creepy-crawlies were the pollinator species of choice this time around.
Participants busy making holiday ornaments. Photo by Estelle DeRidder, © 2015, all rights reserved.
Estelle will teach a Spring ornament-making workshop too. Spring will include flowers, trees and shrubs, butterflies and bees, and probably some birds as well (they’re popular). Interested? Email Estelle.
by Suzanne Kuuskmae, posted by Deb Shaw
Red Lilies, watercolor on paper, © 2015, Suzanne Kuuskmae, all rights reserved.
Currently I have two botanical paintings out and about. One got into the Palos Verdes Art Center Show and is called “Red Lilies” and the other is in the Torrance Museum South Bay Focus Show and is called: “Camellias Next Door.” I think because no one around here is doing that kind of art, it attracts quite a bit of attention. I also sold two botanical this past few months: “Purple Iris,” and “Morning Glories.”
We are going to have a few openings in the gallery portion of our Destination: Art co-op so it might be that some other botanical artists might be interested in joining us? The cost is $60 a month for a 6 foot space.
Camellia #3, watercolor on paper, © 2015, Suzanne Kuuskmae, all rights reserved.
Our co-op did a Holiday Tree for the Torrance Memorial Hospital which took us all of October and November to put together as we hand-made all the ornaments. One group of ornaments was small 8 x 6 canvases on which we painted some of the old masters but with a Christmas touch, such as: Mona Lisa with a Santa’s hat. They turned out really well as one of our imaginative artists built frames for each one, and then we painted and put ribbon around each. He also cut out Christmas trees that we painted and decorated with shiny gems; a very labor intensive undertaking. Our tree sold right away at the Festival so we were able to make quite a nice sum for the Hospital plus make a name for our art group.
Arillyn Moran-Lawrence, posted by Deb Shaw
“Elegant Syrah,” © 2015, Arillyn Moran-Lawrence. Pen and ink, 13-1/2″ x 19″. All rights reserved.
“Elegant Syrah” is a pen and ink drawing of grapes from a Temecula vineyard. I found this interesting group of grapes on the vine at the Callaway Winery. I liked the way the grapes were embraced by the leaves. I sketched and photographed them and made some color swatches as I hadn’t decided which media I would use.
Francesca Anderson’s pen and ink work has always fascinated me so I decided that I would use pen and ink. I began with stippling on the grapes and had to decide to make each grape unique in some very small way so that I could happily reach the end of my work.
I entered “Elegant Syrah” In the 119th Annual Juried Exhibition of the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club. I worked for 10 years to finally qualify to be a full member of the club and have now been a member of the group for many years.
The Exhibition at the historic landmark National Arts Club in Manhattan”s Gramercy Park is the club’s major event. $8,000.00 in awards are given. A Metropolitan curator also serves on the jury of awards.
A Preview Reception benefits a travel fund for curators from the Metropolitan to research collections across the country.
Catharine Lorillard Wolfe was a philanthropist and art collector who was the only woman in the group of men who founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Catharine Lorillard Wolfe was the first woman to be on the board of of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Art Club with her name was established in 1896, to aid women and to counsel and help them exhibit their art. Now the club reflects the members’ professional standing and interests. For more information on the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, please see their website.
The National Arts Club is an historic private club in Gramercy Park, Manhattan. It is a National Historic Landmark.
by Lori Vreeke, Melanie Campbell-Carter, Diane Daly, posted by Deb Shaw
Lori Vreeke at the “Zoo in Bloom” opening. Photo by Melanie Campbell-Carter, 2015. As Melanie stated, “She’s the little one :-)”
On Saturday, October 3, 2015, the BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition opened at the Santa Barbara Zoo. It was a wonderful day and the exhibit received great reviews!
The Zoo reported there were approximately 600 visitors at the beginning of the day for the “Members Morning” and a total of 1,962 Zoo guests for the entire day!
More than 100 visitors voted for the Peoples’ Choice award at the BAGSC exhibition of nine artists, showing 22 artworks in a variety of media. Awards are as follows:
1st Choice: Asclepias fascicularis, Narrowleaf milkweed with
Danaus plexippus by Estelle DeRidder
2nd Choice: Strelitzia reginae, Bird of Paradise by Lori Vreeke
3rd Choice: Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon by Gilly Shaeffer
Artists helping throughout the day included: Lori Vreeke, Jan Clouse, Melanie Campbell-Carter, Gilly Shaffer, Barbara Janelle, and Diane Daly.
The show will hang in the Volentine Gallery in the Zoo’s Discovery Pavilion October 3, 2015 — January 3, 2016.
First place Peoples’ Choice award: Asclepias fascicularis, Narrowleaf milkweed with Danaus plexippus by Estelle DeRidder, © 2015, all rights reserved.
Second place Peoples’ Choice award, Strelitzia reginae, Bird of Paradise by Lori Vreeke, © 2015, all rights reserved.
Third place Peoples’ Choice award: Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon by Gilly Shaeffer, © 2015, all rights reserved.
Click on any of the circle images to see them large, with captions, in a slide show:
Gilly Shaeffer assisting exhibition visitors who are trying their hand at botanical art in watercolor. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC member Melanie Campbell-Carter assists an exhibition visitor with a leaf rubbing. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
Diane Daly demonstrating botanical art with a fall squash. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
The Zoo bear sniffed each painting in the exhibition. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
BAGSC “Zoo in Bloom” exhibition in the Discovery Pavilion at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Photo by Lori Vreeke, © 2015.
by Nancy Grubb/Deb Shaw
Hibiscus, colored pencil on paper by Nancy Grubb, © 2015, all rights reserved.
BAGSC member Nancy Grubb was juried into the Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre, CA last week. She has been invited to exhibit approximately 12 paintings in their Spring Show, which hangs from early March to mid May, 2016. She is excited and honored to show her work in their prestigious gallery.
Details about the Spring Show and artists’ reception will be posted to the blog as soon as they are announced. Information will also be posted on the Creative Arts Group website as soon as it is available.
The Creative Arts Group is located at:
108 N. Baldwin Avenue, Sierra Madre, CA 91024
(626) 355-8350
info@creativeartsgroup.org
Congrats Nancy!
Sunflower, colored pencil and watercolor, Nancy Grubb, © 2015, all rights reserved.
posted by Deb Shaw
BAGSC member Rita Hopper has two botanical pieces in the Tustin Art League exhibition at the Tustin Senior Center.
The show is open on weekdays, from 9 am – 4 pm, and will run from September 10 through October 1, 2015. There will be an opening reception on Friday, September 18th from 6 – 8 pm.
The Tustin Senior Center is located at:
200 South “C” Street, Tustin, California 714.573.3340.
The Tustin Art League consists of visual artists and is a program of the Tustin Area Council for Fine Arts (TACFA). The organization’s mission is to provide a venue that contributes to the growth of each member, and to enhance the visual arts within the community to enrich and energize citizens of all ages.
Congrats Rita!
by Deb Shaw
File photo of the Bomb Squad, reproduced from the “LAObserved Native Intelligence” article, “A visit from the Bomb Squad,” by Nancy Boyarsky, published online Septemer 2, 2015, 12:33 am. See link in this article. © 2015 LAObserved.
BAGSC member Cynthia Jackson, sent an email the other day, asking “is this one of us?” with a link to an article in LAObserved: Native Intelligence, Observations by LA Observed authors and other Angelenos.
Titled, “A visit from the Bomb Squad,” (click on the title to read the article), I didn’t even glance at the byline and started reading right away. When I read the reference to botanical art at the end of the article, (no, I’m not going to give it away — you have to read the article), I scrolled quickly back to the top. Sure enough, it was written by Nancy Boyarsky!
For those of you who are newer BAGSC members, Nancy was one of our founding members, and served on the Board for many years handling Public Relations and Communications for BAGSC with her wonderful writing skills.
Cover of “The Swap: A Mystery” by Nancy Boyarsky, sold on Amazon.com
Nancy responded to my email that since leaving BAGSC, she’s written two mystery novels, now available on Amazon: The Swap: A Mystery and The Bequest: A Mystery, and is now working on her third book.
And yes, Nancy sent the article to the unnamed botanical artist responsible, and she and her family thought it was very funny.
Thank you Cynthia, and congrats Nancy!
Cover of “The Bequest: A Mystery” by Nancy Boyarsky, sold on Amazon.com
by Veronica Raymond and Deb Shaw
Kathy Musial and feathered friend during a botanical trip.
The Southern California Horticultural Society (SCHS) is honoring Kathy Musial with a “Horticulturist of the Year” award at their 2015 Annual Award Banquet at the Los Angeles Arboretum.
BAGSC members may be most familiar with Kathy’s tireless work as part of The Huntington/BAGSC team for “Weird, Wild & Wonderful: The New York Botanical Garden Second Triennial Exhibition,” Weird, Wild & Wonderful Symposium, and the BAGSC adjunct exhibition.
The Southern California Horticultural Society is recognizing Kathy with the 2015 Horticulturist of the Year award for her work as Curator of Living Collections at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. During her work there during the last 30 years, Kathy has made significant contributions to horticultural and botanical knowledge, both locally and globally.
Kathy has authored numerous publications, ranging from professional papers to excerpts from her travel diary of her tours to Chile, to editing the massive tome, Conifers Around the World, with Zsolt Debreczy and István Rácz. She has led botanical tours to Australia, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and Madagascar.
Everyone is invited to join SCHS in celebrating Kathy’s remarkable work and dedication in the field of horticulture and in advancing a greater understanding of the flora of our world on:
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007
Peacock Cafe
6pm, social hour and silent auction. Dinner and presentation begin at 7pm.
Purchase banquet tickets on-line, $45 each, by Thursday, September 3, 2015.
Please call Steven Gerischer, (323) 257-3629 with any questions.
Kathy has been a great resource for many BAGSC members and plant lovers everywhere. Congratulations Kathy!
by Janice Sharp and Bonnie Born Ash, posted by Deb Shaw
People’s Choice first place award went to Estelle DeRidder’s, Fuller’s Teasel, Dipsacus fullonum, colored pencil on paper, © 2015 Estelle DeRidder, all rights reserved.
During the opening reception for the adjunct exhibition by the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California (BAGSC), friends, family and the public were able to vote for their personal favorites. The votes are in and the ribbons have been hung for the last three days of the show, Friday, 7 August – Sunday, 9 August.
People’s Choice second place award went to Lori Vreeke’s, Field Pumpkin, Cucurbita pepo var. ovifera, colored pencil on paper, © 2015 Lori Vreeke, all rights reserved.
First prize went to Estelle DeRidder’s Fuller’s Teasel with 16 votes. Second prize went to Lori Vreeke’s Field Pumpkin with 12 votes and third prize to Asuka Hishika’s Black Daikon Radish with 11 votes.
There were a surprisingly large number of votes cast (191) and the votes were distributed throughout all the artworks in the show. It is clear that there are many different themes and media that appeal to different viewers, but everyone agrees that the chosen works are fabulous!
People’s Choice third place award went to Asuka Hishiki’s, Black Daikon Radish (Kuromaru Daikon), Raphanus sativus, watercolor on paper, © 2015 Asuka Hishiki, all rights reserved.
by Deb Shaw
Close on the heels of the “Weird, Wild & Wonderful” Symposium at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California (BAGSC), opened their supplemental exhibition of botanical oddities, in the Brody Botanical Center’s Banta Hall at The Huntington.
The reception for the BAGSC adjunct exhibition was packed with family, friends, colleagues and the public. Weird, Wild & Wonderful Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition was also open for viewing and enthusiastically received. Photo © Gayle Uyehara, 2015.
The opening reception on Saturday, 1 August was well-attended and great fun. BAGSC members have been rotating shifts, providing botanical art demonstrations and talking with the public all week, including:
- Bonnie Born Ash
- Cristina Baltayian, colored pencil
- Nancy Beckham, colored pencil
- Melanie Campbell-Carter, colored pencil and watercolor
- Jan Clouse
- Diane Daly, watercolor
- Estelle DeRidder
- Kate Gaman
- Cynthia Jackson
- Susan Jackson
- Clara Josephs, watercolor
- Suzanne Kuuskmae
- Tania Marien
- Patricia Mark
- Terri Munroe, graphite and watercolor
- Kathy Morgan, watercolor
- Marilyn Parrino
- Lesley Randall
- Gilly Shaeffer, watercolor
- Mitsuko Schultz, watercolor
- Janice Sharp, metal point and colored pencil
- Deborah Shaw, graphite on vellum
- Beth Stone
- Leslie Walker
- Jude Wiesenfeld
The BAGSC adjunct exhibition features 72 artworks by 37 members, including: Bonnie Born Ash, Cristina Baltayian, Nancy Beckham, Melanie Campbell-Carter, Jan Clouse, Diane Daly, Estelle DeRidder, Nancy Grubb, Asuka Hishiki, Cynthia Jackson, Susan Jackson, Clara Josephs, Joan Keesey, Suzanne Kuuskmae, Teri Kuwahara, Patricia Mark, Lee McCaffree, Arillyn Moran-Lawrence, Kathy Morgan, Terri Munroe, Alyse Ochniak, Marilyn Parrino, Dolores Pope, Kathlyn Powell, Lesley Randall, Veronica Raymond, Robyn Reilman, Norma Sarkin, Mitsuko Schultz, Gilly Shaeffer, Janice Sharp, Deborah Shaw, Beth Stone, Gayle Uyehara, Lori Vreeke, Leslie Walker, Jude Wiesenfeld.
An exhibition of Botanical Oddities, illustrations by the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California will continue each day through Sunday, August 9, 2015, 10:30 am – 4:30 pm in The Frances Lasker Brody Botanical Center at The Huntington.
The Weird, Wild & Wonderful: The New York Botanical Garden Second Triennial Exhibition exhibition also will be open each day, Friday – Sunday, August 7 – 9, plus will continue to be open on weekends only until August 23.
Exhibition information and hours posted at huntington.org
Join us before the BAGSC paintings are whisked away!
By Akiko Enokido and Deb Shaw
Akiko Enokido, Camellia japonica ‘Kingyoba tsubaki’, common name, Goldfish Camellia. Watercolor on vellum, © 2014, all rights reserved.
In addition to previous postings about BAGSC members’ acceptances, BAGSC member Akiko Enokido was also accepted into the 18th Annual International Show of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) at The Horticultural Society of New York.
Akiko sent this information about her painting:
The camellia cultivation started in 17th century in Japan. Goldfish Camellia is one of the old species. Most of the flowers are single layer, pink or white. But the foliage is appropriate to its name, and you can see the tip of the foliage split into three to five segments, which looks like a fishtail.
The leaves are unusually shaped and each leaf is different, showing different expressions and movement. These are really odd but lovely, even when they’re not in bloom. I picked one of the enchanting branch with leaves that looked like many fishes swimming and jumping.
Congratulations to Akiko and to all BAGSC members in the exhibition!
by Jan Clouse, posted by Deb Shaw
Quercus agrifolia, Coast Live Oak. colored pencil by Jan Clouse, © 2105, all rights reserved.
I am perpetually drawn to two particular subjects: eucalyptus and oaks. Two varieties of oaks are native to Santa Barbara. The Coast Live Oak grows everywhere in town, in fact, mighty examples anchor each end of my block. And over the Santa Ynez range of mountains the Valley Oak dominates the landscape. This particular branch came from a tree about 3 blocks from my house with summer acorns, green and fresh. For me, part of its charm was the sprinkling of empty brown caps from the year before.
Congrats, Jan!
The Botanical Art Exhibition at Filoli is open Tuesday, March 24 through Sunday, June 7, 2015. Visit their website for hours.
by Deb Shaw
Leucospermum cordifolium, Pincushion protea, colored pencil by Estelle DeRidder, © 2015, all rights reserved.
BAGSC member Estelle DeRidder has been accepted into the 18th Annual International Show of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) at The Horticultural Society of New York too. Her work, Leucospermum cordifolium, Pincushion Protea, was done in colored pencil.
Congratulations Estelle!
by John Keesey, posted by Deb Shaw
“Dutchman’s Pipevine with Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies” (Aristolochia californica with Battus philenor), watercolor by Joan Keesey, © 2015, all rights reserved.
A watercolor painting of “Dutchman’s Pipevine with Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies” (Aristolochia californica with Battus philenor) by BAGSC member Joan Keesey has been accepted into the 18th Annual International Show of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) at the HORT Gallery of The Horticultural Society of New York in mid-town Manhattan, September through November 2015. This seems fitting to me, because Joan first saw these butterflies and their caterpillars on pipevine during our first hike along Big Chico Creek in Upper Bidwell Park, Chico, a few years ago. In January 2015 we moved to Chico, and have discovered Pipevine and its inhabitants on our very own property. Recently two caterpillars (black with orange spikes) have each formed a chrysalis (what is the plural?) in a jar in our kitchen, and then soon emerged as beautiful Pipevine butterflies (black + iridescent blue with orange spots)! Truly miraculous!
The stress of moving was mitigated somewhat by learning that Joan’s “Hummingbird Sage” (Salvia spathacea) watercolor painting had been awarded First Place at the Botanical Art Exhibition of the California Native Plant Society’s 2015 Conservation Conference in San Jose, California, in January 2015. Then in March 2015, Joan’s watercolor painting of Matilija Poppy (Romneya coulteri) won the Roth Award “for distinction with an emphasis on traditional botanical art presentation” at the 17th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition at Filoli in Woodside, California.
Whooeee!!! Is it any wonder that I am proud of her? Thanks for letting me toot her horn!
from Deb: Congratulations Joan!
by Janice Sharp and Beth Stone
Gilly Shaeffer demonstrating her watercolor technique. Gilly Shaeffer demonstrating her watercolor technique. Photo credit: Brad King (SCCS President).
In January of 2015 BAGSC staged a show entitled A Passion for Camellias in Van de Kamp Hall at Descanso Gardens. The exhibit was an exciting addition to the first Camellia flower show of the 2015 show season. BAGSC members were on hand all that weekend to answer questions and to provide demonstrations.
At the request of Descanso Gardens, 11 art works from the initial display of 20 have been re-hung in the historic and beautifully restored Boddy House where they are expected to remain well into 2016. Art works were selected to represent as many contributing artists as possible. The area where the botanicals are hanging invites close observation, along the interior hallway leading to and spilling into the kitchen.
You’ll want to set aside some time to bring friends and family to visit Descanso Gardens and see this lovely display in person. For an orientation to the Boddy House, please refer to the Descanso Gardens web site: https://www.descansogardens.org/explore/boddy-house
Artist Tania Norris chatting with Camellia enthusiast Hiromi Sato.
While you’re there, be sure to stop into the Sturt Haaga Gallery to see California Light opening May 3rd:
https://www.descansogardens.org/explore/upcoming-exhibition/
Many thanks to David Brown, Susan Armstrong and Cris Martinez of Descanso Gardens for welcoming BAGSC’s Passion for Camellias to the Boddy House.
Watercolor of C. japonica ‘Berenice Boddy’ by Clara Josephs, © 2015, all rights reserved.
Camellia Botanicals in Descanso’s Boddy House.
BAGSC News 