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by Deb Shaw
Begonia, snapshot of watercolor by Gloria Whea-Fun Teng, © 2013
BAGSC member Gloria Whea-Fun Teng has an exhibition at the Long Beach Main Library from November 1, 2013 through December 22, 2013.
Gloria has started painting in oils, and has still life paintings and landscape watercolors on display in addition to her botanical art and Chinese brush paintings.
The Long Beach Main Library is located at 101 Pacific Avenue, Long Beach, California 90822. Hours are Tuesday, 12:00 noon – 8:00 pm; Wednesday, 12:00 noon – 6:00 pm; Thursday, 12:00 noon – 7:00 pm; and Friday and Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. The Library is closed Sunday and Monday.
Congratulations Gloria!
Snapshot of Chinese Brush Painting by Gloria Whea-Fun Teng, © 2013
by Deb Shaw
BAGSC member Akiko Enokido is returning in December, 2013, and will teach two, three-day watercolor classes. BAGSC is experimenting with having the same teacher in two different locations for added convenience. Sign up for one or for both!
The first three-day session will be at the Los Angeles Arboretum:
Tuesday, December 10 – Thursday, December 12
9:30 am – 3 pm
Subject: Forced Bulbs
Cost: $200.00 BAGSC members
$225.00 non-members
Start forcing your choice of bulbs in November or sooner to bring to class, or you can even bring sprouting garlic or onions from the pantry; your subject matter is your choice. If you would like to have your drawing already prepared before class, that would be wonderful.
A $50.00 non-refundable deposit can be sent to Leslie, check made out to BAGSC, with “Akiko, Arboretum” in the memo line. Maximum class size is 16 people, first come, first served. The total amount is due by Friday, November 8. You can also send the total amount and skip the deposit step. Your check won’t be deposited until the start of class in December.
Bring your usual supplies for drawing and watercolor painting. If any special art supplies are needed, a supply list will be sent to participants upon registration.
Bring your own lunch, or you may purchase it at the Peacock Café at the Arboretum.
Quercus agrifolia, Coast Live Oak, watercolor by Akiko Enokido, © 2010, all rights reserved.
The second three-day session will be at the Santiago Creek Wildlife & Watershed Center, Santiago Park Nature Reserve, Santa Ana, right across from Main Street Plaza: Monday, December 16 – Wednesday, December 18
9:30 am – 3 pm
Subject: Acorns and Oak Leaves
Cost: $200.00 BAGSC members
$225.00 non-members
California native acorns and oak leaves will be provided; if you have other acorns and oak leaves you’ve collected and would like to paint, please feel free to bring them. If you have lots you want to share, please bring those as well! A $50.00 non-refundable deposit can be sent to Leslie, check made out to BAGSC, with “Akiko, Santiago” in the memo line.
Maximum class size is 16 people, first come, first served. The total amount is due by, Friday, November 8. You can also send the total amount and skip the deposit step. Your check won’t be deposited until the start of class in December.
Bring your usual supplies for drawing and watercolor painting. If any special art supplies are needed, a supply list will be sent to participants upon registration.
Detailed directions will be provided to class registrants. The Santiago Park Nature Reserve is not hard to find, and is easily accessible from the 5 and the 22 Freeways. It is highly recommended you bring your own lunch; There are large shopping centers across the street in two directions, but the lunch places are busy with business people, and it would take quite a bit of time away from class.
See you there!
by Cristina Baltayian, posted by Deb Shaw
Thumbnail of colored pencil artwork by Cristina Baltayian, © 2013, all rights reserved.
Cristina Baltayian will teach a five-day class in colored pencil techniques with botanical art, including colored pencil washes, layering colors, burnishing, blending, the basics of color mixing, and more. Drawing and composition skills will be emphasized, and students will do some quick sketching to capture the characteristics and rhythm of the plant.
The class will be held at the Virginia Robinson Gardens in the Pool Pavilion
1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills, California 90210
Monday, October 28 – Friday, November 1
10 am – 3 pm
Cost is $400 for Friends of Robinson Gardens members; $475 for non-members. Register online, or by phone, 310.550.2068, or by mail at the address above: Friends of Robinson Gardens, memo “October Botanical.”
Cristina has a background in drawing (graphite, charcoal, pen and ink), two-dimensional design, watercolor and colored pencils. Her work has been exhibited at Filoli, the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, Chapman University Leatherby Libraries, and the Robinson Gardens Florileguim. She is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Colored Pencil Society of America and the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California. Cristina also currently teaches botanical illustration classes at the Los Angeles Arboretum.
by Sue Kuuskmae, posted by Deb Shaw
BAGSC member Sue Kuuskmae, along with other artists and art organizations from the South Bay area are grouping together to create a Studios/Gallery called Destination: Art. View a three-minute video about the concept by clicking here.
They are in the process of finding a permanent location, but will debut in San Pedro at the Fall Fine Art Fest at CRAFTED at the PORT of LA:
October 18, 19, 20
11:00 am to 6:00 pm each day
Come meet the artists and see the demos. Destination: Art has a website, and a facebook page. They can also be contacted by email.
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 Deb Shaw
Getty signage and flyer announcing the “Artist-at-Work Demonstration: Botanical Drawing,” © 2013 J. Paul Getty. Used with permission.
BAGSC members will be participating in a wonderful opportunity at the Getty this summer. To complement the Getty‘s “Gardens of the Renaissance,” BAGSC members will be demonstrating botanical art in a variety of media at the Artist-at-Work Demonstration: Botanical Drawing.
Join us in the Central Garden as we demonstrate the materials and techniques used to render plants and flowers. Learn about the botany of fruits, vegetables, and spices, and how explorations in the New World changed dinner tables around Europe. See the “Gardens of the Renaissance” exhibition, and explore Renaissance gardens and their stories (from scandalous to virtuous) in this beautiful exhibition of illuminated manuscripts. Meet botanical artists, ask questions, and get close to the action as you learn about materials and techniques seen in works of art on display at the Getty Center.
This is a free, drop-in program:
Sunday, July 7 & 21, and
August 4 & 11, 2013
12:30–2:30 p.m.
Participating BAGSC artists (on various days) include: Tania Marien, Deborah Shaw, Linda Erickson, Cristina Baltayian, Patty Van Ousterhoudt, Suzanne Kuuskmae, Jan Clouse, Arillyn Moran-Lawrence, Akiko Enokido, Lori Vreeke, Estelle DeRidder, Tania Norris, Alyse Ochniak, Leslie Walker, and Patricia Mark.
by Deb Shaw
Insect, Tulip, Caterpillar, Spider, Pear, Joris Hoefnagel, Illuminator; Georg Bocskay, scribe. From the “Gardens of the Renaissance” exhibition. © 2013, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
BAGSC members Tania Marien and Deborah Shaw will be teaching an introductory botanical art class, in conjunction with the current exhibition, Gardens of the Renaissance, Wednesday, July 24, 2013 from 10:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m at the Getty Center, in the Museum studios and galleries.
Explore techniques of botanical illustration in this daylong drawing workshop. Learn how paintings and drawings of plants and gardens during the Renaissance contributed to scientific understanding and captured the beauty, luxury, and status of flowers. The class includes a trip and lecture in the gallery to see the exhibition, and drawing from live specimens in the Getty studio classroom.
Course fee of $125 includes materials, lunch, and parking. Open to 23 participants. Complements the exhibition Gardens of the Renaissance. Register for the class on the Getty website: use the “Get Tickets” button at the class description on the web page.
by Deb Shaw
The ASBA’s new website now has Online User Accounts for all current members — this includes all current BAGSC members (although very recent members may not yet be in the ASBA system). Your Online User Account allows you to access exclusive “member only” features on the site. You should have received an email from the ASBA with instructions on how to activate your Online User Account. Just in case you haven’t, you’ll find the instructions in this article below.
You must activate your Online User Account in order to register for the ASBA’s 2013 conference in Pittsburgh. Conference registration begins Saturday, 29 June at noon Eastern time, so be sure to activate your Online User Account now to be able to register in a timely manner.
INSTRUCTIONS: Activating your Online User Account is a two-step process:
1) You’ll activate your Online User Account, and;
2) You’ll review and update the information in your “ASBA Member Profile.”
This should take less than 10 minutes.
1) To activate your “Online User Account”
- Go to www.asba-art.org and click on the “Member Login” link in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage. OR, click on this link: www.asba-art.org/user
- Click on “Request New Password.”
- Type in your email address. (Be sure you use the email address you gave to the ASBA when you joined or renewed — that is the email address that was used to enter you into the database.)
- Click “Email New Password.”
- You will immediately receive an email message from asbaonline@asba-art.org, Check your email box. NOTE: there have been reported problems with Verizon email addresses. If you have a verizon.net email address and/or do not receive an email when requesting a new password, please contact webmaster@asba-art.org for assistance.
- Click on the link provided in the email.
- The link will bring you back to the ASBA website. Click on “Login,” enter and confirm a password, and set your time zone setting.
- Click “Save” which returns you to the same screen with the phrase “The changes have been saved.”
(If you ever forget your password, you can always make a new one by repeating the steps above.)
2) Review and update your “ASBA Member Profile”:
- Click on “Edit your ASBA Member Profile” in the list of links under the Individual Member heading.
- Review the information in your member profile. This information can ONLY be viewed by ASBA members:
- Basic Contact Information
- Directory Instructions
- Chapter and Artists’ Circle Affiliation
- Personal Webpage Options
- Optional Profile Information
- Add any missing information
- Correct any erroneous or outdated information
- If you’re unsure, read the hints below each item
- Still have questions? Contact webmaster@asba-art.org
Once you activate your Online User Account, you’ll be able to do the following:
Available NOW
- Update your own membership record: change your address, email, etc.
- Search an interactive list of classes
- Submit articles, class listings and calls for entry to the journal and for the website
- Make donations via credit card
- Renew your membership and pay your dues via credit card
- Search the member directory, by name, chapter, etc. (member-only access)
- Register for the Annual Meeting & Conference
Coming Soon
- Upload exhibition entries, pay the entry fee via credit card, and apply for Artists and Education grants
- View announcements of ASBA volunteer opportunities
- Take a video tutorial
- Update your own Teacher Directory & Member Gallery page
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to activate your Online User Account today!
by Tania Norris, posted by Deb Shaw
Akiko Enokido, Chrysanthemum morifolium “Kokka Seija”
© 2013
Watercolor, 11″ x 16″
Akiko Enokido is a long time member of the Botanical Artists organizations in America and Japan and has been accepted in major exhibitions. Her beautifully rendered paintings are known for their exquisite color, detailing and composition and are prized by their owners. Akiko has shown her work in the United States and Japan, including the ASBA/Horticultural Society of New York exhibitions, and the 13th Annual Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration from the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.
In Akikoʼs words her class:
“will observe the shapes and shadows of leaves. You may be surprised to realize how often you are drawing from your own assumptions and not from how the object is actually expressing itself. I will demonstrate the approach of placing multiple layers of color, putting emphasis on capturing reflection of light and to show depth of the objectʼs dimensions.”
Classes will be held at Virginia Robinson Gardens, August 5, 6, and 7, 2013, from 9.30 am – 3.30 pm daily. A supplies list will be sent to all participants.
Coffee, tea and water will be provided, but please bring your own lunch. Fees for the three day session will be $375. for members and $450. for non-members. A deposit of $100. to hold space can be accepted but is non-refundable. Full payment must be made by August 1, 2013.
To make reservations, visit the Virginia Robinson Gardens website, or call (310) 550-2068.
Mail check to:
Friends of Robinson Gardens
1008 Elden Way, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
If you have any questions, please contact Tania Norris.
Camellia japonica ‘Chandleri Elegans’, Variegated Camellia, by Akiko Enokido, watercolor on vellum, © 2012, all rights reserved.
by Deb Shaw
Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia, Jan Clouse, © 2013, all rights reserved.
BAGSC member Jan Clouse has had two paintings accepted into the Palm Loft Gallery open invitation juried show, “Make Hay While the Sun Shines.”
The exhibition runs from June 22 through August 11, 2013. The Palm Loft Gallery focuses on original works of art by established and emerging artists, and is located at 410 Palm Avenue, Loft A-1, Carpinteria, California, 93013. The Gallery is open Friday to Sunday, 11 to 6, also by appointment by calling (805) 684-9700.
Rose Hips, Jan Clouse, © 2013, all rights reserved.
by Joan Keesey
Common Poppy, photo by John Keesey, © 2013
Consider the “campi fiori,”
Arrayed in their natural glory.
Their existence is brief
Unless an artistic thief
Memorializes their story.
John Keesey, June 2013
Preci, Umbria, photo by John Keesey, © 2013
John and I just returned from Umbria, Italy, where I took Elaine Searle’s Botanical Art Class. We stayed for eight days at a resort, Il Collaccio, in the mountains near the walled hill town of Preci and adjacent to the Monti Sibillini National Park. The views of the mountains and valleys were beautiful; the fields were filled with wildflowers: red poppies, small wild orchids, fringed hyacinths, buttercups, and many flowers that I had never seen before.
The Studio, photo J. Keesey, © 2013
We were a group of 13 including Elaine: four Americans including Deborah Friedman and myself from BAGSC, six women from Britain, three ladies from Finland, Japan, and Trinidad respectively. We stayed in a lovely stone building in which the studio was also located. Il Collaccio provided all of our meals. They were very good, especially the lunches which were interesting, varied and served outside if the weather permitted.
Lunch at Il Collaccio, photo by J. Keesey, © 2013
There was no assigned subject. We could paint wildflowers, vegetables from the local market, or roses growing on the wall of our building. I chose to paint the poppies and a small orchid called the Bee Orchid.
Elaine gave a demonstration every morning on one of the selected subjects. We worked from 9:30 am until 1:00 pm when lunch was served. After lunch Elaine was available in the studio if we wished to continue painting, or we could take the afternoon off for a hike in the hills or a visit to one of the many Umbrian hill towns.
On one of the days we had a group outing to Spello, another beautiful walled town, and Fabriano where we were given a tour of the Fabriano Museum. Fabriano not only makes high quality art paper, they also make the paper for the Euro. We were shown how paper was originally made by hand in the 16th century and their extensive collection of watermarks. At the end of the tour we all made a piece of paper.
Making Paper at the Fabriano Museum, photo by J. Keesey, © 2013
It was a great trip—an opportunity to see a really beautiful part of Italy, to meet new and interesting people, and to concentrate on drawing and painting without the many distractions and obligations of daily life.
Bee Orchid, Ophrys apifera, watercolor by Joan Keesey, © 2013, all rights reserved.
Common Poppy, Papaver rhoras, watercolor by Joan Keesey, © 2013, all rights reserved.
by Deb Shaw
Aristolochia gigantea, ink on paper, Lesley Randall, © 2013, all rights reserved
Lesley Randall’s Aristolochia gigantea has been accepted into the 14th annual exhibition for the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.
Lesley became interested in botanical illustration while a landscape architecture student at Cornell University. Working at a botanical garden in Hawaii, she found the plants fascinating to draw, and started illustrating professionally after moving to Davis, California in 1986. Lesley won first prize in the 2007 Margaret Flockton Award for Excellence in Botanical Illustration from the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, Australia. The award was created to recognize excellence of botanical illustrations in scientific publications and commemorates the contributions Margaret Flockton made to Australian scientific botanical art.
The Hunt established the International Exhibition in 1964 with the hope of supporting and encouraging contemporary botanical artists. Every three years, the International Exhibition features the works of talented botanical artists from around the world. The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation will host the 14th International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration in Fall 2013 in conjunction with the annual ASBA conference, September 26 – 28. The exhibition is open to all botanical fine artists and illustrators working in any medium on paper or vellum whose work has achieved a standard of excellence and who have not yet been represented in the Hunt Institute’s series of International Exhibitions.
by Deb Shaw
Elaine Searle, “Rhubarb” (Rheum rhabarbarum), watercolor, © 2013, all rights reserved
Elaine Searle‘s “Rhubarb” (Rheum rhabarbarum), and Joan Keesey‘s “Hummingbird Sage” (Salvia spathacea), were both accepted into the 16th Annual International American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York.
Congratulations to both of you!
Joan Keesey, “Hummingbird Sage” (Salvia spathacea), watercolor, © 2013, all rights reserved
by Deb Shaw
BAGSC members Akiko Enokido and Mitsuko Schultz have been accepted into the 16th Annual International American Society of Botanical Artists at The Horticultural Society of New York. Congratulations to both of you!
Akiko Enokido, Chrysanthemum morifolium “Kokka Seija”
© 2013
Watercolor, 11″ x 16″
Akiko wrote about her painting:
Since ancient times, Cherry blossoms in Spring and Chrysanthemum in Fall are both loved by the Japanese people. The chrysanthemum enthusiasts put a lot of effort to make straight stems and big beautiful flowers on each of the stems.
Flower exhibitions are held all over Japan during the season. We not only enjoy them for viewing but also for their taste in salads or tea.
I found this particular one in my neighborhood. The flower is not good shaped to show in exhibitions, but I was fascinated by its energy to grow. This will be a memorable piece. My first painting in Japan.
“Plantanus racemosa,” California Sycamore, Watercolor by Mitsuko Schultz, © 2013, all rights reserved.
Mitsuko wrote about her painting:
This is my first time to be accepted to the ASBA Horticulture show and I am so happy and excited. I have been studying watercolor with Akiko Enokido since July 2011 and she helped me immensely and has given me a lot of encouragement.
While painting this sycamore piece, Akiko continued to offer advice and encouragement even though she had returned to Japan. Thank goodness for email!
By Joan Keesey; Photography by John Keesey, posted by Deb Shaw
The Sunken Garden at Filoli. Photo by John Keesey.
On Thursday, April 18th, John and I attended the Artist’s Reception at Filoli. We spent the morning checking out the exhibit and looking at the garden, always beautiful, but sensational in the spring. The garden is a series of “garden rooms” similar to the Hidcote Gardens in England; each room is surrounded by a hedge of shrubs or trees and usually contains a fountain or pool. Each “garden room” has a color scheme. I spoke with one of the volunteer gardeners who said that the colors change with the seasons and from year to year, but each year there is a master plan. The first garden you see is the sunken garden. This year it is cobalt blue and white columbine, cerulean blue forget-me-nots, and hansa yellow tulips. The wisterias that climb up the brick walls of the Georgian style house were all in bloom and spectacular.
There were also many bushes with a very small, quinacridone red azalea that was quite stunning. It was a perfect day.
Quinacridone Red Azaleas at Filoli. Photo by John Keesey.
There were 64 works of botanical art by 50 artists including the two jurors, Carol Hamilton and Susan Fisher. The Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California (BAGSC) was very well represented with seven artworks by five artists—Alison Denning, Joan Keesey, Sue Kuuskmae, Mitsuko Schulz, and Deborah Shaw.
We went back for the Artists’ Reception at 5:00 pm. It is always very pleasant with wine, very nice appetizers, and the opportunity to meet other botanical artists. Carrie DiCostanzo won the 2013 Roth Award for distinction with an emphasis on traditional botanical art presentation with a beautiful picture of “Ponderosa Pine” (Pinus ponderosa). Maria Cecilia Freeman won the Juror’s Award with an exquisite picture of “Tan Oak” (Notholithocarpus densiflorus), and Ingrid Finnan won the Horticulture Aware with a delicate picture of “Dandelion” (Taraxacum offivinale).
“Aesculus californica,” California Buckeye, watercolor by Joan Keesey, © 2013, all rights reserved.
“Aesculus californica,” California Buckeye, Watercolor by Joan Keesey, © 2013, all rights reserved.
“Fragaria x ananassa ‘Fragoo Pink’,” Strawberry, watercolor by Mitsuko Schultz, © 2013, all rights reserved.
“Iris,” Iris, watercolor by Alison L. Denning, © 2013, all rights reserved.
“Castanospermum australe,” Blackbean, or Moreton Bay Chestnut, seed pod and seeds, Graphite and Watercolor on Vellum by Deborah B. Shaw, © 2013, all rights reserved.
“Plantanus racemosa,” California Sycamore, Watercolor by Mitsuko Schultz, © 2013, all rights reserved.
“Vitis vinifora,” Grapes, watercolor by Suzanne C. Kuuskmae, © 2013, all rights reserved.
BAGSC News 