Nature Artists’ Guild liaison, Suzanne Wegener describes our upcoming program featuring Marlene Hill Donnelly –

Nature artists have color considerations beyond those of other artists—we need to be able to mix both the intense and precise colors of our flowers, birds and insects, and the quiet but luminous colors of shadow, reflected light and distance.  Marlene will first demonstrate her system of “color mapping” designed to create a team of colors for any subject to ensure both accuracy and interest.  Next she will demonstrate a very loose and expressive method that can be used to learn color mixing in a fun and meditative way as well as to create finished paintings or backgrounds.

 Marlene HIll Donnelly is a third generation artist with degrees in Fine Art from the American Academy of Art in Chicago and in Zoology, with a minor in Botany, from University of Illinois.  She is a science artist Associate for the Field Museum, reconstructing ancient landscapes and extinct plants and animals for the Department of Geology.  She also works with the Smithsonian Institution, University College Dublin, Ireland, and many other institutions, bringing the past to life.  Her work is widely published and is exhibited in museums throughout the world.  She is a Certificate Course instructor at the Chicago Botanic Garden and at the Morton Arboretum.