Beautiful new artwork has been added to the Member Artwork, Fall Into Winter Encounter page.
Please click on this link to a previous post about the project to learn more, or on the above highlighted link to view the weekly artwork additions.
Anyone who happens to be in the Southwest Suburbs this weekend might want to stop by the Downers Grove Public Library for an enjoyable stroll through the January exhibit of art by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild.
The Downers Grove Public Library has both permanent and rotating art exhibits year-round, but the Nature Artists’ Guild exhibit ends on January 31, 2018. The exhibit and parking are free and open during library hours. This is a wonderful chance to view a variety of styles of nature art in different media by talented artists.
Artists, experienced or beginning, still have time to join the Nature Artists’ Guild and be eligible to receive a prospectus for the next exhibit at The Morton Arboretum in April, 2018, which will feature more than 100 works by our members and is expected to be attended by nearly 1000 visitors over the weekend. Please click here or on the Membership Brochure tab above to read more.
Please click on this link or the Member Artwork tab above to view the first contributions to the Fall into Winter Encounter gallery. Participating Nature Artists’ Guild members spent time each week in the autumn collecting items, photos or sketches from nature. The winter phase of this project is to create a montage each week or one final montage using some or all of these collections. Please check back each week for more artwork.
The New York Times Magazine recently published a short photo essay about the manufacturing process of pencils. Don’t let the seemingly technical title, Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories, fool you – the photos and prose are a love letter to one of our oldest and most versatile tools. At first glance, the photography will grab your attention and you might be tempted to skim through the text. While doing so, you may come across a few phrases that convince you to go back to the beginning and savor the words. For more tributes from artists and writers, visit the comments sections (use the “Readers Picks” option for some of the best). You may never look at a pencil the same way again.
No, there will not be any actual alpacas in the historic Founder’s Room or Arbor Room of the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum in the near future, nor have there ever been, as far as we know. The Nature Artists’ Guild, though, will be hosting a program at Thornhill on Thursday evening, February 1, 2018, from 7 until 9 pm featuring artist and alpaca farmer, Susan Waldron.
While Susan also creates wonderful paintings in the more familiar media of oils and watercolors, her fiber art made from the wool of her own alpacas is uniquely beautiful.
On her website, Susan Waldron Art, she writes-
I use my own hand-dyed alpaca fibers in the art pieces that I create. The alpaca fiber feels like a combination of cashmere and silk. As a result of raising these animals from birth, there is a spiritual connection with the animals and the felted pieces.
I am able to combine my love for color, nature, and alpacas to create exquisite, felted pieces.
Exquisite, indeed. Please visit her website for more images and to read more about Susan’s artistic journey and these fascinating creatures she raises.
As always, programs sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum are open to all. Guests and visitors are welcome and there will be no charge for attendance, parking, or for admission to the Arboretum for this event.
The Nature Artists’ Guild would also like to encourage potential new members to attend. Please arrive a few minutes early if you have any questions about our group and one of our members will be happy to assist you. There is absolutely no pressure to join and it’s a great opportunity to learn more about the Guild, its members, exhibits, and activities.
Whether your priority for the upcoming year is to make more art, to learn new techniques, or simply to view more art or make new friends, the Nature Artists’ Guild has it covered. There is still time to join or renew, and since memberships are for the calendar year, the sooner you join, the more benefit you’ll receive from your membership.
Here are a few of the activities coming up in the next month or so –
This popular paint-out (think tropical weather and being surrounded by thousands of orchids) has limited space and fills up quickly, so interested Guild members should contact Jane Kellenberger to save a spot. Jane’s contact information can be found in the Yearbook.
Please check back here soon or click on any of the highlighted links for more about these and other upcoming activities.
Find your favorite tree. There is one, whether you realize it or not. It may be on a trail where you regularly walk your dog, it may be in your neighbor’s front yard, or it may be in your own. The Morton Arboretum has plenty to choose from. If you need to, spend a day or two thinking about it while you go about your business, until you recognize which tree you keep coming back to. This tree may be a majestic oak, a stately pine, a smooth-trunked beech or even a delicate redbud. It doesn’t even matter if you know the species. Just for now, or possibly for always, it is your favorite tree.
Now, take a photo or draw a sketch (from the warmth of your car or home if you’d like). If safely possible, go up to the tree and feel the bark. If there are any leaves, fruits or nuts left on or around the tree, pick some up to examine. Take a dried leaf with you. Leave the fruits, nuts or seeds for the critters or the next generation of trees. If you’re not shy or if nobody is looking, go ahead and give the tree a quick hug, or maybe just a friendly pat. If you have children with you, encourage them to give the tree a great big hug. They won’t care whether anyone is watching or not.
Go back to your warm studio or kitchen table, pour yourself a hot drink and draw your tree using your memory, sketches or photos. For an additional challenge, try drawing in ink, which will force you to really concentrate on the size, shape and direction of the branches and twigs. The drawing doesn’t need to be a masterpiece, or even good. It is just a show of appreciation for your favorite tree.
Feel the stress melt away. Repeat as necessary.
Nature Artists’ Guild members can read a short article in their Quarterly by Evelyn Grala for more about drawing trees. Thanks for reminding us about the beauty of trees in winter, Evelyn!
Participants in the Nature Artists’ Guild’s Fall into Winter Encounter have been busy outdoors this autumn collecting nuts, leaves, twigs, pine cones, berries, feathers, and other natural treasures and stashing them away in boxes or bags, as well as taking photos and making sketches.
At the start of the new year, out come the treasures, the paints, the pencils, the canvases, the paper, the sketches, and the photographs as the artists begin creating. Participants will be creating one montage per week for the following six weeks, or if they choose, one grand montage using all their collected materials. According to Merriam-Webster, “montage” can be defined as an “artistic composite of juxtaposed more or less heterogeneous elements”.
Beginning in January 2018, photos of completed montages will be posted on this website in the Member Artwork section. There is still time for industrious members of the Guild to participate by catching up with the collecting phase before the creating phase begins. Those interested can sign up by contacting Evelyn Grala, whose contact information can be found in the Yearbook. Evelyn will continue to send informational and encouraging e-mails to participants throughout the project.
The work is done (for a while), the exhibit was a success, and now it’s time to celebrate a wonderful year of creating nature art.
The theme for this year’s holiday gathering is Birds of a Feather,We Flock Together. The party planners have a festive evening planned, with decorations, music with an (optional) sing-along with Bruce Oscar of WDCB’s Swing Shift, lots of food, and the traditional raffle (which will include the generous donation of free admission to a class from The Morton Arboretum).
The best part, of course, will be the chance to celebrate with fellow members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, a special flock of friendly, sharing, and talented birds!
The evening begins at 6 pm on Thursday, December 7, 2017 in the historic and lovely Founders Room of Thornhill Education Center at The Morton Arboretum. Dinner begins at 7 pm, and the after-dinner raffle will continue until 9. Current members of the Nature Artists’ Guild should check their e-mailed invitation for details and contact Gail Diedrichsen or Susan Bartlett (whose contact information can be found in the Yearbook) with questions.
Nature Artists’ Guild members are finishing up those last-minute details (remember to double-check the prospectus for requirements), the gallery space is being prepared, the flower arrangers are gathering their supplies, the art-hanging crew is ready to get to work, and the refreshments are being ordered for the reception. There are raffle baskets to wrap, ceramic art plates to arrange, and many, many lights to light.
The list goes on and on, but the members of the Nature Artists’ Guild have expertly done it all before (for over 35 years!), and even though the exhibits have changed in numerous ways, one thing stays the same – there is always a wonderful collection of nature art for visitors to enjoy.
The 2017 Holiday Exhibition of Natural History Art opens on the evening of Friday, November 3, 2017 for friends and family of the artists, as well as members of The Morton Arboretum. The exhibit continues throughout the weekend of November 4 and 5th, 2017 for all visitors to the Arboretum. Please click one of the highlighted links above for details.
Nature Artists' Guild 