Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to join a free workshop with Arboretum instructor (and fellow member) Lindsay Sandbothe, on Saturday, September 20, 2025, from 10 am to 1 pmat the Thornhill Education Center.
Attendees will be provided with expert instruction and all the materials and tools needed to create a unique miniature masterpiece using acrylic on a prepared slice of wood. The completed ornaments will be sold to raise funds for the Nature Artists’ Guild at its upcoming Autumn Art Exhibit at The Morton Arboretum. (Participants will also be able to purchase one or two extra prepared wood slices for $3 each, to bring home for their personal use.)
There is no charge to attend this fun workshop for members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, but registration is required, and space is limited!
Autumn, Sterling Pond, copyright Dale Olsen. Dale will be the Featured Artist for the Nature Artists’ Guild’s 2024 Autumn Exhibit at The Morton Arboretum.
Today’s beginning of meteorological autumn brings more than just a new tongue-twisting term for the Nature Artists’ Guild. It also brings opportunities for creating, exhibiting, and sharing artwork that celebrates the season. Here are a few coming up –
The prospectus for the 2024 Autumn Exhibit of Nature Art at The Morton Arboretum will be emailed to all Guild members within the next few days. (There is still time to join the Nature Artists’ Guild and receive a prospectus!) Much more about the exhibit coming soon.
The Autumn Quarterly, featuring artwork, photos, and news about and by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will be arriving in members’ mailboxes soon, just in time to enjoy along with a favorite beverage and some wonderful weather.
The final paint-outs of the year are in September and October. A paint-out at the Grand Garden of The Morton Arboretum is scheduled for the morning of Thursday, September 5, 2024. Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to drop by and even bring a friend or two to this paint-out (applicable Arboretum entrance fees will apply). Registration is recommended, but not required. (October’s paint-out will take place at the always-lovely gardens of Cantigny Park – more details in coming weeks.)
Lake Marmo Reflections, copyright Laverne Bohlin, began as a demonstration at a recent Arboretum workshop.
Even after her move across the country to New Mexico, gifted artist and experienced educator (and long-time Nature Artists’ Guild member) Laverne Bohlin returns to the Chicago area every year to enjoy the early autumn colors and teach at The Morton Arboretum. In 2024, Laverne’s workshop, Painting the September Garden in Pastel, will take place on Friday and Saturday, September 27 and 28.
Painting the September Garden in Pastel will be open to all artists with a “foundational experience with drawing the landscape” and members of The Morton Arboretum will receive a discount on the registration fee. Space is limited for this wonderful workshop with a popular instructor, so early registration is recommended.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild could even use this opportunity to create artwork for Trees, the special display of small worksto be featured during the Guild’s 2024 Autumn Exhibit at The Morton Arboretum this November!
The 90-minute workshop, led by Guild member Sandra Wilcoxon, will be open to all, but attendance will be limited to fifteen participants (more details and registration form here). All supplies will be provided. The workshop will be held at the Aurora Public Art gallery on July 13, 2024 (the final day of the Nature Artists’ Guild’s exhibit) from 2 to 3:30 pm.
Reminder to exhibitors – Artwork pick-up will be on July 13 from 4 to 5:30 pm at the Aurora Public Art Commission gallery.
Milkweed painting in gouache, copyright Suzanne Wegener. Click on image to learn more or register.
Scientific Illustrator and educator Suzanne Wegener will be teaching a 4-part intermediate to advanced level class on painting in gouache at The Morton Arboretum this June.
This class is open to all artists with “fundamental knowledge and skills” and “previous art experience.” (There is no requirement to be a member of the Nature Artists’ Guild or The Morton Arboretum to register.) Paints and paper will be supplied for the class, but participants will need to bring along a few other basics.
Suzanne Wegener is one of the original members and former president of the Nature Artists’ Guild, the former coordinator of the art and photography education programs for The Morton Arboretum, and recent president of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. With her knowledgeable, friendly, and patient teaching style, Suzanne continues to be a popular instructor at The Morton Arboretum and the Chicago Botanic Garden.
The class is titled Flowers and Feathers in Gouache, but students will find that working in gouache will result in wonderfully detailed representations of not only flowers and feathers, but a wide variety of subjects in the natural world.
A sheet of paper, a kneaded eraser, and a few sticks of charcoal are all one needs to create nuanced and evocative works of art.
In Charcoal Techniques, an upcoming 8-week class at The Morton Arboretum, artist and educator John Fleck will share his expertise in working with charcoal (thought to be the world’s oldest drawing material) in both old and new ways. “Charcoal is both boldly expressive and very forgiving. Charcoal is a malleable, inexpensive drawing medium with a rich heritage and a pleasing tactile quality. It makes an ideal entry medium to drawing and also offers deeper possibilities as experience is gained.”
Registration for the class is open to all, and members of The Morton Arboretum will receive a discount on the enrollment fee. The class meets each Wednesday morning from 9:30 to 12:30 beginning on January 24 and continues through March 13, 2024.
Deer Morning, copyright Marybeth Devine. Click on the image above for a quick look at 2023 or scroll through this website for all the posts and images.
The Nature Artists’ Guild bids farewell to 2023 with fond memories of programs, paint-outs, parties, exhibits, and the friendship and support of fellow artists.
The Guild would like to welcome first-time and returning members to new opportunities to explore and share the appreciation of nature through art in 2024!
My watercolor drawings emerge as poetic expressions of my wonderment for the natural world. They provide a surreal, emotional, and ineffable response to overwhelming beauty.
Bryce Lafferty
Bryce Lafferty leads the Department of Art and Design at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, where he teaches drawing and painting. Originally from the Northeast, Bryce is now also “enamored by the abundant variety of living things and geologic features to be discovered in the Southeast.” His widely collected and exhibited watercolors are inspired by his “wonderment for” the natural beauty he has encountered across the country.
The Nature Artists’ Guild is honored to welcome Bryce to speak about his art and experiences on Thursday, October 5, 2023 at 7 pm in the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum.
This program is open to the public, with no charge for parking, attendance, or admission to the Arboretum. Visitors can let the attendant at the gate of The Morton Arboretum know they are there for the presentation to be admitted and directed to Thornhill. Tickets are not required and light refreshments and plenty of seating will be available.
Bryce is also teaching a Visiting Artist Workshop co-sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild at The Morton Arboretum beginning October 6. Guild members can claim an additional discount by registering by phone.
Bryce Lafferty sketching at Lake Ellen Wilson, Glacier National Park
Some reminders about the October 5 meeting for members of the Nature Artists’ Guild –
Artwork submissions for the Joy’s Vision special display will be accepted at the meeting, as well as at the Autumn Nature Art Exhibit’s drop-off event on November 8. Artwork for this display does not require matting, framing, preregistration, or an exhibit fee, but must be 8 x 8 inches and properly labeled on the back.
Completed prospectuses and fee payments for the Autumn Nature Art Exhibit will be accepted at the meeting (as well as by mail or online by October 7). In-person payments at the meeting must be by cash or check.
Posters and postcards for the Autumn Nature Art Exhibit will be available for members to take and share with friends and local businesses.
Voluntary contributions for the Autumn Nature Art Exhibit raffle baskets can be dropped off. A list of suggested items was previously emailed to members.
My watercolor drawings emerge as poetic expressions of my wonderment for the natural world. They provide a surreal, emotional, and ineffable response to overwhelming beauty.
Bryce Lafferty
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will be able to obtain an additional discount for the workshop fee by registering by phone to confirm their Guild membership.
Bryce will also be sharing some of his methods and inspirations at a presentation at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum on Thursday, October 5 at 7 pm. This program, sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild, will be open to all, completely free of charge. Visitors can let the gate attendant at the Arboretum know they are there for the program to be admitted and directed to Thornhill. Light refreshments will be available.
A few reminders for members-
There is still time to be added to the email list for details and updates about this Wednesday’s paint-out at Cantigny’s gardens.
Links to the prospectus and an online registration form for the 2023 Autumn Art Exhibit at The Morton Arboretum were recently emailed to all current Nature Artists’ Guild members. Members who did not receive the email should contact Membership Chair Jane Kellenberger.
For the Nature Artists’ Guild, the unofficial beginning of autumn will be this week, when the prospectus for November’s Nature Art Exhibit at The Morton Arboretum is emailed to all members.
The Guild is pleased to announce that the Featured Artist for the 2023 Autumn Nature Art Exhibit will be Joe Rizzo (much more about Joe and his work to come soon). The exhibit will include more than 200 works of nature art by approximately 50 members of the Nature Artists’ Guild. The exhibit postcard and posters, as well as many more details, will be coming soon.
Also coming this autumn –
A paint-out at the gardens at Cantigny is scheduled for Wednesday, September 6, beginning at 9:30 am. The gardens will still be blooming and beautiful for this event. All members are welcome to stop by any time that morning, but by registering here, they can be added to an email list for details and updates. There will be no charge for admission or parking for the paint-out.
A paint-out at Lake Marmo at The Morton Arboretum has been tentatively planned for October 4 at 9:30 am. Lake Marmo and its surroundings will be displaying the colors of fall and attendees might find inspiration to participate in the Joy’s Vision special display. A registration form for the paint-out and more details to come soon.
The Visiting Artist Workshop: Conceptual Landscapes in Watercolor with Bryce Lafferty on October 6, 7, and 8, 2023 at The Morton Arboretum is being co-sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild. (Guild members can receive an additional discount by registering by phone and confirming their membership.) Bryce will also be doing a presentation, free and open to all, on October 5, 2023 from 7 to 9 pm at the Arboretum’s Thornhill Education Center. More details to come soon.
Wednesday morning gatherings,Art and Coffee, will continue each week throughout autumn (except for the days with paint-outs scheduled). Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild and their guests are welcome to stop by the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum between 9 and 11 am to chat, sketch, or enjoy a quiet morning in beautiful surroundings.
Nature Artists' Guild 