The good news is that the talented and beloved artist, writer, instructor, and speaker Peggy Macnamara has just finished illustrating a new book.
Mary Hennen and Peggy Macnamara’s The Peregrine Returns
The great news is that Peggy will be teaching a one-day workshop as part of The Morton Arboretum’s Visiting Artist Series on Saturday, March 4, 2017, titled Use the Layering Method in Watercolor with Peggy Macnamara (please click on the highlighted link to check for available spots or to be placed on the wait-list).
The fantastic news is that Peggy will be sharing some of her experiences, as well as a close-up look at her artwork, with members of the Nature Artists Guild, guests, and visitors on the evening of Thursday, March 2, 2017 from 7 until 9 pm at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum.
Peggy Macnamara is the Artist-in-Residence at the world renowned Field Museum in Chicago, IL, a professor at the School of the Art Institute, the author and illustrator of numerous scientific and children’s books, and an all-around delightful person!
As always, Nature Artists’ Guild programs are open to all and are free-of-charge for admission and parking. Guests and visitors who are not members of The Morton Arboretum can let the gate attendant know that they are there for the program, and they will be directed to the Thornhill Education Center.
A great way to liven up these last few weeks of winter is with a class at The Morton Arboretum. There are still a few spots left in the following classes or workshops –
Pen and Ink drawing, copyright Nancy Thyfault
Linoleum Block Printing Workshop with Carrie Carlson – Begins next Saturday, February 11, 2017
Botanical Art with Pen and Ink with Nancy Thyfault – Begins Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Under the Microscope – Draw Butterflies and Moths with Karen Johnson – Thursday, February 23, 2017 or Saturday, February 25, 2017
Visiting Artist Series – Using the Layering Method with Watercolor with Peggy Macnamara – Saturday, March 4, 2017
Begin to Draw Nature with Kathy Steere – Begins Saturday, March 11, 2017
Color Theory, Colored Pencil with Kimberly Mullarkey – Begins Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Create an Altered Book with JoAnne Laudollf – Sunday, March 19, 2017
If the names of many of these instructors sound familiar, it’s because they are some of the best artists and instructors in the Chicagoland area, Most are current or former fellow members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, and all offer kindness, patience and fun along with their expertise. Please click on this link to The Morton Arboretum’s Nature Art and Photography Class Listings for more information, or to enroll.
Classes are open to all, and membership in the Nature Artists’ Guild or The Morton Arboretum is not required to enroll.
Both the Nature Artists’ Guild program and the workshop are open to all, not just members of the Nature Artists’ Guild or The Morton Arboretum. There is a fee and a registration requirement for the workshop, but Thursday evening’s program is free-of-charge for both admission and parking. Visitors should let the gate attendant know that they are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild program and they will be directed to the Thornhill Education Center.
The upcoming workshops in The Morton Arboretum’s Visiting Artist Series – Drawing Trees in Pastel, on June 17 and 18, 2016will be taught by none other than longtime Nature Artists’ Guild member and Arboretum instructor Laverne Bohlin, and she will be visiting from the sunny city of Albuquerque, NM. Perhaps she will bring some of that sunshine with her!
Apply pastel techniques to the challenging subject of trees in the landscape. Join returning artist Laverne Bohlin and learn to recognize three major design characteristics of trees and how to express them in pastel. Depict a tree’s three-dimensional form under changing light conditions. Friday’s subject will be deciduous trees, and Saturday’s subject will be evergreens. Sign up for both days and receive a $20 discount.
Please register soon, as workshops fill quickly. You can read more about Laverne and view her beautiful artwork at lavernebohlinart.com. To register for or read more about the workshop, please click on one of the highlighted links above. The workshop is not limited to members of The Morton Arboretum or the Nature Artists’ Guild, although Arboretum members will receive a discount.
God’s Will, colored pencil, copyright Rhonda Nass. Used with permission. Text not part of original image.
Rhonda Nassis an internationally acclaimed, award-winning artist, who also teaches workshops in both colored pencil and acrylic techniques at The Morton Arboretum as part of the Visiting Artists Series. The Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum is honored to sponsor a presentation on colored pencil and a book signing by Rhonda on Thursday, March 3, 2016, and to co-sponsor a workshop with the Arboretum the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 4th through 6th, 2016, in which Rhonda will share her techniques for painting in acrylic.
At Thursday evening’s presentation between 7 and 9 pm at Thornhill, Rhonda will discuss some of her colored-pencil artwork, including God’s Will, shown above (yes that is colored pencil, and a recent winner in the Colored Pencil Society of America’s 23rd Annual International Exhibit!), and sign copies of her new book, Scratchings of a Madwoman. This gorgeous book is filled with Rhonda’s colored pencil drawings, as well as her beautifully written inspirational stories, and an entire section is devoted to Rhonda’s techniques for working with colored pencils. Rhonda’s kind and generous nature certainly comes through in this book as she shares her thoughts and artwork with her readers.
Nature Artists’ Guild members, visitors and guests are welcome to attend this program at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum. There is no charge for admission or parking, either to the Arboretum or to this program. Visitors should let the gate attendant at the Arboretum know they are there for the program and they will be directed to Thornhill.
Mimosa Fireworks, acrylic, copyright Rhonda Nass. Used with permission. Text not part of original image.
On the following Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Nature Artists’ Guild and The Morton Arboretum are excited to co-sponsor an acrylic workshop by Rhonda. To enroll in this workshop, please visit the class listings at The Morton Arboretum’s website, or click on this direct link to the workshop. This workshop is limited to 15 participants, and is expected to fill quickly! Rhonda describes it as follows –
Acrylic Stroke-Free, A New Watercolor– If visions of harshly-colored gobs of paint come to mind when you hear the work acrylic, you are not alone. This class will blow that perspective out the window. Through a simple, step-by-step exercise, you’ll learn a unique acrylic technique that involves diluting paint from the tube and applying layers of translucent color with a feathering stroke that results in a stroke-free final appearance with unlimited potential for extremely tight detail and dramatic coloring and lighting. We’ll take a fresh (and brief) look at composition and proceed with each artist beginning a simple painting of a tomato and leaf to learn the technique enough to move on to a painting using the subject of her/his choice. There will be time to gain enough skills through demonstrations, one-on-one time, and practice in the workshop to leave the class confident to complete with with excellence the personalized acrylic artwork.
Please click on any of the highlighted links above to learn more. For more about Rhonda and her artwork, please click on this link to her website, www.rnass.com.
The images above are copyrighted by Rhonda Nass. As always, the use of any image on this website is prohibited without the written consent of the artist.
The Morton Arboretum will be hosting the 8th International Oak Society Conference from October 18 until October 21, 2015. In conjunction with this event and as part of the arboretum’s 2015 Visiting Artist Series, artist Wendy Brockman will be teaching a workshop entitled Painting Oaks. (A few openings for this workshop may still be available – please click on the link to visit the registration page.)
The Nature Artists’ Guild is thrilled to announce that Wendy has also agreed to present a discussion of her art, inspirations and techniques for our members, guests and visitors on the evening of Thursday, October 15, 2015, from 7 until 9 pm at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum.
Wendy Brockman lives and works in Minnesota, where northern forests and rocky shorelines provide inspiration for her imagery. She explores her interests in art and environmental issues using a variety of media. An avid observer, her work examines bits and pieces of nature and the responses they evoke.
Widely exhibited, Brockman’s paintings have been included in group and solo exhibitions. Her work has received national and international exhibition awards and is held in public and private collections throughout the United States.
What a wonderful opportunity to view the stunning work of this fine artist and hear more about her inspirations! This special presentation will be open, as are all Nature Artists’ Guild programs, to members, guests and visitors. There is no fee for attendance, parking, or admission to The Morton Arboretum for this event, and visitors just need to let the gate attendant know that they are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild program.
For more information about Wendy or to view more of her beautiful artwork, please visit www.wendybrockman.com by clicking on the link or any of the images.
We may not be able to count on the weather this time of the year (how about all of this rain?), but we can always count on the Nature Artists’ Guild to come up with some great events, indoors and out.
Coming up in the next few months –
On Wednesday, July 15, 2015, from 9 am until noon, members will be meeting on the Joy Path and in the Fragrance Garden of The Morton Arboretum for a paint-out filled with wonderful scents, sounds and sights.
The Nature Artists’ Guild exhibit, Viewing Nature, at Benedictine College in Lisle, IL, continues until July 16, 2015. This gorgeous collection of nature art is located in the Komechak Gallery on the fifth floor of the Kindlon Hall of Learning. After entering at the main entrance, visitors should proceed to the back of the building, where the elevator to the fifth floor is located in a short hallway to their right. For more details, please click on the gallery name above.
On Thursday evening, August 6, 2015, from 7 until 9 pm, at Thornhill Education Center at The Morton Arboretum, Nature Artists Guild members and their guests will be given the opportunity to see three of our most talented artists at work. Gail Diedrichsen, Bob Sunyog and Lindsay Sandbothe will be sharing some of their techniques, tips and inspirations at this popular yearly program. Open to visitors, it is a great chance to interact with these artists, as well as to meet other members of the Nature Artists Guild (and possibly even consider becoming a member in the future). Everyone is welcome to attend this fun and fascinating program!
Member Margo Heald has very generously donated over 60 books to the Nature Artists’ Guild! At our August 6, 2015 meeting, these books (instructional art books to fabulous coffee table books, as well as everything in between) will be available for purchase at a generous discount to our members (cash or check only, please).
A new fundraising project will be announced at our August 6, 2015 meeting. Committee members will have twenty 6-inch square canvases to give to members who wish to participate. These canvases will then be taken home by the artists, to be painted or collaged as they wish, and returned at “referee night” of the Holiday Exhibit. A display of all the canvases will be part of our 2015 Holiday Exhibit, and the canvases will be for sale, with proceeds going to the Nature Artists’ Guild.
Please be sure to check back for more details about these events as the dates approach.
This year’s workshop for the Artisan Shop at the Spring Exhibit of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum will be very special. Not only will we be creating items for our fundraising table at the upcoming exhibit, (please bring acrylics, brushes and a water container, as well as sketches or reference materials in your choice of subjects from nature), we will also have the chance to learn about framing from professional framer (and member), Evelyn Grala!
From 9:30 until noon, we can work on our handmade items for the exhibit, and then from 1 pm until 3 pm, Evelyn will show fellow Nature Artists’ Guild members – how to choose frames that will enhance your artwork, how to creatively re-use frames, how to choose standard frame sizes for ease and economy, the do’s and don’ts in preparing for an exhibit, and finally, a framing demonstration for the “do-it-yourself” artists!
If you can’t stay for the whole workshop, please stop in any time between 9:30 am and 3 pm, work as little or as much as you like, or even take an item home to work on. The workshop takes place on Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Classroom C at Thornhill.
Update – Please enjoy these photos, thanks to Carol Carls, of the Spring Workshop participants hard at work!
Our Fund-Raising Committee Co-chairs Nancy Thyfault and Brenda Spitzer have a fun workshop planned for this year’s spring exhibit fundraising table! The workshop will take place at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum on March 24, 2012 from about 9:30 am until about 1:00 pm. Here’s what we can look forward to –
Join us to create one of a kind treasures for our Artisan Shop (fundraising table).
There are some new things to try out:
Sharon Malec has a wrapped branch project. These look great in a vase. Please bring:
Freshly cut branches, fairly sturdy ones
Any scrap yarn, any color.
Brenda Spitzer will demonstrate ArtEmboss, a method of embossing metal. The metal can be displayed on its own, or attached to a support, such as a wooden box. Please bring:
An old mouse pad (to put beneath the metal)
A design no larger than 4” x 4” drawn on tracing paper..
Brenda will supply styluses and metal.
Nancy Thyfault will demonstrate how to transfer of copies of your artwork. These can be used to decorate wood pieces, papier mache items, etc. Please bring:
Laser copies of artwork (ink jet will wash away) which can be made at any office supply store. Make multiple sizes to cut up. Copies sized 8.5 x 11 and reduced down from that work well.
Old pieces of jewelry or found objects
A burnisher, if you have one (we can share)
An old stiff brush for application
Acrylic paints & brushes
A water container
We will have trays, boxes and other items to decorate or paint on. The embossed metal and/found objects can be incorporated onto your piece, as well.
This workshop will incorporate some new, fresh ideas with some old standbys. Don’t miss it!
You may join us or leave at any time. If YOUR time is short, stop by and pick up something to work on at home.
Nature Artists' Guild 