Category: Events

Butterflies and Birds at Wildwood

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We’ve had some beautiful weather lately, and apparently we are not the only species enjoying it!  According to Nina Koziol, who will be hosting Nature Artists’ Guild paint-outs this Saturday and next Tuesday, she has spotted Giant Swallowtails, Pipevine Swallowtails, a few Monarchs, and Red-Spotted Purples, as well as Hummingbirds.

Red-Spotted Purple, Photo credit Wikipedia
Red-Spotted Purple, Photo credit Wikipedia

Nina is looking forward to hosting our paint-out, and will even be offering us some light refreshments!  She also wants to let us know that there is plenty of parking along the road across the street from her home and gardens.   Scroll down this page to see more information and some photographs of Wildwood.

If you would like to attend, please contact Carol Jean Rogalski, whose contact information you will find in your Yearbook.  

Wildwood Awaits! New Paint-Out Opportunity on August 17 and August 20, 2013

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You may know Nina Koziol as a garden writer for the Chicago Tribune and Chicagoland Gardening, as well as a speaker and teacher at the Chicago Botanic Garden and The Morton Arboretum.

Nina Koziol's Wildwood Garden, Used with permission
Nina Koziol’s Wildwood Garden, Used with permission

Now we will be lucky enough to experience Nina’s gardening skills in person, as she has so generously offered to open her personal garden, Wildwood, (also the name of the gallery in Lockport, IL owned by Nina and her husband, http://www.WildwoodGallery.com) on two separate mornings to members of the Nature Artists’ Guild for painting, sketching and photographing!

Nina Koziol's Wildwood Garden, Used with permission
Nina Koziol’s Wildwood Garden, Used with permission

Nina’s gardens take inspiration from her grandparents’ garden in Essex, England, and include flower and shrub borders, edible and container gardens, and judging from the photos on Nina’s website, www.thisgardencooks.com, some fascinating creatures as well!  Not all of them will be present for our paint-out, but Nina promises there will be “hummingbirds and butterflies galore”!

Nina Koziol's Wildwood Garden, Used with permission
Nina Koziol’s Wildwood Garden, Used with permission

Our members are invited to share Nina’s garden on either Saturday, August 17 or Tuesday, August 20, 2013, from 9 am until 1 pm.  The address is 11925 Ford Road, Palos Park, IL, and Nina has even been kind enough to offer light refreshments!

Please let Carol Jean Rogalski know on which of the two dates you’d like to attend (or both, if space permits, but please indicate your first choice).  You can find Carol Jean’s contact information in your Yearbook.

Artist Trio Presentation, August 1, 2013

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On August 1, 2013, from 7 pm until 9 pm at Thornhill, three members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will share their inspirations and techniques with us.

Attendees will divide into three smaller groups, which will rotate through the three presentations. This gives us all a great opportunity to get closer looks, ask more questions, and engage with the artists in a way not possible with a larger group. The three talented artists who will be generously sharing their talents with us are –

Jane Doherty – Western Marbling

Karen Johnson – Polymer Clay Patterns: Botanicals and Insects

Ed Cook – Landscapes

Please join us for what promises to be a fun, inspirational and educational meeting! Guests and visitors are welcome.  Visitors,  please just let the attendant at The Morton Arboretum gate know that you are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild meeting.

Remember to Make the Most of Your Nature Artists’ Guild Membership

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We are so excited to welcome  many new members to the Nature Artists’ Guild this year!  We just wanted to check in with all our members, the brand new ones, as well as those that have been around a while, to make sure everyone is making the most of their membership.

Remember, your membership entitles you to –

  • Attend formal meetings (the next one will be in August, and will feature three of your talented fellow members sharing some of their favorite techniques in various media)
  • Attend paint-outs at some great places (there is one coming up in July at Laverne Bohlin’s wonderful garden, and more are being added all the time)
  • Participate in Nature Artists’ Guild exhibitions (either at The Morton Arboretum, where up to a thousand visitors will view your artwork in one weekend, or at various outside venues)
  • Attend workshops (to help create items for fundraising and to learn new skills from fellow artists)
  • Contribute artwork or articles to our quarterly publication, The Nature Artists’ Quarterly
  • Contribute artwork to the annual Nature Artists’ Guild desk calendar

There are also many opportunities for just having fun with your fellow artists, whether by attending a “field trip” to somewhere interesting,  helping to create our annual Scarecrow for The Morton Arboretum,  volunteering on one of the committees or attending the Holiday Party!

Please check the Important Dates tab above to see our current schedule of events.

What a Pretty Paint-Out!

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Once again, the weather and the garden couldn’t have been lovelier for the Nature Artists’ Guild 2013 Paint-Out at Susan and Kenneth Beard’s garden in Oakbrook, IL.  Please enjoy these gorgeous photos contributed by Kathy Wagner.  We thank the Beards for so graciously sharing their garden with us.

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Join us in Celebrating! Bohlin Garden Paint-Out July 13, 2013

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Talk about talent!  Long-time Nature Artists’ Guild member, Laverne Bohlin, is an instructor in The Morton Arboretum’s Botanical Art program , teaches at the Peninsula School of Art in Door County, Wisconsin, and her paintings are widely exhibited and collected around the country.  We are lucky enough to exhibit Laverne’s paintings in each of our Nature Artists’ Guild exhibits, and they are appreciated by all.

In addition to all of the above, Laverne also happens to be a skilled landscape designer and gardener. She teaches numerous classes on Landscape Design at The Morton Arboretum, and we have just learned that Laverne’s personal garden will be featured in the upcoming July/August 2013 issue of Chicagoland Gardening magazine!  The issue should be on the newsstands in June, and we can’t wait to see it.

Let’s help celebrate Laverne’s wonderful news by joining her in her garden, which she has been kind enough to share with all the members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, for a paint-out on July 13, 2013.Laverne Bohlin Garden Feel free to drop in any time between  10 am and 4 pm.  There is no need to RSVP, and light refreshments will be served.   

It will be a great chance to not only paint or sketch a lovely garden, but to spend some time getting to know your fellow artists in a casual and fun setting.  Member Carol Jean Rogalski has seen Laverne and Pete Bohlin’s garden and claims that they apparently know Jack (of the beanstalk fame) because the garden surely has its origins in some kind of magical seeds!

You Didn’t Miss It, Did You?

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We had a great time at the meeting last evening!  Our presenter, the wonderful Peggy Macnamara wowed us with her paintings, and her hilarious stories left us both entertained and encouraged.   Thank you, Peggy!  We will be sure to let everyone know when Peggy’s book-signing at The Morton Arboretum is scheduled.

We would also like to thank all of the guests that attended!  We hope you enjoyed the program and will consider returning.  We’d love to have you as a member of the Nature Artists’ Guild, so that you would have the chance to not only attend programs, but to participate in paint-outs, exhibitions, workshops and social events.  Please click the Membership Application tab above for more details.  Artists of all levels of ability are welcome.

Photographs are courtesy of Kathy Wagner, and all artwork is the property of Peggy Macnamara.

(More Than) A Few of our Favorite Things! Peggy Macnamara on June 6, 2013 at Thornhill

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Wonderful, talented and fun artist and teacher Peggy Macnamara, will be joining us for a demonstration, a discussion, and a book-signing on June 6, 2013 from 7 until 9 pm.   Peggy’s latest book,  The Art of Migration:  Birds, Insects and the Changing Seasons in Chicagoland  is not scheduled for release until early July,  but if you already have any of her other three books, please bring your copy to the meeting for Peggy’s signature.

The Art of Migration by Peggy Macnamara

Peggy is the Artist in Residence and has eighteen of her works on permanent display at the Field Museum, is a Professor at the Chicago Art Institute, and is the author of four books.  Many members of the Nature Artists’ Guild know Peggy as a favorite instructor in the Botanical Illustration program at The Morton Arboretum, as well as a wonderful  source of inspiration.

This would also be a great opportunity to invite friends and fellow artists who are not currently members of the Nature Artists’ Guild to one of our programs.  We know they’ll enjoy it!

Please visit Peggy’s website at www.peggymacnamara.com to learn more about Peggy, as well as to view photos and videos of Peggy and her artwork.

Goldfinch © Peggy Macnamara 2013. Image used with permission of the artist.
Goldfinch © Peggy Macnamara 2013. Image used with permission of the artist.

The Beard Garden Paint-Out June 4, 2013

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Last year’s paint-out at the gorgeous gardens of Susan and Kenneth Beard was a huge success, but became a bit crowded with both artists and photographers attending.  This year, on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, the photographers of the Morton Arboretum Photographic Society will be attending from 7:30 until 9:30 am, and the Nature Artists’ Guild members will have the garden to themselves from 9:30 am until 12:00 noon.

The Beard garden has been featured in Chicagoland Gardening magazine, in recent features in the  Sunday Magazine of the Chicago Tribune, and Crain’s Chicago Business  and is included in the Garden Conservancy’s “most beautiful gardens in America”.

The peonies are scheduled to bloom for us, and the Beard’s collection of hosta is legendary, so RSVP early to ensure your spot, as attendance will be limited to 12 in each group.  Please RSVP to Carol Jean Rogalski if you would like to attend.  You can find her contact information in your Yearbook.

The Beard’s 3-acre garden, featuring over 300 varieties of hosta, as well as annuals, perennials, a woodland, shrubs and groundcovers, is located at 3711 Madison , Oakbrook, IL.

The following photos are from the 2012 paint-out at the Beard garden.  Thank you to Kathy Wagner for the photographs!