Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild who would like to share articles or images of their autumn-inspired artwork in the members-only publication, the Quarterly, should forward them to Jane Kellenberger by August 1, 2024. Guild members recently received an email with details and an email address for submitting.
Nature Artists’ Guild members are reminded that the theme of theGuild’s annual tribute to The Morton Arboretum (8 x 8-inch works of art inspired by their collections) is “Trees” for 2024. This special display will be exhibited during the Guild’s annual Autumn Exhibit at the Arboretum in November. More information here.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will be visiting the Gardens at Ball on the morning of Wednesday, August 7, 2024 from 9:30 to noon to paint, draw, photograph, and explorethe vast showcase of plants.
Ball Horticultural Company is a leader in all facets of horticulture. Our global family of breeders, research and development teams, suppliers, and distribution companies has a strong presence on six continents in 20 countries. – Ballhort.com
West Chicago, IL is the home Ball Horticultural Company and the site of the Gardens at Ball, their 13 acres of garden showcases filled with thousands of beautiful plants, including hundreds of their latest innovations in research and breeding.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will meet at the gardens for a paint-out at 9:30 am on August 7 to enjoy all the color and beauty on display. Registration is required for this event, either online, or by emailing Paint-Out Coordinator Celia Rodee.
To Sleep, copyright Kristina Knowski. Click on image to learn more.
The Nature Artists’ Guild is proud to sponsor a presentation featuring Kristina Knowski and her ‘Avifauna Watercolors’ at The Morton Arboretum on Thursday, August 1, 2024 from 7 to 9 pm.
Kristina is a watercolorist depicting primarily avifauna and is best known for her portfolio of extinct bird species. She enjoys using observation, anatomical references, and specimens to examine these species with an acute attention to detail.
As an avid birder, Kristina prefers to work from life and spends most of her time sketching and researching species in the field. In working with extinct species, she visits the Bird Collections of the Field Museum and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to study from skins. – KristinaKnowski.com
This presentation will be free and open to all. There will be no charge for attendance, parking, or admission to The Morton Arboretum for this event. Registration is not required, and attendees can let the gate attendant at the Arboretum know they are there for the presentation to be admitted and directed to their Thornhill Education Center. Plenty of parking and seating will be available.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to join their fellow artists at the renowned Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, IL to sketch, draw, photograph, and simply enjoy the peaceful surroundings.
Guild members will meet at 9:30 am on Thursday, July 18, 2024 at Anderson Japanese Gardens,“one of the highest quality Japanese gardens in the world” after which they can explore the “twelve-acre landscape of streams, waterfalls, winding pathways, and koi-filled ponds.”
If interested, attendees can also choose to enjoy a meal at the onsite restaurant, Fresco at the Gardens at 11:30.
(Participants will be responsible for their own transportation and lunch costs. Anderson Japanese Gardens is located approximately eighty miles from Chicago’s southwest suburbs, a drive of about one and a quarter hours.Easels and paints are not permitted. Attendees can visit the Gardens’ website for details.)
In 2024, the third year of these projects honoring The Morton Arboretum, the theme is simply and fittingly,“Trees”. Entire forests, individual specimens, leaves, branches, roots, berries, buds, bark, birds, or bugs are all suitable subjects.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to create up to three works of art in almost any medium to be exhibited in the lobby of the Administration Building of The Morton Arboretum during the same hours of the Guild’s 2024 Autumn Exhibit in November.
Artwork must be inspired by or created at The Morton Arboretum and follow basic Guild exhibition guidelines for subject matter and the “Trees” theme. (The listed matting, framing, and size guidelines should be disregarded for this special exhibit).
Artwork must not be framed in order to fit into the display. The final size of each piece must be exactly 8 by 8 inches and less than one half inch deep.
There will be no fee or volunteering requirement to participate. A simple registration will be requested before the exhibit, and drop-off and pick-up hours will be the same as those for the Autumn Exhibit.
This project is otherwise separate from and will not affect or depend on participation in the Autumn exhibit. (Details about the 2024 Autumn Exhibit will be shared in upcoming months.)
Garden of Anne and Charles Bouchard, Glen Ellyn, IL. Photo credit Anne and Charles Bouchard.
Update: Paint-out has been canceled due to cicada activity.
The Bouchards of Glen Ellyn have invited members of the Nature Artists’ Guild to attend a paint-out and enjoy a buffet at their home on Sunday, June 23, 2024 from noon until 3 in conjunction with a garden party reception for volunteers of the Glen Ellyn Children’s Resource Center.
This plein-air opportunity isavailable to thefirst 12 Guild members who register, and the Bouchard’s spacious and lovely gardens, originally designed by landscape architect and artist Anthony Tyznik, will be in full bloom.
Just added – An opportunity for members to create and exhibit up to three 8 x 8 inch works of art in a special display during the Guild’s annual Autumn exhibit in November. These two-dimensional works must be inspired by or created at The Morton Arboretum, and the 2024 theme will be, fittingly, “Trees”. This display of art celebrating trees or their parts or inhabitants will be in addition to the regular autumn exhibit and no entry fee or framing will be required for participating artists. More about this opportunity coming soon!
Background artwork by Nicki Metz, Beth Berry, Laurie Peters, Patty Koenigsaecker, Vicki Liszewski. Click on image for original postcard.
A special exhibit featuring works by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum opens this Friday at the Aurora Public Art Commission gallery in Aurora, IL.
The opening of Art Inspired by Earth on the evening of Friday, June 7, 2024 at the Aurora Public Art Commission gallery will include a reception with refreshments and live music, and coincides with the city’s popular First Friday event. All are welcome to drop by!
Everyone is also invited to the Nature Artists’ Guild’s June presentation on Thursday, June 6 from 7 to 9 pm at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum. Three members of the Guild will demonstrate the creation of art inspired by nature using media and techniques both old and new. Light refreshments and plenty of seating will be available for this free event.
All are invited to a program featuring demonstrations bythree talented Nature Artists’ Guild members at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum from 7 to 9 pm on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Examples of stippling in black and white ink, Sawtooth Oak, Orchid, copyright Nancy Wu
Nancy Wu will demonstrate the use of stippling with black and white ink to create intricate drawings of nature.
Pearl Onions and Lacy Leaf, silverpoint, copyright Sandra K. Wilcoxon
Sandra Wilcoxon will share materials and methods for using silverpoint in both old and new ways.
Monochromatic and glazed stages of painting, copyright Dale Olsen
Dale Olsen will add glazes in oil or acrylic to bring glowing color to a black and white base.
Presentations sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild are always free and open to all. There is no requirement to be a memberof The Morton Arboretum or the Guild to attend, and there is no charge for attendance, parking, or entry into the Arboretum for these events. Visitors can let the gate attendant know they are there for the program to be admitted and directed to the Thornhill Education Center. There will be plenty of seating, and light refreshments will be available.
More than just cicadas are coming to Chicagoland over the next few weeks. For members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, June also marks the arrival of –
One of the Nature Artists’ Guild’s most popular annual programs, featuring short demonstrations and discussions by three talented members, at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum on the evening of Thursday, June 6, 2024 (open to all, free of charge). This year’s artists will share tools, tips, and techniques for creating botanical art using pen and ink, drawing with silverpoint, and using glazes when painting in oil or acrylic. Details to come soon.
An exciting new special exhibit at the Aurora Public Art Commission gallery. Participating Guild artists are dropping off their work this weekend, and in less than two weeks, the exhibit opens. Aurora’s First Friday event on June 7, 2024 will include a reception at the gallery for the Nature Artists’ Guild exhibit (open to all) with light refreshments and live music.
A paint-out, tentatively planned for late June at the lovely private garden of one of the Guild’s members. The date of the paint-out will be determined in June, and will depend on weather and possible cicada activity.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum will be welcoming the arrival of late spring and summer in a number of enjoyable ways –
Nature Artists’ Guild members are encouraged to share images of their summer-inspired artwork for the upcoming issue of the Nature Artists’ Quarterly. This members-only publication includes essays, book reviews, images, and news by and about Guild members. Submissions for possible inclusion in the Summer Quarterly can be emailed to Jane Kellenberger at the NatureArtNews gmail address by May 1, 2024 (Guild members only).
There is still time for members to register for the paint-out at Lilacia Parkscheduled for Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 9:30 am. Paint-Out Chair Celia Rodee will share details and updates by email with those registered, and share coffee and her delicious homemade muffins at the paint-out.
Artwork drop-off dates for this June and July’s Nature Artists’ Guild exhibit at the gallery of the Aurora Public Art Commission are approaching quickly. Registered exhibitors can park in the designated lot next to the building on May 24 between 2 and 4 or May 25 between 11 and 1, and take the elevator to the third floor to sign in their artwork. The exhibit opens on June 7, 2024 with a reception at the gallery (and a gathering at the studio of Exhibit Co-Chair Cheryl Holz) and continues through July 13.
Three members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will be discussing and demonstrating their inspirations, materials, and techniques at the June 6, 2024 program at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum at 7 pm. This program will be open to all, free-of-charge. Details will be coming soon.
Nature Artists' Guild 
