Blue Jay, copyright Jane Kellenberger. Blue Jay will be one of approximately fifty pieces of nature art in the Nature Artists’ Guild’s exhibit at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center in July, 2022.
This Wednesday, June 15, 2022 is the last day for Nature Artists’ Guild members to mail completed prospectuses for the upcoming exhibit at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center. A link to the prospectus was emailed to all members in the past few weeks.
Ground Cover Garden, The Morton Arboretum. Image credit (detail) mortonarb.org.
The Wednesday Morning Coffee Club for members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will meet at 9 am in the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum. While there is plenty to sketch through the windows, the Ground Cover Garden is just a short walk away and offers a cool, quiet oasis for participants who want to get outdoors to sketch, paint, or photograph.
More information is available by clicking on any of the highlighted links.
Hidden Oaks Nature Center. Detail of photo by Suzy Lyttle, Forest Preserve District of Will County, reconnectwithnature.org.
The Nature Artists’ Guild is excited to announce the opening of an exhibit at a hidden gem of the suburbs, the Hidden Oaks Nature Center in Bolingbrook, IL, on July 6, 2022.
The Hidden Oaks Nature Center and surrounding 33 acres were recently acquired by the Forest Preserve District of Will County and they are looking forward to re-opening the building to the public in July. (Please click on this link to a video to learn more about the past, present, and future of the center and preserve.)
The Nature Artists’ Guild will be participating in the celebration with an exhibit of nearly fifty pieces of nature art created by its members. The exhibit will be held in one of the center’s light-filled rooms, which feature lovely panoramic views of the preserve’s wooded areas, until the end of July.
An open-house and reception will be held on the evening of July 8 from 4 to 7 pm. The reception will take place in a room adjacent to the exhibit space and on the balcony overlooking the preserve. Refreshments will be provided by the Forest Preserve District of Will County.
Summer Memories, pastel, copyright Laverne Bohlin. Click on image for link to Laverne’s website.
The Nature Artists’ Guild has a lot in store, from programs and paint-outs to special exhibits and projects, for the upcoming “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer“ (Nat King Cole, 1963.)
Members are invited to stop by Ginkgo Restaurant and Café in the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum at 9 am for informal weekly gatheringsbeginning tomorrow, June 1, 2022. These will continue throughout the season. (Timed-entry passes will be required.) Note – time has been updated to 9 am from previously announced 11 am.
The following evening, Thursday, June 2, 2022, the Nature Artists’ Guild will be sponsoring a program (open to all, free of charge) at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum at 7 pm. This annual program will feature three talented members of the guild sharing some of their artistic inspirations, tools, and techniques. (Timed-entry passes are not required.)
Paint-outs will be scheduled as the summer progresses, and special projects and exhibits are being planned for July and August. Award-winning pastel artist (and guild member) Laverne Bohlinwill be giving a presentation at the August 4th program and teaching a workshop for the arboretum the following weekend. Many more details coming soon!
Please click on any of the highlighted links for more information.
A paint-out is scheduled for February 9, 2022 at Orchids by Hausermann, one of the world’s largest orchid growers. Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will meet in the morning, before Hausermann’s opens to the public, and except for some employees, will have the large greenhouse to themselves. Details were emailed to members earlier this week.
On the evening of February 3, 2022, Nature Artists’ Guild members will have the opportunity to attend an online presentation by talented sculptor Adam Matano. More details about Adam and his work, as well as links and directions for attending the online meeting will be emailed to all members later this month.
Before moving ahead to 2022, we’d like to share a few reminders of some of the Nature Artists’ Guild’s projects, paint-outs, exhibits, and programs of 2021. Here is a sample of nature art shared throughout the year by guild members and program presenters as well as some photos from paint-out locations.
To view more of the wonderful artwork of 2021, scroll through the Home page or visit the Member Artwork or Featured Artist pages of the website.
Blue Tango by Alice Wych is just one example of the wonderful artwork that visitors to the Nature Artists’ Guild exhibit at theDowners Grove Public Library gallery can enjoy during the month of January, 2022.
The exhibit will be open during library hours from January 2 through January 30, 2022. The library’s open exhibition spaces provide a comfortable environment for viewing both the guild’s exhibit and their impressive permanent collection of art. Updates for visiting the library are available by clicking here.
In the 35 years since the Nature Artists’ Guild was established, many of its traditions are still going strong, a few have fallen away, and some have just begun.
Detail of holiday card 2020, copyright Beata Nowak
For most years in more than a decade, the Nature Artists’ Guild has secured the first exhibit of the year at the Downers Grove Public Library’s wonderful gallery. The tradition continues in 2022 and members can participate by returning their completed registration forms by Friday, December 10, 2021. Artwork must be dropped off by December 18, 2021.
Last year a new tradition began within the Nature Artists’ Guild when each of the participants created a hand-made holiday card to share with another member. This popular project continues in 2021, and those who would like to join in can contact Terrie McComb by Friday, December 3, 2021. Completed cards must be mailed by December 14, 2021.
Details for these events were emailed to 2021 Nature Artists’ Guild members on November 15, 2021. Members can check those emails for forms, names, dates, addresses, and more information.
There is still time to enjoy Visions of Nature, an in-person exhibit at the McCord Gallery in Palos Park, IL. The exhibit features approximately thirty works of art by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild. The gallery is open weekdays from 10 am until 4 pm and Saturdays from 11 am until 4 pm and the exhibit will be open until September 5, 2021. The gallery is closed on Sundays.
The Nature Artists’ Guild would like to share a number of ways to spend some of the remaining days of summer making and enjoying art-
This weekend, August 21 and 22, 2021, visitors to theWine and Art Walk at The Morton Arboretum can meet and talk with a member of the Nature Artists’ Guild and view the artist at work. The guild’s table will be set up inside the Visitor Center.
Photo credit mortonarb.org
This Sunday,August 22, 2021, artists, friends, family, and all those who appreciate nature art are invited to attend a reception for the Nature Artists’ Guild’s in-person exhibit, Visions of Nature, at the McCord Gallery in Palos Park, IL between 2 and 4 pm.
Postcard artwork by Karen A Johnson
Next Tuesday, August 24th, 2021, the weekly meeting of the Nature Artists’ Guild’s Coffee Club will begin at 9 am. There is so much to see and sketch within a few yards of the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum and all guild members are invited.
Exterior of Visitor Center facing Meadow Lake at The Morton Arboretum. Photo credit mortonarb.org.
Please click on any of the highlighted links for more information and the latest updates.
Artwork by Karen Johnson. Postcard design by Jane Kellenberger.
McCord Gallery is open to all on weekdays from 10 am until 4 pm and Saturdays from 11 until 4 pm (closed on Sundays.) There will be a reception for artists, friends, family, and other visitors on Sunday, August 22, 2021 from 2 until 4 pm.
Nature Artists' Guild 