Cynthia Hellyer–Heinz is an accomplished colored pencil artist whose work defies any simple description and truly must be seen to be appreciated! On her website, www.cynthiahellyerheinz.com, Cynthia explains that “These pencil drawings are visual surrealist narratives. The intention is that they not hang passively on the wall but stimulate a dialogue. They are meant to provoke questions.”
A widely respected artist and the recipient of numerous awards, Cynthia will join us on Thursday evening, February 2, from 7 to 9 pm at Thornhill for what promises to be a fascinating look into her process and inspirations. You can view Cynthia’s artist statement and biography by clicking here.
The Nature Artists’ Guild schedule next year will include some new paint-out locations (the first being Wheaton College’s Science building in January), some old favorites (Hausermann’s Orchids in February) and as always, some of the best artist presentations in the area (renowned colored pencil artist Cynthia Hellyer-Heinz will be featured at our February meeting). Details will be posted soon, or you can check your Winter Quarterly for the dates and times.
Although the Nature Artists’ Guild accepts membership dues at any time of the year, if you want to ensure that you are included in our Yearbook and that you won’t miss any issues of The Quarterly, please renew your membership by sending in your check and the renewal coupon from your latest Quarterly by December 31, 2011.
It’s been a wonderful year for the Nature Artists’ Guild, and what better way to celebrate than with a holiday party?
On Thursday evening, December 1, from 6:30 to 9, members and their guests are invited to join us in the beautiful Founders’ Room at Thornhill for good food, lots of laughs and even some raffle prizes, (as well as our annual board elections).
If you’re interested, you’ll also have the opportunity to purchase Nature Artists’ Guild 2012 desk calendars, or our Nature Artists’ Guild t-shirts, featuring the artwork of our current featured artist, Ku-mie Kim.
Please join us for a good time and a great way to meet or catch up with your fellow Nature Artists’ Guild members! Bring a dish to pass if you can, and if you would like to contribute a book, print or other item to the raffle, it would certainly be appreciated (but definitely not required). If you’re a new member, we’d love to see you there and will do our best to make sure you feel welcome!
Nature Artists’ Guild liaison, Suzanne Wegener describes our upcoming program featuring Marlene Hill Donnelly –
Nature artists have color considerations beyond those of other artists—we need to be able to mix both the intense and precise colors of our flowers, birds and insects, and the quiet but luminous colors of shadow, reflected light and distance. Marlene will first demonstrate her system of “color mapping” designed to create a team of colors for any subject to ensure both accuracy and interest. Next she will demonstrate a very loose and expressive method that can be used to learn color mixing in a fun and meditative way as well as to create finished paintings or backgrounds.
Marlene HIll Donnelly is a third generation artist with degrees in Fine Art from the American Academy of Art in Chicago and in Zoology, with a minor in Botany, from University of Illinois. She is a science artist Associate for the Field Museum, reconstructing ancient landscapes and extinct plants and animals for the Department of Geology. She also works with the Smithsonian Institution, University College Dublin, Ireland, and many other institutions, bringing the past to life. Her work is widely published and is exhibited in museums throughout the world. She is a Certificate Course instructor at the Chicago Botanic Garden and at the Morton Arboretum.
In addition to all the other fun things we’ll be working on during our Holiday Exhibit Workshop at Thornhill tomorrow (see details in earlier post), we’ll also be assembling the very first Nature Artists’ Guild Scarecrow for The Morton Arboretum’s annual display. The gorgeous gal in the sketch below, by Nature Artists’ Guild member Patty Koenigsaecker, is what we hope our scarecrow will look when she’s done. Don’t you agree she just may be the cutest scarecrow ever? Please stop by the workshop any time between 10 and 2 to help get her ready for her debut!
An important message from our Fundraising Chair, Nancy Thyfault –
Ladies and Gentlemen, mark your calendars! Our Holiday Workshop will be September 17th, 10 am to 2 pm, Room C, Thornhill.
This is your opportunity to create items for our fundraising table at the Holiday Exhibit. Think you aren’t “crafty”- well, it’s more about creating unique items embellished with your artwork! Please join us and we can get you started.
We will have wooden trays, boxes and other pieces that you may paint, faux finish or design however you would like to. Nancy Kolar will be there to help with fabric painting on holiday tote bags- what a great idea for “wrapping” a holiday gift! If you think that you may want to paint a tote bag, you can work up a design in the 8” x 10” range to bring along. You could also bring photos for reference. There will other “projects” to work on as well.
You needn’t stay for the entire time. Many people pick up items and take them home to work on. You may stay, bring lunch and enjoy some creative time with your fellow artists!
Please bring along your favorite brushes and acrylic paints. A container for water is a good idea, too. Thanks to some generous donations, we have plenty of things to work on.
At our formal meeting on Thursday, August 4, 2011 at 7 pm, Dick Blick Wheaton store manager Kevin Sandstrom and his associates will be performing product demonstrations and even handing out some free samples!
Along with his experience in retail management and marketing, Kevin is an experienced freelance illustrator, and founder of various artist groups and forums.
Please join your fellow Nature Artists’ Guild members in what we expect to be a fun and informative evening!
The Nature Artists’ Guild liason to The Morton Arboretum, Suzanne Wegener thanked everyone at our meeting last night on behalf of the Arboretum for doing such a great job of painting eggs for their upcoming Cirque Du Soleil promotion. Suzanne started out with 100 plain tan eggs, and as of last evening, only two were not yet decorated!
As artist Priscilla Humay pointed out after her awesome presentation last evening (thank you, Priscilla!), the Nature Artists’ Guild really does have one of the best settings in the Chicagoland area for an artists’ group. The Morton Arboretum provides us with inspiring subject matter, a wonderful and helpful staff, quality instruction and promotion, and facilities for our workshops, shows and meetings that are not only modern and comfortable, but historic and absolutely beautiful!
Sometimes it takes someone outside of the group to notice what we may take for granted. So, thank you Morton Arboretum for everything you do for our group, and any time you need help in painting a hundred or so eggs, we’ll be glad to do it!
You are invited to stop by this Thursday evening before our formal Nature Artists’ Guild meeting to paint an egg or two for Cirque du Soleil. There will be paints available in Thornhill, Room C from 5-7 pm.
Priscilla Humay is a talented, established artist, who will be sharing some of the inspiration and techniques behind the creation of her colored-pencil landscapes at the June 2, 2011 meeting of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum, from 7 to 9 pm.
Priscilla’s artwork is included in numerous private and corporate collections, as well as the Bauhaus Archive in Germany, the Chicago Historical Society, and the University of Illinois archives. Priscilla also participates in and receives awards in such high profile shows as the CPSA International Exhibition.
Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology and Charles University, Prague, Priscilla’s art has been featured in numerous publications, including the Best of Colored Pencil III and V.
Some may know Priscilla as a Visiting Artist Instructor at The Morton Arboretum. She is also a Certificate Program Instructor at the Chicago Botanic Garden, as well as the Peninsula Art School in Door County, WI and the Art Center in Highland Park. Priscilla serves as creator and instructor of a host of her own workshops, including those entitled “ Introductory Plein Aire Colored Pencil”, “The Aerial Landscape – Clouds”, “Drawing the Color of Summer”, and “Land, Sky and In-between”.
Visit Priscilla’s website, www.humayfineart.com to preview her vibrant, rhythmic landscapes and then join us for an enjoyable and informative evening with Priscilla!
