Category: Member Artwork

For a Taste of Spring

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For a welcome taste of spring, the Nature Artists’ Guild gladly shares some artwork by Susan Bartlett, the Featured Artist of the 2018 Spring Exhibition of Natural History Art.  Please click on the above highlighted link or the Featured Artist Susan Bartlett tab to read more about Susan and to view a sample of the work she will be featuring at the exhibit on the weekend of April 7 and 8, 2018 and at a reception for artists, guests and members of The Morton Arboretum on the evening of April 6.

The exhibit will include nearly 150 pieces of artwork by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum. Check back soon for more details.

Copyright Susan Bartlett

Plenty Coming Up!

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Some of the activities and events coming up for the Nature Artists’ Guild –

  • The annual paint-out at Orchids by Hausermann will take place next Tuesday, February 6, 2018.  Sorry, but all the spots at this popular paint-out have already been reserved.
  • Artist Dale Olsen will bring his talents and his artwork to the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum on Thursday, March 1, 2018 from 7 until 9 pm.  For a sneak peek at Dale’s stunning work, please visit his website by clicking here.  Visitors are welcome to attend this event, which is sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild, free-of-charge at The Morton Arboretum.
  • The next  paint-out at Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum will take place on Tuesday, March 20, 2018 from 9-12 am.  There will be room for all of our members at this one!  More information to come soon.
  • The prospectus for the 2018 Annual Spring Exhibition of Natural History Art has been sent to members.  The exhibit, scheduled for the weekend of April 7 and 8, 2018 (with a reception on the evening of April 6, 2018) will feature up to 150 works of art by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, as well as numerous works by Featured Artist, Susan Bartlett.  Check back in the following weeks for more about Susan and her art.

    Susan Bartlett’s collage in progress. Constructed from Susan’s hand-painted paper.

Nature Artists’ Guild Exhibit in Downers Grove Concludes Next Week

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Anyone who happens to be in the Southwest Suburbs this weekend might want to stop by the Downers Grove Public Library for an enjoyable stroll through the January exhibit of art by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild.

I Like Ducks, copyright Evelyn Grala. Photo credit Downers Grove Public Library.

The Downers Grove Public Library has both permanent and rotating art exhibits year-round, but the Nature Artists’ Guild exhibit ends on January 31, 2018.  The exhibit and parking are free and open during library hours.  This is a wonderful chance to view a variety of styles of nature art in different media by talented artists.

Artists, experienced or beginning, still have time to join the Nature Artists’ Guild and be eligible to receive a prospectus for the next exhibit at The Morton Arboretum in April, 2018, which will feature more than 100 works by our members and is expected to be attended by nearly 1000 visitors over the weekend.  Please click here or on the Membership Brochure tab above to read more.

Fall into Winter Encounter Second Phase Begins

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Please click on this link or the Member Artwork tab above to view the first contributions to the Fall into Winter Encounter gallery. Participating Nature Artists’ Guild members spent time each week in the autumn collecting items, photos or sketches from nature. The winter phase of this project is to create a montage each week or one final montage using some or all of these collections.  Please check back each week for more artwork.

Copyright Fran Kelly

Beginning the New Year

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Whether your priority for the upcoming year is to make more art, to learn new techniques, or simply to view more art or make new friends, the Nature Artists’ Guild has it covered.  There is still time to join or renew, and since memberships are for the calendar year, the sooner you join, the more benefit you’ll receive from your membership.

Here are a few of the activities coming up in the next month or so –

  • The Nature Artists’ Guild is proud to present their first exhibit of the year at the Downers Grove Public Library.  This lovely collection of members’ work will be open to the public throughout the month of January during regular library hours.
  • On Thursday evening, February 1, 2018,  between 7 and 9 pm, Susan Waldron will give a presentation at the Thornhill Education Center on her techniques for creating floral and landscape paintings in oil as well as in fiber made from, if you can believe it, the wool from her own herd of alpacas!  Guests and visitors are also welcome to attend this program free-of-charge.  More details will be coming soon, but please visit Susan’s website for a preview of her work (and her alpacas).
  • The first paint-out of the year is scheduled for Tuesday morning, February 6, 2018 from 8 until 11 am at Orchids by Hausermann in Villa Park, IL.
    Copyright Jane Kellenberger.

    This popular paint-out (think tropical weather and being surrounded by thousands of orchids) has limited space and fills up quickly, so interested Guild members should contact Jane Kellenberger to save a spot.  Jane’s contact information can be found in the Yearbook.

  • New classes and workshops start soon at The Morton Arboretum.  Some upcoming nature art classes include Rocks, Minerals and Bones in Colored Pencil with Kimberly Mullarkey, Jewelry Making: Winter Berries Necklace with Karen Johnson, Linoleum Block Printing Workshop with Carrie Carlson, and Advanced Textures in Graphite and Watercolor and Nature in Graphite with Suzanne Wegener.  For those just starting out, Beginner’s Nature Art Workshops: Winter Foliage in Graphite and Begin to Draw Nature are scheduled for late February and early March.  All classes are open to the public and a discount is offered for members of The Morton Arboretum.  Please click on this link to the Arboretum’s class listings for more information or to enroll.
  • It won’t be long before we begin to post montages from those Nature Artists’ Guild members who are participating in the Fall into Winter Encounter.  It will be exciting to see the results of weeks of collecting and creating!

Please check back here soon or click on any of the highlighted links for more about these and other upcoming activities.

The Fall Into Winter Encounter is Underway

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Participants in the Nature Artists’ Guild’s Fall into Winter Encounter have been busy outdoors this autumn collecting nuts, leaves, twigs, pine cones, berries, feathers, and other natural treasures and stashing them away in boxes or bags, as well as taking photos and making sketches.

At the start of the new year, out come the treasures, the paints, the pencils, the canvases, the paper, the sketches, and the photographs as the artists begin creating.  Participants will be creating one montage per week for the following six weeks, or if they choose, one grand montage using all their collected materials. According to Merriam-Webster, “montage” can be defined as an “artistic composite of juxtaposed more or less heterogeneous elements”.

Beginning in January 2018, photos of completed montages will be posted on this website in the Member Artwork section.  There is still time for industrious members of the Guild to participate by catching up with the collecting phase before the creating phase begins.  Those interested can sign up by contacting Evelyn Grala, whose contact information can be found in the Yearbook.  Evelyn will continue to send informational and encouraging e-mails to participants throughout the project.

Montage, copyright Paulette McDermott

Nature Artists’ Guild Fundraiser for Autumn 2017 Features Original Art on Ceramic

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Here are just a few examples of decorative ceramic plates created by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum at a recent workshop.  These unique original plates will sold for $20 each at the upcoming 2017 Nature Artists’ Guild Holiday Exhibition of Natural History Art. Sales will be on a “first-come, first-serve” basis throughout the exhibit, including at the opening reception.  No pre-sales can be arranged.  All proceeds will go to the Nature Artists’ Guild to be used towards fulfilling their mission.

Please click on the above highlighted links to learn more the Nature Artists’ Guild, the workshop, and the exhibit.  Thank you to Arlene Widrevitz for the photos.

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2017 Annual Autumn (Holiday) Exhibit of Natural History Art Invitation

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Please share this invitation with friends and family!  Printed versions of the postcard as well as the exhibit poster will be available at the October 5, 2017 Nature Artists’ Guild meeting at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum, or at the Thornhill office afterwards. Thank you to Featured Artist Peggy McGahan for the artwork and to Evelyn Grala for the design of the poster and postcard.

The exhibition is free and open to all visitors to the Arboretum.  A printed ticket or invitation is not required for entry into the exhibit.