Deer Morning, copyright Marybeth Devine. Click on the image above for a quick look at 2023 or scroll through this website for all the posts and images.
The Nature Artists’ Guild bids farewell to 2023 with fond memories of programs, paint-outs, parties, exhibits, and the friendship and support of fellow artists.
The Guild would like to welcome first-time and returning members to new opportunities to explore and share the appreciation of nature through art in 2024!
Of course, nearly 100 years after this photo was taken, comfortable painting clothes, a warm drink, and a folding chair might be more appropriate for those members of the Nature Artists’ Guild meeting at the lovely Lake Marmo at The Morton Arboretum for a paint-out on Wednesday, October 4, 2023 beginning at 9:30 am.
Guild members can register here to be added to an email list to receive details and updates about the paint-out. Those who would rather just stop by might have to look around for their fellow artists (who may or may not be wearing berets) scattered around the lake.
This paint-out at Lake Marmo would be a great opportunity for Nature Artists’ Guild members to find inspiration or complete a drawing or painting for this fall’s Joy’s Vision special display at the Sterling Morton Library.
Important Reminder– the final day for members to register for the 2023 Autumn Nature Art Exhibit is October 7, 2023. Guild members were emailed a link to the prospectus and online registration form in recent weeks.
It should be a work of art … In short, it should be a beautiful place, affecting one like a beautiful painting.
O.C. Simonds
The creation of Lake Marmo (named after Joy Morton’s wife, Margaret Morton) at The Morton Arboretum began in the autumn of 1922 with crews using teams of mules and dredges to widen and deepen a small tributary of the DuPage River. Working with those crews was renowned landscape designer O.C. Simonds, who believed that an arboretum should be more than a museum of trees. He wrote that it should also be a “work of art … like a beautiful painting.”
Just over one hundred years later, at 9:30 on the morning of Wednesday, October 4, 2023 (rain date October 11), Nature Artists’ Guild members will meet at Lake Marmo to attempt to capture the stunning autumn colors of the lake, sky, and surrounding landscape in their own “beautiful paintings,” drawings, or photographs. Members can register here to be added to the email list for paint-out details and updates.
This paint-out would be a wonderful opportunity for Guild members to find inspiration for the special exhibit of 8 x 8 small works, Joy’s Vision, at the Sterling Morton Library during the 2023 Autumn Nature Art Exhibit.
For the Nature Artists’ Guild, the unofficial beginning of autumn will be this week, when the prospectus for November’s Nature Art Exhibit at The Morton Arboretum is emailed to all members.
The Guild is pleased to announce that the Featured Artist for the 2023 Autumn Nature Art Exhibit will be Joe Rizzo (much more about Joe and his work to come soon). The exhibit will include more than 200 works of nature art by approximately 50 members of the Nature Artists’ Guild. The exhibit postcard and posters, as well as many more details, will be coming soon.
Also coming this autumn –
A paint-out at the gardens at Cantigny is scheduled for Wednesday, September 6, beginning at 9:30 am. The gardens will still be blooming and beautiful for this event. All members are welcome to stop by any time that morning, but by registering here, they can be added to an email list for details and updates. There will be no charge for admission or parking for the paint-out.
A paint-out at Lake Marmo at The Morton Arboretum has been tentatively planned for October 4 at 9:30 am. Lake Marmo and its surroundings will be displaying the colors of fall and attendees might find inspiration to participate in the Joy’s Vision special display. A registration form for the paint-out and more details to come soon.
The Visiting Artist Workshop: Conceptual Landscapes in Watercolor with Bryce Lafferty on October 6, 7, and 8, 2023 at The Morton Arboretum is being co-sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild. (Guild members can receive an additional discount by registering by phone and confirming their membership.) Bryce will also be doing a presentation, free and open to all, on October 5, 2023 from 7 to 9 pm at the Arboretum’s Thornhill Education Center. More details to come soon.
Wednesday morning gatherings,Art and Coffee, will continue each week throughout autumn (except for the days with paint-outs scheduled). Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild and their guests are welcome to stop by the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum between 9 and 11 am to chat, sketch, or enjoy a quiet morning in beautiful surroundings.
Colonel Robert McCormick (for whom Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center is named) was editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune for 44 years and the creator of “an important media empire, Tribune Company, which grew from a single newspaper to a media giant.” Cantigny Park, his 500-acre former estate, was bequeathed by Colonel McCormick as a “public space for education and recreation.”
In 1967, [famed landscape architect Franz] Lipp began construction of this lush, horticultural masterpiece, which is one of the largest display gardens in the Midwest with more than 160,000 annuals, perennials, ground covers and flowering shrubs and trees. – Cantigny.org
At 9:30 on the morning of Wednesday, September 6, members of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum will meet to explore Cantigny’s Gardens with their cameras, sketchbooks, canvases, paints, and pencils. Included are a rose garden, logarium, hosta garden, idea garden, rock and gravel gardens, and display gardens. Sculptures, fountains, waterfalls, small streams, ponds, and natural areas are also part of this vast estate, all available for the artists to enjoy.
It is Ball Horticultural Company’s mission to be the world leader in the research, breeding, production and marketing of ornamental crops.
BallHort.com
This Thursday morning, August 10, 2023, beginning at 9:30, members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will have the opportunity to spend a few hours enjoying the spectacular display gardens of Ball Horticultural.
“What began as a row trial garden for seed varieties in 1933 has grown to encompass over 9 acres of display beds for annuals, perennials, cut flowers and vegetables, including the newest plants from the industry’s leading breeders and marketers.” Ball’s “global family of breeders, research and development teams, suppliers, and distribution companies has a strong presence on six continents in 20 countries.”
On the following Thursday, August 10, 2023, members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will meet at the Gardens at Ball at 9:30 am for a few hours of drawing, painting, and photographing some of the colorful offerings of the display gardens of Ball Horticultural, one of the world’s largest seed and plant distributors. Guild members can register here and receive details and updates.
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild (and those who would like to learn more about the Guild) are invited to drop by the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum for Art and Coffee on Wednesday mornings beginning at 9 to sketch or chat. The light is incredible and the views are lovely.
Jane Kellenberger will begin work in the coming weeks for the autumn issue of the the Guild’s members-only publication, the Quarterly. Members will receive an email soon with instructions for submitting photos and articles, due by August 1, 2023.
The Gardens at Ball have been the evaluation and testing grounds for the world’s wealth of horticultural introductions and improvements for over 80 years. What began as a row trial garden for seed varieties in 1933 has grown to encompass over 9 acres of display beds for annuals, perennials, cut flowers and vegetables
Ball Horticultural, ballhort.com/GardensAtBall
Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum have the opportunity to spend a lovely morning at the Gardens at Ball on Thursday, August 10, 2023, beginning at 9:30, to paint, draw, sketch, or photograph some of the wonderful flowers (or vegetables) at their peak.
Interested Guild members can register here to reserve a spot and be added to the email list for more details and updates about this paint-out.
The Gerald T. Donnelly Grand Garden at The Morton Arboretum was completed last year in celebration of the Arboretum’s 100th anniversary.
Already, the garden is evolving from a space containing mostly physical structures, including pergolas, benches, waterfalls, and a fountain, to a peaceful and lush area with a variety of lovely trees, flowers, and shrubs.
The Grand Garden will continue to develop each year, and the Nature Artists’ Guild has an opportunity to visit on July 12, 2023 from 9:30 until noon(rain date, if necessary, July 13) to capture in photos, pencil, ink, paint, or pastels, some of this year’s beauty.
Members of the Guild who would like to spend a morning with fellow members at this paint-out at the Grand Garden can register by clicking here and receive further details and updates from coordinator Celia Rodee.
The Nature Artists’ Guild begins the season with gatherings and events to celebrate the special sights, sounds, and scents (as well as textures and tastes) of summer.
The exhibit at the McCord Gallery continues through July 7, 2023. More than 30 unique works of nature art created by Guild members adorn the walls of this historic gallery.
A paint-out at the recently opened Grand Garden of The Morton Arboretum has been planned for the morning of Wednesday, July 12, 2023 (rain date July 13). Interested members can register here and be added to the attendee list to receive email details and updates.
The August 3, 2023 program (open to all) sponsored by the Guild will feature multi-talented artist John Fleck from 7 until 9 pm. John will be sharing his methods and materials for creating landscapes in charcoal. More details to come soon.
The Nature Artists’ Guild will have an information table in the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum during it’s popular annual Wine and Art Walk on August 19 and 20, 2023.
Weekly Art and Coffee gatherings continue every Wednesday morning (except on days of paint-outs) at the Visitor Center of The Morton Arboretum from 9 to 11:30. Members and guests are welcome to stop by and chat, sketch, or simply enjoy the quiet morning in a lovely atmosphere.