Yellow-rumped Warbler, copyright Alex Warnick. Used with permission.
The Nature Artists’ Guild is excited to sponsor a presentation by renowned natural history artist Alex Warnickat theThornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretumtonight, March 5, 2020 from 7 until 9 pm. This event is open to all and free-of-charge for parking, admission, and entrance to the Arboretum.Artists, birders, and nature enthusiasts are all welcome to attend! Visitors should let the gate attendant at the Arboretum know that they are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild program to be admitted and directed to Thornhill.
Please visit AlexWarnick.com to learn more about Alex and view images of her stunning artwork.
Coming up in March for members of the Nature Artists’ Guild –
Eastern Towhee, copyright Alex Warnick. Used with permission.
Monday, March 2, 2020 is the last day for members to mail their completed prospectuses for the 2020 Spring Exhibit of Natural History Art. The link for the prospectus was sent out to all members by e-mail last month. New members, please don’t hesitate to participate. The Guild is a supportive, non-competitive organization that values the contributions of nature artists at all skill levels. Beginners to professionals, we welcome you all!
Thursday, March 5, 2020 is the date of a very special program sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum from 7 until 9 pm. Visiting ArtistAlex Warnick will be sharing some thoughts about her exquisite paintings and illustrations of birds and her adventures in birding. This event is open to all and free-of-charge. Members are encouraged to invite their fellow artists, birders, and nature lovers to this presentation. Details are in this previous post.
On Saturday, March 7, 2020 a repeat of last month’s Round Table Paint-In event will take place at Thornhill beginning at 1 pm. Members should contact Linn Eldred if they’d like to participate. Linn’s contact information is included in the February 19 e-mail sent to members. All supplies will be provided, and there is no cost to attend this fun and creative event.
A fundraising workshop has been scheduled for Saturday, March 28, 2020 at the Thornhill Education Center. Supplies will be provided for Nature Artists’ Guild members who wish to participate by painting canvases to be sold at the Spring Exhibit as a fundraiser. Fundraising workshops are a great place to get to know and enjoy some time with fellow Guild members. Update – This event has been postponed until a date to be determined.
Oh how we miss seeing these birds flitting from branch to branch or hopping among the leaves. It won’t be long before they’re back, and Alex Warnick’s wonderful watercolor paintings give us a preview of what the next few months will bring.
On Thursday evening, March 5, 2020, the Nature Artists’ Guild’s program will feature guest artist Alex Warnick and her watercolor paintings and illustrations of birds at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum from 7 until 9 pm. Alex has been drawing and painting birds since she fell in love with them as a little girl. Her expert ability in capturing the intricacies of both the birds and their habitats in her work has earned her awards and partnerships from all over the world, and she is currently working on a field guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Please visit Alex’s website to enjoy much more of her work as well as some fascinating video and podcast interviews.
Alex’s workshop at the Arboretum, Visiting Artist: Capturing Birds in Watercolor sold out quickly, but her presentation on March 5 is open to the all, free-of-charge. Anyone with an interest in birds, art, or nature is welcome to attend. Visitors should let the gate attendant know they are there for the program to be admitted and directed to Thornhill. There is no charge for parking or admission to the Arboretum for this event.
The Nature Artists’ Guild is excited to sponsor a program featuring artist Julie Sutter-Blair on the evening of Thursday, February 6, 2020 from 7 until 9 pm at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum. Julie’s “passion is found in the natural world and the rituals of everyday life” and her wonderful prints and drawings certainly reflect that passion.
Heart Matters, colored pencil and graphite, copyright Julie Sutter-Blair. Used with permission.
Julie’s upcoming workshop in colored pencil and graphite at the Arboretum on February 7 and 8, 2020, Visiting Artist: Expressions of Winter with Julie Sutter-Blairquickly sold out. Happily, Julie has agreed to share some of her artwork, inspirations, and a few tips and techniques with members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, their guests, and visitors on Thursday evening.
This program is open to the public. Non-members of the Nature Artists’ Guild or The Morton Arboretum can let the gate attendant at the Arboretum know they are there for the program to be admitted and directed to Thornhill. Entry to the Arboretum, admission to the program, and parking will be free-of-charge for this event. Please click on the image or one of the highlighted links to see more of Julie’s stunning work.
By the time Laverne Bohlin returns to Illinois and The Morton Arboretum in the first week of October, there will be plenty of views similar to the one she has portrayed in her stunning Autumn’s Song, above. Autumn is one of the best times of the year for artists to attempt to capture some of the beauty of nature, and Laverne will be sharing some of her techniques for doing so in soft pastel.
On Thursday, October 3, 2019, from 7 to 9 pm, Laverne will give a presentation, sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild, at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum. Tips, techniques, materials, subject matter and inspirations will be touched upon in the program, and guests will be able to ask questions and get a close-up look at some of Laverne’s luminous artwork. This program is open to all, free-of-charge. Visitors and guests should let the gate attendant at Arboretum know they are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild meeting to be directed to Thornhill.
Laverne Bohlin’s pastel supplies and pastel painting in progress.
For those who want to learn even more about painting with soft pastels, Laverne will also be teaching a weekend workshop, Fall Landscapes in Pastel, at the ArboretumonSaturday and Sunday, October 5th and 6th, 2019. The workshop will take place indoors and out, with the changing colors of nature as inspiration. Beginning and intermediate artists are welcome, but some experience working with pastels would be helpful. The workshop is open to all interested, and there is no requirement for membership in the Nature Artists’ Guild or The Morton Arboretum, although Arboretum members will receive a discounted registration fee. Please click on the above image or highlighted link for more details, to review the supply list, or to enroll in the workshop.
The next program sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild is only one week away, on Thursday evening, August 1, 2019 from 7 until 9 pm at The Morton Arboretum. This program will feature three stations with different types of artwork being done at each. Please click on this link to read more.
All fans of nature and art are welcome to attend, free-of-charge.
Autumn Prairie, pen and ink, copyright Nancy Kolar.
Full Wolf Blood Moon, copyright Arlene Widrevitz
Thistle, copyright Jill Adzia
Please click on any of the images for larger versions and artist names.
Each August, the Nature Artists’ Guild invites three of its members to share tips and techniques for creating artwork in “new” (or sometimes ancient) ways. This annual program is open to all and free of charge for parking, admission, and entry to The Morton Arboretum. Members, guests, and visitors are welcome to attend on Thursday, August 1, 2019 from 7 until 9 pm. There will be light refreshments and door prizes. There is no membership requirement for either the Arboretum or the Nature Artists’ Guild for this event. Visitors should let the gate attendant at the Arboretum’s main entrance know they are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild program to be admitted and directed to the Thornhill Education Center.
The Arbor Room room in Thornhill will be set up into three different stations. The audience will divide into three casual groups and visit each station for approximately 20 minutes to listen, watch, and ask questions (and occasionally participate) and then move to the next (or stay at the same place if so inspired). It is a fun and informative event and a great opportunity to meet other artists and learn some new techniques.
At one of the stations, Jill Adzia will be sharing her tips and techniques for working with scratchboard, including the use of color to create stunning pieces.
Pileated Woodpecker, copyright Jill Adzia
Scratchboard artwork, copyright Jill Adzia
Thistle, copyright Jill Adzia
At another station, Arlene Widrevitz will discuss her adventures in the ancient art of Mokuhanga, Japanese woodblock printing.
Fritillaria, work in progress, copyright Arlene Widrevitz
Shingle Urchins, copyright Arlene Widrevitz
Full Wolf Blood Moon, copyright Arlene Widrevitz
At the third station, members of the Nature Artists’ Guild who participated in the 2019 Summer Encounter led by Evelyn Grala will be exhibiting their completed “progressive” artwork at the third station. These examples by Nancy Kolar show the progression towards the finished piece.
Autumn Prairie Part 2, copyright Nancy Kolar
Autumn Prairie Part 4, copyright Nancy Kolar
Autumn Prairie Part 6, copyright Nancy Kolar
Autumn Prairie Part 7, copyright Nancy Kolar
Autumn Prairie, pen and ink, copyright Nancy Kolar.
Probably the liveliest treasure of Chicago’s Field Museum is their Artist-In-Residence, Peggy Macnamara, who will share some of her art and inspirations this evening with New Directions at the Thornhill Education Center of The Morton Arboretum from 7 until 9 pm. This program, sponsored by the Nature Artists’ Guild, is open to the public, free-of-charge. Please click here for more information. Here are some images of Peggy’s artwork, books, and previous presentations.
She’s extremely talented, yes, but she’s also interesting and funny and kind. The Nature Artists’ Guild would like to invite all who are interested in nature or art to attend a presentation by Peggy Macnamara on June 6, 2019, from 7 until 9 pm. Peggy is calling this presentation New Directions, and we are intrigued! Please take a moment to visit Peggy’s website or do an internet search to find videos, interviews, books, and photos of Peggy and her artwork. It will be time well spent.
This program is open to the public and there is no charge to attend, no fees for parking, and no admission fee to The Morton Arboretum for the event. Please click on this link to a previous post for more details.
Light refreshments will be available, and copies of some of Peggy’s books will be given away as door prizes.
“I never knew about the wildlife painting community because I came from the snobby art-history world,” says Peggy Macnamara (peggymacnamara.com). A noted nature painter for The Field Museum in Chicago, she found her vocation by serendipity: “I had too many kids at home, and I needed a studio space.”
The museum was close to her home, so she would go there to practice her craft. After about 10 years, she was asked to create paintings for the museum. She’s been there for 35 years now, and her work helps to draw attention to wildlife conservancy.
“[Nature is] much more magical than it appears at first,” she says. “We miss most of it. We miss the magic.”
Macnamara’s colorful art helps us find it. Her paintings are used in publications and museum presentations.
THE POWER OF ART
Peggy Macnamara is also a teacher.
“I see a lot of people afraid to jump into painting and drawing,” she says. “They think God’s gotta drop out of the sky and invite them. And there’s much more talent out there that never gets brought to the front because people don’t like to sit and do the work.”
But it goes beyond simple work. “What I would love is more people to see [creating art] as a form of meditation,” Macnamara explains. She tells her students to “slow down and observe something perfectly made. That’s a wonderful activity.” –Steve Fisher
