Category: Programs

Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will be welcoming Spring a bit early this year, with Botanical Artist Beverly Behrens on Thursday, March 6, 2014, from 7 until 9 pm, at Thornhill.

Beverly uses graphite, pen and ink, and watercolor to create lovely works of art from the garden and from the wild.   Beverly’s presentation for the Nature Artists’ Guild, Prairie Trails and Country Garden Watercolors will  take us on a tour of her life from “early years on the western prairie of South Dakota to today and the Middlefork Savanna of Illinois”. We will also be treated to a glimpse of Beverly’s layered watercolor technique.

Beverly is a member of numerous art organizations, the recipient of many awards, and is represented by galleries in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff.  Please visit her website, countrygardenwatercolors.com to view some of her wonderful work.

We look forward to sharing the evening with Beverly and her artwork!  As always, guests and visitors are welcome to attend.  There is no charge for admission.

Please click on any image below to enlarge.  All artwork is copyrighted by Beverly Behrens and is used with permission.

Sunflower, ©Beverly Behrens, Used With Permission

Red Bud, ©Beverly Behrens, Used With Permission

Muscadet Lily, ©Beverly Behrens, Used With Permission

Milkweed, ©Beverly Behrens, Used With Permission

Middlefork Savanna – Summer, ©Beverly Behrens, Used With Permission

The Nature Artists’ Guild of the Morton Arboretum welcomes Landscape and Nature Artist Robert Pennor as our first presenter of the year on Thursday, February 6, 2014 from 7 pm until 9 pm.

Robert will be sharing some of his techniques for creating beautiful landscape, animal and nature scenes in acrylic.  A graduate of the Art Institute of Boston, Robert spent many years working as a graphic designer and illustrator in New York and Connecticut.  He now lives in the Chicago area and devotes his creative energy to painting the landscape and nature.  Robert is a member of the Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society, and is represented by the Brigantine Gallery in Downers Grove, IL.

Please visit Robert Pennor’s website, robertpennorgallery.com to view some his wonderful work.

As always, guests and visitors are welcome to join us.  The program is free of charge and the gate attendant at The Morton Arboretum will direct you to the correct location.  We look forward to seeing you there!

The October 3, 2013 meeting  of The Nature Artists’ Guild will take place at the Sterling Morton Library from 7 until 9 pm, where Library Collections Manager, Rita Hassert and Art Collections Assistant (and Nature Artists’ Guild member), Arlene Widrevitz will be donning their white cotton gloves to present us with a selection of artwork from the Sterling Morton Library’s rare print collection.

Tony Tyznik, Artist and Landscape Architect for The Morton Arboretum for over forty years, will also be joining us to speak about his experiences in creating his amazing pen and ink illustrations on the grounds of the arboretum.

Please click on the following links to find out more about the Sterling Morton Library’s rare print collection, to see a sample of Mr. Tyznik’s artwork, and to read more about Mr. Tyznik.

• Link to Sterling Morton Library website
• Link to sample of Tony Tyznik’s artwork
• Link to short biography and statement by Mr. Tyznik
• Link to article about Mr. Tyznik’s career at The Morton Arboretum

As always, guests and visitors are welcome, and the program and parking are free.  Please tell the gate attendant that you are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild Program, and they can direct you to the library.

Update – The program was a resounding success.  We had a full house at Sterling Morton Library, and although Arlene and Rita did wonderful presentations, the “star of the show” was definitely Mr. Tony Tyznik.  He kept us captivated with his charming stories and generously allowed his drawing tools and artwork to be shared for close-up views.  A recurring theme in Mr. Tyznik’s narrative was his gratitude towards those mentors throughout his life, from his early teachers to Suzette Morton, who encouraged him in his artistic path.

On August 1, 2013, from 7 pm until 9 pm at Thornhill, three members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will share their inspirations and techniques with us.

Attendees will divide into three smaller groups, which will rotate through the three presentations. This gives us all a great opportunity to get closer looks, ask more questions, and engage with the artists in a way not possible with a larger group. The three talented artists who will be generously sharing their talents with us are –

Jane Doherty – Western Marbling

Karen Johnson – Polymer Clay Patterns: Botanicals and Insects

Ed Cook – Landscapes

Please join us for what promises to be a fun, inspirational and educational meeting! Guests and visitors are welcome.  Visitors,  please just let the attendant at The Morton Arboretum gate know that you are there for the Nature Artists’ Guild meeting.

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We had a great time at the meeting last evening!  Our presenter, the wonderful Peggy Macnamara wowed us with her paintings, and her hilarious stories left us both entertained and encouraged.   Thank you, Peggy!  We will be sure to let everyone know when Peggy’s book-signing at The Morton Arboretum is scheduled.

We would also like to thank all of the guests that attended!  We hope you enjoyed the program and will consider returning.  We’d love to have you as a member of the Nature Artists’ Guild, so that you would have the chance to not only attend programs, but to participate in paint-outs, exhibitions, workshops and social events.  Please click the Membership Application tab above for more details.  Artists of all levels of ability are welcome.

Photographs are courtesy of Kathy Wagner, and all artwork is the property of Peggy Macnamara.

Wonderful, talented and fun artist and teacher Peggy Macnamara, will be joining us for a demonstration, a discussion, and a book-signing on June 6, 2013 from 7 until 9 pm.   Peggy’s latest book,  The Art of Migration:  Birds, Insects and the Changing Seasons in Chicagoland  is not scheduled for release until early July,  but if you already have any of her other three books, please bring your copy to the meeting for Peggy’s signature.

Peggy is the Artist in Residence and has eighteen of her works on permanent display at the Field Museum, is a Professor at the Chicago Art Institute, and is the author of four books.  Many members of the Nature Artists’ Guild know Peggy as a favorite instructor in the Botanical Illustration program at The Morton Arboretum, as well as a wonderful  source of inspiration.

This would also be a great opportunity to invite friends and fellow artists who are not currently members of the Nature Artists’ Guild to one of our programs.  We know they’ll enjoy it!

Please visit Peggy’s website at www.peggymacnamara.com to learn more about Peggy, as well as to view photos and videos of Peggy and her artwork.

Our first program of the new year will feature award-winning artist Scott Harding.  Scott works primarily in oil, but is also well-versed in pencil, watercolor, pastel and intaglio printing.   His work is described as “realistic, with an impressionistic touch”, and covers a wide range of subject matter.

Scott’s work has been featured in numerous galleries and one-man shows, and has won awards in several national competitions.  His art is included in many private and corporate collections around the world.

Please join us on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 7 pm at Thornhill  for what promises to be a fascinating evening with this talented artist as he discusses the challenges and joys of creating his work and his fascination with “the effects of light on the world around us”. 

You can read more about Scott and see examples of his stunning artwork on his website by clicking here.

On October 4, 2012 ,  the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum welcomes Heeyoung Kim, presenting the “Science of Watercolor Brushstrokes” at the Thornhill Education Center from 7 to 9 pm.

As Heeyoung explains,

Painting watercolor botanicals on hot-pressed watercolor paper is quite different from other types of watercolor paintings. It requires extreme control over the amount of water and brush strokes. It is all about the interacting process of water, paint, and paper, which can be explained scientifically, but in a very simple way.  The only or main tool for this whole process is the brush and the artist is the facilitator, in my personal point of view, who should create the best working environment for the tool and media. Working with transparent watercolor on hot-pressed watercolor paper is so sensitive that every single brush stroke is seen through or affects the next steps. Therefore, understanding how the brush works is critical in creating successful watercolor botanical paintings.

Botanical artist and instructor Heeyoung Kim was the gold medal winner of the Royal Horticultural Society London Botanical Art Exhibition in March, 2012.  She has shown her works in ASBA/HSNY International Juried Botanical Art Exhibitions (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 – Honorable Mentions Award, 2010, Award of Merit, 2011), 13^th Hunt International (2010), and Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World (2009-2011).  You can view more of Heeyoung’s beautiful artwork on her website, prairieplantart.com.