Category: Volunteer

Exciting Evening this Thursday for Nature Artists’ Guild!

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As if watching three talented artists create beautiful artwork wasn’t enough, Nature Artists’ Guild members have a few other new opportunities awaiting them at this Thursday’s (August 6, 2015) meeting.

  • Nature Artists’ Guild members will have the opportunity to choose some lovely books to purchase from a collection of over sixty, donated by artist and member Margo Heald. The collection includes art instruction books, coffee table books, art history books, and each book will be deeply discounted.  All proceeds will go towards the Nature Artists’ Guild’s general fund and only cash or checks can be accepted as payment (no credit cards, please).  Thank you, Margo!
  • The Nature Artists’ Guild 2015 Holiday Exhibition is not too far away (can you believe it?), and will include a brand new type of fundraiser.
    Photo credit Dick Blick
    Photo credit Dick Blick

    At this Thursday’s meeting, twenty of our members will have the opportunity to bring home a small canvas that they can paint, decoupage, or embellish in almost any way, as long as the finished product reflects the beauty of nature. These canvases will be hung together in a wonderful mosaic-like fashion at the upcoming exhibit, and each sold for a set price (to be announced at the meeting).  First come, first serve!  All proceeds will go to the Nature Artists’ Guild.

  • As always, guests and visitors are welcome to attend this Nature Artists’ Guild presentation (click here to read more about the event). Admission and parking are free, and visitors need only let the gate attendant at The Morton Arboretum know that they are there to attend the Nature Artists’ Guild program.

The 2014 Nature Artists’ Guild Scarecrow is Sure To Bring a Smile!

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The planning meeting for the 2014 Nature Artists’ Guild’s contribution to The Morton Arboretum’s annual Scarecrow Trail went very well, with all kinds of creative ideas bouncing around.  The winning idea is to construct not an actual scarecrow, but a portrait of a scarecrow, in a very recognizable pose!

Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to show up to Room A of Thornhill, next Saturday morning, September 13, 2014, between 9 am and noon to help with the construction.  Most of the work will involve painting with acrylics, so wear some old clothes and bring your old tubes or jars of acrylic paint and large brushes if you have them.  If you don’t have any, please come anyway, as there will surely be extra supplies.

If you have any questions or want more details about this fun project, please contact Patty Koenigsaecker.  Members will find Patty’s contact information in their Yearbook.

You can view some of our previous scarecrows (such as Betty Birdwatcher, Patty Painter, Suzy Sketcher) by typing in the word “scarecrow” in the Search box in the right column of this blog.

2014 Nature Artists' Guild Scarecrow. Drawing by Patty Koenigsaecker.
2014 Nature Artists’ Guild Scarecrow. Drawing by Patty Koenigsaecker.

Busy Betty Birdwatcher

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There are just a few more days left to visit “Betty Birdwatcher”on the Scarecrow Trail at the Morton Arboretum.  You can find Betty just outside the door of the Visitor’s Center, at the beginning of the one-mile path around Meadow Lake, and will recognize her by her Nature Artists’ Guild t-shirt.

Betty, created by members of the Nature Artists’ Guild,  will be watching her birds until the end of October, and you can visit the trail between 7 am and sunset.

Betty Birdwatcher, photo credit Kathy Wagner
Betty Birdwatcher, photo credit Kathy Wagner

Betty Birdwatcher Needs Your Help!

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This year’s annual Nature Artists’ Guild contribution to the “Scarecrow Trail” at The Morton Arboretum is almost ready for her debut. Betty Birdwatcher will be sporting a spiffy Nature Artists’ Guild t-shirt, a lovely skirt, and her bandanna and hat will be a great help in protecting her from the sun.

Betty’s bird-watching field guide is in her hand, so all she needs now is an old pair of broken binoculars (or an inexpensive pair of toy ones) and a large bird to keep her company as she sets out to spot and sketch the many birds of The Morton Arboretum.

Betty and Friends
Betty and Friends

If you can help her out with either of those items, please contact Suzanne Wegener, our Arboretum liaison, whose information you can find in your Yearbook.  You could also leave us a message by commenting on this post.  

Betty can be found in the “Scarecrow Trail” along Meadow Lake at The Morton Arboretum throughout the month of October .

Remember to Make the Most of Your Nature Artists’ Guild Membership

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We are so excited to welcome  many new members to the Nature Artists’ Guild this year!  We just wanted to check in with all our members, the brand new ones, as well as those that have been around a while, to make sure everyone is making the most of their membership.

Remember, your membership entitles you to –

  • Attend formal meetings (the next one will be in August, and will feature three of your talented fellow members sharing some of their favorite techniques in various media)
  • Attend paint-outs at some great places (there is one coming up in July at Laverne Bohlin’s wonderful garden, and more are being added all the time)
  • Participate in Nature Artists’ Guild exhibitions (either at The Morton Arboretum, where up to a thousand visitors will view your artwork in one weekend, or at various outside venues)
  • Attend workshops (to help create items for fundraising and to learn new skills from fellow artists)
  • Contribute artwork or articles to our quarterly publication, The Nature Artists’ Quarterly
  • Contribute artwork to the annual Nature Artists’ Guild desk calendar

There are also many opportunities for just having fun with your fellow artists, whether by attending a “field trip” to somewhere interesting,  helping to create our annual Scarecrow for The Morton Arboretum,  volunteering on one of the committees or attending the Holiday Party!

Please check the Important Dates tab above to see our current schedule of events.

Workshop and Framing Demonstration this Saturday, March 23, 2013

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This year’s workshop for the Artisan Shop at the Spring Exhibit of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum will be very special.  Not only will we be creating items for our fundraising table at the upcoming exhibit, (please bring acrylics, brushes and a water container, as well as sketches or reference materials in your choice of subjects from nature), we will also have the chance to learn about framing from professional framer (and member), Evelyn Grala! Picture Framing

From 9:30 until noon, we can work on our handmade items for the exhibit, and then from 1 pm until 3 pm, Evelyn will show fellow Nature Artists’ Guild members – how to choose frames that will enhance your artwork, how to creatively re-use frames, how to choose standard frame sizes for ease and economy, the do’s and don’ts in preparing for an exhibit, and finally, a framing demonstration for the “do-it-yourself” artists!

If you can’t stay for the whole workshop, please stop in any time between 9:30 am and 3 pm, work as little or as much as you like, or even take an item home to work on. The workshop takes place on Saturday, March 23, 2013 in Classroom C at Thornhill.

Update – Please enjoy these photos, thanks to Carol Carls, of the Spring Workshop participants hard at work!

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Meet the Leaf Fairy!

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Patty Konigsaecker has done it again!  The Nature Artists’ Guild’s 2012 Scarecrow that Patty has designed is really too sweet, though, to scare away any birds! In fact, with some of the changes we’ll be adding this Saturday (such as adding a bird’s nest to her bun), she’ll probably attract them!  After we substitute some of her flowers for leaves (hence the name change from Flower Fairy to Leaf Fairy), and change her quote to another more “leafy” one, our Leaf Fairy, with her skirt fluttering in the wind, will grace the shore of Meadow Lake at The Morton Arboretum all through October.

2012 Nature Artists’ Guild Scarecrow, “Leaf Fairy”, design by Patty Koenigsaecker

Please join us this Saturday at Thornhill at the workshop to help construct her! If you have suggestions or supplies that may be useful, please contact Patty Konigsaecker (you can find her contact information in your Yearbook).

Annual Gathering of the Nature Artists’ Guild Elves, Saturday, September 15, 2012

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It’s time again for all the hard-working Nature Artists’ Guild elves to gather together at our annual Holiday Exhibit Workshop!  On Saturday, September 15, our members will be working away downstairs at Thornhill, preparing treasures for our fundraising table at the Holiday Exhibit.  We don’t have the room number yet, but we are always the noisiest ones in the building, so you’ll be able to find us!  All Nature Artists’ Guild members are invited to drop in any time between 10 am and 3 pm.

The word is that we will be creating some pretty doily tablescape accessories, learning decorative metal embossing for embellishing items, and hand-felting ornaments and other holiday decorations.  We’ll have the supplies, we’ll have the instructors, and we’ll have some snacks, so all we need is you (although you may want to bring a lunch if you plan to stay all day).  As always, if there is another project you want to work on, please bring it along – your fellow artists love to learn new techniques!

Don’t forget, we will also be working on our “Flower Fairy” scarecrow to be displayed at The Morton Arboretum’s annual Scarecrow Trail at Meadow Lake throughout October.  Please join us for a fun and productive day at our workshop.   Pointy shoes with bells not required!