Prairie Trails and Country Garden Watercolors by Beverly Behrens, March 6, 2014
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
An Exciting New Field Trip Planned for April 8, 2014
On April 8, 2014, at 1 pm, members of the Nature Artists’ Guild will receive a private tour of the renowned Oppenheimer gallery by Joel Oppenheimer. Please click on this link to AudubonArt.com to read more about the gallery.
Be sure to check your e-mail or check back here for more details in the coming weeks. Please feel free to contact Carol Jean Rogalski if you have any questions. You can find her contact information in your Yearbook.
Annual Paint-Out at Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum, March 11, 2014
On Tuesday, March 11, 2014, Nature Artists’ Guild members will make their annual outing to the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum at Benedictine University for a morning of sketching, drawing or painting among the thousands of specimens in the museum’s collection.
The Nature Artists’ Guild has reserved the museum from 9 am until noon, but artists are welcome to stay later if they wish. Some participants may choose to meet at a local restaurant for lunch afterwards.
The museum is located at 5700 College Road, Lisle, IL. Please contact Carol Jean Rogalski at if you would like to attend. You can find her contact information in your Yearbook.
Our First Program of the Year Features Wonderful Nature Artist Robert Pennor
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!
You Can Put Away Those Parkas and Boots (At Least for a Few Hours)!
Every year, one of the most anticipated and well-attended paint-outs for members of the Nature Artists’ Guild is the trip to Orchids by Hausermann, 2N134 North Addison Road, in Villa Park, IL.
On Tuesday, February 11, 2014, attendees will meet at about 8 am and spend the next few hours among thousands of blooming orchids that are looking their best just in time to be sketched, drawn, painted or photographed (or even purchased if you’d like to take your model home with you). One lucky participant will even win a certificate for a free orchid to take home with them.
Attendance is limited to about 15, so please contact Carol Jean Rogalski to save your spot (if you are a new member and do not yet have your Yearbook with Carol Jean’s contact information, please let us know in the comments section below, and we will send you the information).
It’s a wonderful way to spend a cold winter day! You may want to click on this link to Hausermann’s website for a preview of what you can look forward to. If you’d like to see more photos of last year’s artists at work, please click here. All photos from last year are courtesy of Evelyn Grala.
Join Us Before January 20, 2014 for a Wonderful Exhibit Opportunity
Here is a little extra incentive for those who have been considering joining us, but haven’t quite gotten around to doing so. If you send in your membership dues to the Nature Artists’ Guild by January 20, 2014, you will be eligible to receive a prospectus for participation in our Spring Exhibit.
Our Spring Exhibit will take place from April 4 to April 6, 2014, coinciding with the arrival of many of The Morton Arboretum’s spring blooms! Just think of all those winter-weary visitors that will be eager to get a glimpse of green, both outdoors on the Arboretum grounds, and indoors at our wonderful exhibit of Nature Art. Our Nature Artists’ Guild three-day exhibits at The Morton Arboretum normally attract nearly 1000 art and nature-loving visitors.
Of course, your Nature Artists’ Guild membership will also be your ticket to our programs, paint-outs, participation in exhibits (including a new group exhibit at the Bloomingdale Park District Museum this summer) and holiday party. You will also receive our publication, The Nature Artists’ Quarterly, which features member artwork as well as announcements and articles about Nature Art. Please click on the following link to view the Nature Artists’ Guild membership application.
The Nature Artists’ Guild board has been busy planning, scheduling and preparing for a busy (and fun) year – check back here soon for more details.
We look forward to meeting you!
The Loss of a Friend
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of a friend and long-time Nature Artists’ Guild member, Barbara Papamarcos.
Barbara’s friendly face in the front row at our Nature Artists’ Guild programs, her kind words of encouragement for her fellow artists, and her passion for and curiosity about both nature and art will be greatly missed.
So Very Pretty
While we certainly agree that trees are beautiful in their natural state, some added sparkle does a great job of welcoming the holiday season. This year, many of the trees at the entrance and near the Visitor’s Center of The Morton Arboretum have been adorned, branch by branch, all the way down to the smallest twigs, with blue, white and green lights. The effect is stunning!
More beautifully lit trees are being featured at The Morton Arboretum’s Illumination event, according to their website, www.mortonarb.org–
Illumination is an outdoor event on a one-mile, gently rolling, paved path that takes approximately one and one-half hours to complete. Please dress for the weather. Food and beverage concessions are available for purchase.
Walking along the paved trail you can:
- Hug a tree to make it grow brighter
- Sing to a tree and watch it change color
- Interact with light and color with a swipe of your hand
- And many more surprising experiences around every turn!
Also be sure to:
- Warm up next to fire pits while enjoying hot cocoa, s’mores, and other delights
- Visit the Enchanted Railroad and stop in to browse the holiday wares at The Arboretum Store
- Enjoy energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly LED lighting that provides beautiful, powerful color while consuming only half the power of traditional incandescent lights
You can find more details for this event by clicking on Illumination, Tree Lights at The Morton Arboretum.
Open House This Weekend
Suzanne Wegener, Nature Arts Education Manager at The Morton Arboretum, and Nature Artists’ Guild liaison, would like to share the following news about an upcoming event!
Visiting Artist and Nature Artists’ Guild presenter Cynthia Hellyer-Heinz and her husband will be hosting an open house this weekend at the historical Warren Tavern Museum. Cynthia is a Visiting Instructor at The Morton Arboretum and this is a unique opportunity to see her original works.
The Open House will take place on Friday, November 22, 2013 from 6 until 9 pm, Saturday, November 23, 2013 from 10 am until 5 pm and Sunday, November 24, 2013 from 10 am until 4 pm. Please click here for directions.
Cynthia will also be teaching a workshop at The Morton Arboretum in February, 2014 –
Visiting Artist Series: Capturing Nature with Colored Pencil, Cynthia Hellyer-HeinzThe experience of drawing enhances both our understanding and appreciation of the objects of our natural world. This workshop will address the intimate relationship between seeing, feeling, and then depiction. The fundamentals of drawing and expression will be applied to the creative representation of the precious artifacts from the landscape.
Notes: Limit 15, Certificate Information: Art Certificate enrichment (10 hours), Course number: A601
Prerequisite: Botanical Art & Illustration: Colored Pencil (A215)
Schedule and Location: Saturday, February 22 and 23, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Thornhill Education Center.
Fees and Admission: $105.00 member, $123.00 non-member
To register: Call 630-719-2468, stop by the Arboretum Visitor Center, or register online by clicking here.
Nature Artists' Guild 