Members, please submit your artwork, or articles you have written about art or nature to Evelyn Grala for our quarterly publication, The Nature Artists’ Quarterly. 
Please check your current Quarterly for details, or contact Evelyn at the e-mail address listed in your Yearbook. We look forward to seeing your contributions in the next issue!
What a Pretty Paint-Out!
Once again, the weather and the garden couldn’t have been lovelier for the Nature Artists’ Guild 2013 Paint-Out at Susan and Kenneth Beard’s garden in Oakbrook, IL. Please enjoy these gorgeous photos contributed by Kathy Wagner. We thank the Beards for so graciously sharing their garden with us.
Join us in Celebrating! Bohlin Garden Paint-Out July 13, 2013
Talk about talent! Long-time Nature Artists’ Guild member, Laverne Bohlin, is an instructor in The Morton Arboretum’s Botanical Art program , teaches at the Peninsula School of Art in Door County, Wisconsin, and her paintings are widely exhibited and collected around the country. We are lucky enough to exhibit Laverne’s paintings in each of our Nature Artists’ Guild exhibits, and they are appreciated by all.
In addition to all of the above, Laverne also happens to be a skilled landscape designer and gardener. She teaches numerous classes on Landscape Design at The Morton Arboretum, and we have just learned that Laverne’s personal garden will be featured in the upcoming July/August 2013 issue of Chicagoland Gardening magazine! The issue should be on the newsstands in June, and we can’t wait to see it.
Let’s help celebrate Laverne’s wonderful news by joining her in her garden, which she has been kind enough to share with all the members of the Nature Artists’ Guild, for a paint-out on July 13, 2013.
Feel free to drop in any time between 10 am and 4 pm. There is no need to RSVP, and light refreshments will be served.
It will be a great chance to not only paint or sketch a lovely garden, but to spend some time getting to know your fellow artists in a casual and fun setting. Member Carol Jean Rogalski has seen Laverne and Pete Bohlin’s garden and claims that they apparently know Jack (of the beanstalk fame) because the garden surely has its origins in some kind of magical seeds!
You Didn’t Miss It, Did You?
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.
Calvin C. Wright
In remembrance –
We received word from Evelyn Grala last week of the passing of a longtime and well-loved member of the Nature Artists’ Guild. Calvin Wright was 92 years old, and will be missed by all those who knew him. Carol Jean Rogalski has shared these photos of some of the beautifully carved birds that Cal was known for creating.
Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum has Joined Meetup.com!
Meetup.com is a website that brings people with common interests together, and we are hoping to attract some nature art enthusiasts in the area to the Nature Artists’ Guild. Click here to see what it’s all about, and while you are there, click on the Find a Meetup Group tab at the top of the page. You just may find a few wonderful groups that share your interests!
A Break from the Summer Heat
Perhaps you, like many of us, enjoy taking an occasional break from the heat and humidity of summer. If so, you may wish to consider enrolling in one of the summer classes offered in The Morton Arboretum’s Botanical Art and Illustration program.
You can enjoy nature in a gorgeous setting while avoiding the heat and insects of the season by choosing from these (mostly) indoor classes offered by The Morton Arboretum –
- Begin to Draw Nature
- Botanical Art and Illustration: Pencil
- Plants in Watercolor I
- Underpainting Techniques in Pastel
- Botanical Art in Garden Catalogs
- Making Mosaics for the Garden
- Garden Journaling
- Summer Mandala
- Insects in Polymer Clay
- Master’s Studio – Summer Flowers in Colored Pencil
- Visiting Artist – Scott Harding, Landscapes in Watersoluble Oil
The classes are open to all (you do not need to be a member of the Nature Artists’ Guild nor The Morton Arboretum, nor be enrolled in the Art and Illustration Certificate Program to participate) and many are suitable for beginners. Some of the more advanced classes, though, have suggested prerequisites. Please click here for class descriptions and details!
(More Than) A Few of our Favorite Things! Peggy Macnamara on June 6, 2013 at Thornhill
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.
A Beautiful Day at a Beautiful Location!
We couldn’t have asked for better weather for the Mayslake-Peabody Estate paint-out last week. As you can see above, the estate and grounds were breathtaking, the sky was blue, the grass was green, and our Nature Artists’ Guild members took full advantage of all of that beauty!
Once again, we have our photographer, Kathy Wagner, to thank for the beautiful photographs.
The Beard Garden Paint-Out June 4, 2013
Last year’s paint-out at the gorgeous gardens of Susan and Kenneth Beard was a huge success, but became a bit crowded with both artists and photographers attending. This year, on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, the photographers of the Morton Arboretum Photographic Society will be attending from 7:30 until 9:30 am, and the Nature Artists’ Guild members will have the garden to themselves from 9:30 am until 12:00 noon.
The Beard garden has been featured in Chicagoland Gardening magazine, in recent features in the Sunday Magazine of the Chicago Tribune, and Crain’s Chicago Business and is included in the Garden Conservancy’s “most beautiful gardens in America”.
The peonies are scheduled to bloom for us, and the Beard’s collection of hosta is legendary, so RSVP early to ensure your spot, as attendance will be limited to 12 in each group. Please RSVP to Carol Jean Rogalski if you would like to attend. You can find her contact information in your Yearbook.
The Beard’s 3-acre garden, featuring over 300 varieties of hosta, as well as annuals, perennials, a woodland, shrubs and groundcovers, is located at 3711 Madison , Oakbrook, IL.
The following photos are from the 2012 paint-out at the Beard garden. Thank you to Kathy Wagner for the photographs!
Nature Artists' Guild 