“Painters in the Garden” Paint-Out July 30th and 31st

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Suzanne Wegener,  Nature Art Education Manager at The Morton Arboretum (and our Nature Artists’ Guild liaison),  announces  another  wonderful opportunity for our members –

Painters in the Garden

Come for a day or an hour and paint in the beautifully landscaped Children’s Garden where flowers, fish and frogs abound. We will have a cooling station with goodies so don’t let a little warm weather keep you indoors. Children’s garden staff will have a “make & take” for children interested in art. Please help us raise awareness of the Nature Artists’ Guild by participating. Please RSVP to Suzanne Wegener at swegener@mortonarb.org

Suzanne adds that you can bring information about yourself and your art if you’d like –a great opportunity to promote your work!  Visitors will be strolling around, but since there are volunteers who will be doing art projects with children, there is no teaching involved.  Suzanne will be available both days to answer visitor’s questions about the Nature Artists’ Guild as well as The Morton Arboretum’s Education Program.  Click here for more information about the Children’s Garden!

July 30th and 31st from 10:00-1:00 p.m.

Meeting Place:  Children’s Garden

A Midsummer Day’s Paint-Out

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Once again, Nature Artists’ Guild member Connie Devendorf has been kind enough to arrange for us the  popular mid-summer paint-out at the beautiful gardens of Danada House, located on Naperville Wheaton Road, just north of I-88 and south of Butterfield Road.   Danada House was built in the 1920’s by Dan and Ada Rice as their country retreat, and the recently renovated grounds include a rose garden labyrinth, native plants garden, a lovely alley garden, courtyard garden, and even a Thoroughbred horse farm!  

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Click here for the Danada House website, or here for a few photos from last year’s paint-out.  We’ll have the grounds from 9:30 am until about 2:00 on Monday, July 18, 2011, so come any time, and there’s no need to RSVP.   Facilities and a huge screened-in terrace (no bugs!) overlooking the gardens will be available.  

Call for Artwork – 2012 Nature Artists’ Guild Calendar

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June 2011 Calendar Page. Artwork by Carol Carls

Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to submit artwork for the 2012 Nature Artists’ Guild Calendar.

The 2011 Calendar was a success – Now it’s time to gear up for 2012. Calendar sales support the programs and activities of the Guild and are a great way to showcase your work. They also make great gifts!

Click here to download detailed instructions and specifications.

The deadline for submissions is September 17, 2011. If you have questions, please contact Mary Ingels. If you’d like to volunteer to help, contact Sylvia Root Tester (phone numbers and email addresses can be found in the Yearbook).

Gardener’s Art Festival Volunteers Needed on June 25th

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The Nature Artists’ Guild has been invited to participate in the annual Gardener’s Art Festival being held on Saturday, June 25, 2011 from 10 am until 4 pm at The Growing Place in Naperville.  Please click here to find out all the details about this popular festival! 

Photo credit The Growing Place

We are looking for artists to volunteer to participate for a 2-hour shift of painting, drawing or sketching during the event.  What a great opportunity to show off your work while enjoying the beautiful surroundings!

   The  Growing Place would love to have four artists for each shift, so please don’t hesitate to sign up if you can – we need your contribution to help make this a success!  Contact Jill Adzia to sign up (you can find her contact information in your Yearbook).

Canterbury Shoppe Drop-Off and Pick-Up This Saturday

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The pick- up date for the Spring exhibit and the drop-off date for the Summer exhibit at the Canterbury Shoppe in Naperville has been changed to Saturday, June 11, 2011 (from 11 am until 2 pm).

The prospectus deadline has also been extended until Wednesday, June 8.  Your prospectus was either e-mailed or mailed to you on March 24th, but if you can’t find it, please contact Paulette McDermott, or leave a comment on this post, and we’ll make sure to get one to you!

Blooms and Bugs? Karen Johnson’s Garden Paint-Out, June 9, 2011

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 Karen Johnson promises blooms as she hosts a paint-out at her home on Thursday, June 9, 2011 from 9:30 am until 1 pm or so.  Karen’s garden includes such June favorites as peonies, iris, and honeysuckle, as well as many native plants.  There is a small pond with some goldfish, and Karen even suspects that a hummingbird or two may make an appearance! 

Karen also promises bugs!  If it rains, Karen has the unequaled ability to supply the group with insects, shells and other natural items (for those of you wondering why, it’s because Karen is an entomologist and the instructor of many insect-inspired art classes at the arboretum).  She has plenty of room at her kitchen and dining room tables, but suggests you bring your own light. 

Indoors or out, it promises to be fun!  Bring a lunch if you’d like to stay later, and please RSVP to Karen if you’re planning to come (you can find her contact information in our Yearbook).

Eggs-cellent job!

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The Nature Artists’ Guild liason to The Morton Arboretum, Suzanne Wegener thanked everyone at our meeting last night on behalf of the Arboretum for doing such a great job of painting eggs for their upcoming Cirque Du Soleil promotion.  Suzanne started out with 100 plain tan eggs, and as of last evening, only two were not yet decorated!

As artist Priscilla Humay pointed out after her awesome presentation last evening (thank you, Priscilla!), the Nature Artists’ Guild really does have one of the best settings in the Chicagoland area for an artists’ group.  The Morton Arboretum provides us with inspiring subject matter, a wonderful and helpful staff, quality instruction and promotion, and facilities for our workshops, shows and meetings that are not only modern and comfortable, but historic and absolutely beautiful! 

Sometimes it takes someone outside of the group to notice what we may take for granted.  So, thank you Morton Arboretum for everything you do for our group, and any time you need help in painting a hundred or so eggs, we’ll be glad to do it!

EGG-stravaganza this Thursday!

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You are invited to stop by this Thursday evening before our formal Nature Artists’ Guild meeting to paint an egg or two for Cirque du Soleil.  There will be paints available in Thornhill, Room C from 5-7 pm.

 The eggs will be used for a eggs-ceptional  promotional event at the Morton Arboretum.  Please join us in this wonderful opportunity (click here for more information) to get publicity for our group while also helping the Arboretum!

Please contact Suzanne with any questions.

Priscilla Humay’s Colored Pencil Landscapes, June 2, 2011

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Priscilla Humay is a talented, established artist, who will be sharing some of the inspiration and techniques behind the creation of her colored-pencil landscapes at the June 2, 2011 meeting of the Nature Artists’ Guild of The Morton Arboretum, from 7 to 9 pm. 

March Billows, © Priscilla Humay

Priscilla’s artwork is included in numerous private and corporate collections, as well as the Bauhaus Archive in Germany, the Chicago Historical Society, and the University of Illinois archives.  Priscilla also participates in and receives awards in such high profile shows as the CPSA International Exhibition.

Educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology and Charles University, Prague, Priscilla’s art has been featured in numerous publications, including the Best of Colored Pencil III and V. 

DesPlaines Settling Down, © Priscilla Humay

Some may know Priscilla as a Visiting Artist Instructor at The Morton Arboretum.  She is also a Certificate Program Instructor at the Chicago Botanic Garden, as well as the Peninsula Art School in Door County, WI and the Art Center in Highland Park.  Priscilla serves as creator and instructor of a host of her own workshops, including those entitled “ Introductory Plein Aire Colored Pencil”, “The Aerial Landscape – Clouds”, “Drawing the Color of Summer”, and  “Land, Sky and In-between”. 

Visit Priscilla’s website, www.humayfineart.com to preview her vibrant, rhythmic landscapes and then join us for an enjoyable and informative evening with Priscilla!

Beauty of the Earth Exhibit at the Burning Bush Gallery

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Even if you didn’t get a chance to participate in this lovely exhibit, there is still time to visit the gallery and view the artwork of some of your fellow Nature Artists’ Guild members.  The gallery is located at 224 North Main Street in Wheaton, and hours are listed on the flyer below. 

Artwork Copyright Paulette McDermott