Exhibition Opportunties

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Guild members are invited to show their work at two special exhibitions early next year.  To be eligible for these shows, artwork must have been previously shown at one of our annual exhibits at The Arboretum. Prospectuses with details will be sent out closer to the exhibition dates.

Downers Grove Public Library Art Gallery. January 2010. This is a wonderful space. Drop off will be January 2nd from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Pick up will be January 30th from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

Fine Line Creative Arts Center, Kavanagh Gallery in St. Charles. Drop off will be February 16th. This is a new venue for the Guild and a wonderful opportunity. Information about the gallery is here:  http://www.finelineca.org/kavanagh/index.html

October 1 Program Features Marlene Hill Donnelly

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The October 1st Formal Meeting (7:00 pm at Thornhill Auditorium) will feature a workshop with Marlene Hill Donnelly. Scientific illustrator at the Field Museum, Marlene also does freelance artwork for an impressive list of clients, as well as teaching and co-authoring books.

Her topic will be: Reconstructing the Ancestral Turtle–  Art and Science
Using Pastel Dust to Enhance and Correct Giclee Prints: A Mini-workshop

Please bring a giclee print of your artwork if you wish to practice this technique.

Odontochelys semitestacea is the first known ancestral turtle.  Its discovery last summer in China triggered a flurry of scientific excitement (and controversy!) and its life reconstruction was a wonderful discovery process for Marlene.  She’ll talk about model building and all the other resources used to bring an extinct creature to visual life, processes that are also invaluable in helping the nature artist create convincing paintings of living animals and landscapes.

Following the talk, Marlene will use an Ondontchelys giclee print to demonstrate how pastel dust can be used to enhance and correct fine arts prints.  This will be a hands on mini-workshop, so bring a print to practice on!

Artists in Action at Cosley Zoo

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Members of the Nature Artists’ Guild are invited to sketch or paint the animals at Cosely Zoo in Wheaton

Sunday, Sept. 13 from 11am-3pm
Set up at 10:30am

8ft tables will be provided. Business cards and brochures are ok, but any selling of artwork would require a vendor’s fee of $50.

Please rsvp to:

Molly Holman
Guest Services Supervisor
Cosley Zoo
1356 Gary Ave, Wheaton IL 60187\
630.665.5534 x5036 (Sunday-Thursday)
mholman@wheatonparks.org

General zoo information here: http://www.wheatonparkdistrict.com/pgs/parks/cosley/default.html

Holiday 2009 Exhibition Prospectus and General Info

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Watch Your Mail Box (E-Mail or Snail)!

Guild members will soon receive the prospectus for the 2009 Holiday Exhibition. If you have an e-mail address on file with the Guild, you will receive it electronically. Paper copies are being mailed only to members with no e-mail address on record.

If you do not receive a prospectus within the next few weeks, please contact Nancy Thyfault.

The deadline for registering for the exhibition is September 26, 2009

You can download the prospectus here:
As a PDF: NAG 2009 Fall Prospectus (requires Acrobat Reader)
As a Word Document: NAG 2009 Fall Prospectus

Exhibition Schedule:

September 26, 2009: Deadline for submitting prospectus
November 4, 2009: Referee Night, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Thornhill
November 6, 2009: Artists/Members Reception, 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Thornhill
November 7-8: Exhibition open to public, Noon to 5:00 p.m., Thornhill
November 8: Pick up artwork, 5:15 to 5:45 p.m.

Questions?
Contact: Nancy Thyfault, Exhibition Chair; Laverne Bohlin, Co-chair, or Sharon Malec, Co-chair.

Holiday Fund-Raising Workshop: September 19, 2009

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Transform you artwork into items for sale at our 2010 Holiday Exhibition!

Have fun, meet other Guild members and contribute to a worthy cause!

When: Saturday, September 19th, 2009,  10:00 am to 3:00 pm

Where: Thornhill Education Center

What to Bring:
Nancy Thyfault will again be showing us how to make her beautiful boxes. For the boxes please bring color laser copies (not inkjet) of your original artwork in various sizes, acrylic paint, fabric or decorative paper scraps and creative embellishments. Boxes, transfer paper, gel medium and some supplies will be provided. If you have your own boxes, trays, or items to decorate, bring them along.

Please note: some materials and projects will be provided. If you need more information or wish to share a project idea, please contact Laverne Bohlin or Nancy Thyfault.

Bring your lunch or dine at the Arboretum.

Please note: you do not have to stay the entire time – you can arrive late, leave early, etc.

Call for Artwork: 2010 Guild Calendar

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Guild Members: If you are interested in submitting artwork for our 2010 calendar, submissions are due September 26, 2009.

In 2009, we produced a desktop calendar featuring the work of Guild members. They were offered for sale at the 2008 Holiday Exhibition;  the 75 copies quickly sold out, generating some much needed revenue for the Guild.

© 2008 The Nature Artists Guild of The Morton Arboretum

So, we are doing it again! This  year, the pages will be commercially printed. However, we will be assembling them be hand, so will be looking for volunteers.

Detailed specifications can be downloaded here:  NAG 2010 Calendar Information Sheet

August 6th is Demonstration Night

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The Guild’s August formal meeting – August 6th at 7:00pm in the Arboretum’s Thornhill Auditorium – will feature 4 Guild members demonstrating techniques:

Denise Fisk: Painting animals
Maggie Mardis: Creating a colored paper background for colored pencil and graphite drawings
Connie Devendorf: Faux finishes and natural history subjects
Patty Koenigsaecher: Fiber arts

Also Suzanne Wegener, the Guild’s Arboretum Liaison, will be on hand to answer questions about the referee process for our Exhibitions. This is a great opportunity for members who have never exhibited in Guild shows and have questions about what’s involved/required.