Boston Flora

Tag: art class

  • Wednesdays, May 9 – May 23, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm – Drawing and Painting for the Petrified

    In this relaxed, informative seminar at the Wellesley Botanic Gardens, with plenty of helpful demonstrations, you will work towards developing your drawing and painting skills.  Sarah Roche encourages your observational skills to grow as you experiment with line drawings and the accurate representations of botanical forms.  Leap into watercolor painting as Sarah guides you through a series of fun beginning botanical watercolor exercises.  The class will be held on three successive Wednesdays, May 3, 16 and 23, from 9:30 – 1:30.  Please bring to the first class: 9×12 sketch paper, HB (No. 2) pencils, and white plastic eraser.  Sarah will discuss brushes, palettes, and watercolor papers needed for remaining classes.  Samples of paint are provided.  WCBG Friends $125, nonmembers $150.  Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.  Painting below by Sarah Roche.

  • Tuesday, April 24 – Wednesday, April 25, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Spring Blooms in Graphite and Watercolor

    Join botanical artist Helen Byers in this two-day workshop at Tower Hill Botanic Garden on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 24 and 25 from 10 – 4, to draw and/or paint anemones, daffodils, early tulips, or another spring blossom of your choice. Helen’s demos and personalized instruction will cover step-by-step processes of detailed botanical art techniques using graphite in combination with watercolor. (Returning students may substitute colored pencil for graphite, if they wish.) To see examples of Helen’s work and slideshows from her courses, go to http://helenbyers.com

    A supplies list will be sent to registrants. THBG members $150, nonmembers $165. Register at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—spring-blooms-in-graphite-and-watercolor

    Helen Byers is an award-winning artist and educator whose botanical drawings and paintings have been internationally exhibited, published, and held in private collections. In recent years she has taught often at Tower Hill, as well as at Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Fruitlands Museums, Tin Mountain Conservation Center (NH), and Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center (NM).

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  • Tuesday, April 3 & Wednesday, April 4, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Pansies: Botanical Painting in Watercolor

    In this two-day Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop on April 3 & 4, botanical artist Helen Byers will demonstrate the use of watercolor to create a fine portrait of a pansy. Working from live plants, our goal will be to accurately and beautifully depict a given flower’s “face,” leaves, and growth habit. We will practice painting in layers, using wet-into-wet, and dry-brush painting techniques. To see examples of Helen’s work and slideshows from her courses, go to helenbyers.com.

    A supplies list will be sent to registrants. Helen Byers is an award-winning artist and educator whose botanical drawings and paintings have been internationally exhibited, published, and held in private collections. In recent years she has taught often at Tower Hill, as well as at Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Fruitlands Museums, Tin Mountain Conservation Center (NH), and Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center (NM).  $150 for THBG members, $165 for nonmembers. Register online at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—pansies-botanical-painting-in-watercolor

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  • Tuesdays, April 3 – May 22, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon or 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm- Improve Your Watercolor Skills

    Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for this eight-week course (choose morning or afternoon sessions) beginning April 3 with artist and instructor Nan Rumpf. Classes are designed to further develop your watercolor painting skills and techniques. Each lesson is an activity designed to explore a different art element, principle, or painting technique. Explore the many possibilities of watercolor as you enhance your personal painting style and discover your artistic voice. Handouts, demos, painting examples, critiques will be supplied by the instructor.

    Nan Rumpf grew up in a small Iowa town on the banks of the Mississippi River, where she spent much of her childhood exploring the outdoors on her bicycle and daydreaming under a lilac bush. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. She currently lives in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She has worked as a professional puppeteer, designing and constructing her own puppets and masks. She organized dramatic arts workshops in public schools and libraries for twenty years.

    She has studied watercolor painting with Susan Swinand, Jane Goldman, Paul George, Charles Reid, Miles Batt, and Cheng Khee Chee. Her paintings have been exhibited at The DeCordova Museum School Gallery, The Danforth Museum, The Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, The Attleboro Arts Museum, The Wellesley Free Library (First Place Award), The Center For The Arts in Natick, Art on the Common in Needham (First Place Award), The Clinton Art show (Best In Show), Post Road Art (First Place Award in the Abstract Show), The Wellesley Community Center (Margaret Fitzwilliam Award for Excellence in Watercolor), The New England Watercolor Society Show in Cotuit (Woodruff Art Center Award) and her painting Soaring was awarded by George Nick in Concord Art’s Juried Members show.

    She is a member of the Concord Art Association, the Wellesley Society of Artists, The Rhode Island Watercolor Society and is a signature member of the New England Watercolor Society. She was chosen as one of the two art judges for The Amazing Things Summer Juried Art Show in 2012. Learn more at www.nanrumpf.com. The class will be held in the Cheney Room of the Education Building at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Mass Hort Member Cost: $125; Non Member Cost $160. Register at www.masshort.org.

  • Friday, March 23 – Monday, March 26, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Vellum Painting Inspired by Hoefnagel

    In Wellesley College Botanic Garden’s four-day course with Denise Walser-Kolar, you will take inspiration from Joris Hoefnagel’s Mira calligraphiae monumenta and create paintings of small natural collections – plants, seashells, insects, etc.  Use the first day to work on your composition, then spend the next three days painting. Learn how to create the trompe l’oeil look of stems going through the paper, how to create shadows, and how to mix colors that glow on vellum. Create a finished piece based on the works of Hoefnagel. Friday, March 23 – Monday, March 26, 9:30 – 3:30 (snow date March 27.  Friends of Wellesley Botanic Garden – $495, nonmembers $595. For more information call 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

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  • Saturday, March 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Nature Art in Field and Studio

    This one day Tower Hill Botanic Garden workshop on Saturday, March 17 from 10 – 4 will focus on Barry Van Dusen’s recent residency with the Massachusetts Audubon Society. For the past two years, Barry has been traveling around Massachusetts, creating paintings and drawings at Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuaries. Barry will show a selection of the more 130 watercolors he has produced for the project and share his residency sketchbooks. You’ll learn about how the artist uses optics in the field, and how he organizes his art materials for efficient fieldwork. He’ll discuss the approaches he uses to create artwork on location and in his studio. Barry will lead students through basic drawing, tone and color exercises to help them get started with creating their own record of outdoor observations.

    PLEASE NOTE: A MATERIALS LIST WILL BE SENT UPON REGISTRATION. $95 for Tower Hill members, $110 for nonmembers. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

    Barry W. Van Dusen is an internationally recognized and award-winning wildlife artist living in central Massachusetts. Barry’s illustrations and paintings have appeared in many publications and books. In recent years Barry has been Artist-in-Residence at Fruitlands Museums, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Tower Hill Botanic Garden, and Mass Audubon. See more of the artist’s work at www.barryvandusen.com

  • Sunday, February 18, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Botanical Studies in Graphite

    Join Tower Hill Botanic Garden and Helen Byers in this one-day workshop on Sunday, February 18 from 10 – 4 to refine your drawing skills. Choose a subject from Helen’s collection of “treasures”-maybe a bit of bark or lichen, a dry leaf or seedpod, a small cone-and draw it in detail. We’ll explore the exciting possibilities of using graphite to render a full range of neutral tones and textures. Individualized instruction will include demos and helpful tips. A list of recommended supplies will be sent to registrants. To see galleries of Helen’s work and slideshows from her courses, visit helenbyers.com.

    Helen Byers is an artist, writer, editor, and educator with a background in literary and educational publishing. Her drawings and paintings have been exhibited in solo and group shows in the West and East and are held in various private collections. Her illustration credits include six children’s books and six literary book covers. Her teaching of art has included courses and workshops in botanical drawing and painting, watercolor painting, figure sketching, still-life drawing, and field sketching / journaling.

    Helen’s work is included in 2 prestigious recent exhibitions: The19th Annual International Juried Exhibition of the American Society of Botanical Artists & the New York Horticultural Society, Nov. 1 – Dec. 30, 2016 in NYC; and “Woody Plants of New England,” an exhibit of the New England Society of Botanical Artists at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, July 8 – Sept 11, 2016.  $80 for THGB members, $90 for nonmembers. Register online at https://towerhillbg.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-registration-form—botanical-studies-in-graphite

  • Thursdays, February 1, 8, 15, and March 1, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Composition From the Start

    Ellen Duarte leads a Wellesley College Botanic Gardens introduction to composition based on the writings of Molly Bang in her book Picture This. On four Thursdays (February 1, 8, 15, and March 1, from 9:30 – 12:30) learn how balance, harmony and emotional response are affected by the elements in the picture. Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens $150, nonmembers $200.  Register at http://wellesley.edu/wcbg/learn. There is a snow date of March 8 if needed.

  • Mondays, January 29 – March 5, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – Winter Fruits with Graphite and Wash

    Create a portrait of your favorite winter fruits, using undertones of graphite overlaid with transparent washes of watercolor. Through her guidance and demonstrations, Carrie Megan will help you achieve deliciously pleasing portraits. This Wellesley College Botanic Gardens class takes place on five Mondays, January 29, February 5, 12, 26, and March 5, with a snow date of March 12. For advanced beginners and above. $225 for Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, $275 for nonmembers. Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • Friday, January 5 – Sunday, January 7, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Leaves and Grasses in Graphite: The Beauty of Dried Forms

    Capture the beauty of nature’s dried plants with Carol Ann Morley at the Wellesley College Botanic Gardens in a three day session January 5 – 7 from 9:30 – 3:30 (snow date Monday, January 8). Make a compelling composition of the dried leaves and grasses left in winter’s fields, and work in graphite to lend drama and depth to your subject. Contrast slender flowing grass with the curvature of pods and angles of leaves, building a visual narrative of these beautiful forms. Carol includes daily drawing exercises and demonstrations. She breaks down the process of drawing, starting with observation and quick sketches, then developing a compositional idea. You will practice drawing to scale using structural lines to build form, and study the perpective of plant shapes and angles and the balance of tonal values in depth and design. Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens $250, nonmembers $300. Register at 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Drawing copyright Carol Ann Morley.