Boston Flora

Tag: art class

  • Saturdays, April 4, 11, 18, & 25, 9:30 am – 11:30 am – The Art of Botanical Drawing

    Explore the beauty and variety of plant forms using pencil, watercolor, and colored pencil with instructor Erica Beade. This four-week course, to be held on Saturdays from April 4 – 25, 9:30 – 11:30 at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge, will introduce botanical drawing techniques through close observation and practice with contour, gesture, foreshortening, shading, and color. All skill levels are welcome. Fee is $95 for HMNH members, $110 for nonmembers. Advance registration required at http://reservations.hmsc.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?EventID=11.

  • Mondays, March 9 – April 13, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm – Botanical Illustration with Graphite

    Botanical illustration has been a practiced art for hundreds of years. This Boston Center for Adult Education course will give you a brief overview of the history of this art form and will show you the basics of how to draw flowers and plants with shading, perspective and form in graphite. We will begin with basic graphite techniques and move on to simple flower and plant structure. Students will learn about composition, light and methods to make your artwork “alive.” Each week will focus on a different flower provided by the instructor. Medium used will be graphite pencils.

    Materials List:
    11×14 pad Strathmore drawing paper – 400 series (brown or green cover; NOT yellow 300 series)
    11×14 pad tracing paper (Canson preferred)
    Set of graphite pencils (at least 2B, HB and 2H; you do not need more than that) – Faber- Castill or Prismacolor best brands
    Kneaded grey erasers (2)
    Battery operated pencil sharpener (Panasonic KP-4A is BEST; available online but lesser models should be okay)

    The instructor is Nancy Bentivegna. Nancy Bentivegna was born and raised in Ithaca, NY. Art was always her favorite subject in school and she pursued this passion in the art program at Penn State University where she earned her B.A. After college, she worked in marketing and advertising with several large firms in New York. In 1999, she started her own design firm, Kester House, and began creating custom home décor for clients throughout the New York metropolitan area. Her works include furniture, murals, decorative accent pieces and soft goods (pillows, linens, etc.). In 2008 she began the Botanical Art and Illustration Program at the New York Botanical Garden. Ms. Bentivegna completed all course work in June 2011 and then relocated to Boston. She primarily works in watercolor combined with colored pencil for depth and detail. Her works have been displayed in specialty shops in Connecticut and her original botanical artwork is part of private collections from New York to Florida.

    Classes will meet Mondays, March 9 – April 13, from 7:30 – 9:30 at the BCAE, 122 Arlington Street in Boston. The fee is $204 ($173 for BCAE members) with a materials cost of $15. Register online at http://www.bcae.org/index.cfm?method=ClassInfo.ClassInformation&int_class_id=12403&int_category_id=1&int_sub_category_id=1&int_catalog_id=0, or call 617-267-4430.

  • Saturday, January 24, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm – Meditations in Ink: An Introduction to Asian Brush Painting

    This Massachusetts Horticultural Society workshop, to be held Saturday, January 24 from 10 – 2 at Elm Bank in Wellesley, is for those interested in learning and using the traditional tools and techniques of Asian Brush Painting. Through step-by-step demonstrations and hands-on projects you will explore this ancient and elegant art and leave class with two completed works. Subjects for the workshop will be Calligraphy and Orchid painting in ink and color. No art experience is required. Instructor will provide supplies.

    Bruce Iverson is an artist who has specialized in Asian Brush Painting since. He has exhibited in group and juried shows throughout the United States. He has traveled to China for a deeper understanding of the context of brush painting and is a juried member of the New Hampshire Art Association. Additional information about Bruce can be found at his website www.iversonarts.com

    Students must provide their own lunch and beverages. $150 for Mass Hort members, $170 for nonmembers. To register, call 617-933-4973 or email kfolts@masshort.org.

  • Tuesday, January 6 – Thursday, January 8, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Drawing the Market: Fruits and Veggies in Graphite

    Explore creative ways to arrange the abundance of produce contained in grocery store aisles to make intriguing compositions of fruit, berries, and foliage.  Focus on graphite techniques under the guidance of Carol Ann Morley at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden in a three day class to be held Tuesday, January 6 – Thursday, January 8, from 9:30 – 3:30 (snow date Friday, January 9.)  Discover how to analyze shapes and negative spaces to create three dimensional forms and bring your art to life.  This is a workshop suitable for all levels.  WCBG members $250, nonmembers $300.  Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image below by Evan Lovejoy.

  • Monday, December 1, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Nature Journals: Small and Simple Handmade Books

    In this one-day Wellesley College Botanic Garden workshop on Monday, December 1 with Suzanne Lee, make a special book – great to give for a diary, recipe book, special memories or travel journal.  Choose, also, to make a small notepad or sketchbook holder,.  Both are fun and easy to make.  Use hand-made papers, beautiful combinations of natural dried leaves, your own hand-printed ginkgo and Japanese lace leaf leaves, a unique form of fabric collage, or combinations of old sketches and paintings.  A great way to use tiny sketches or natural scraps you’ve collected, but the workshop includes all materials for either project.  One will not be enough, but easy to do more on your own after the first.  No previous experience is necessary.  The class runs from 9:30 – 3:30 in the Visitors Center of the Botanic Garden, and the cost for WCBG Friends is $85, nonmembers $100.  Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image from www.sanctuaryarts.org.

  • Saturday, November 15, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm – Pressed Flower Botanical Artwork

    Tower Hill Botanic Garden will welcome instructor Pauline Bergassi on Saturday, November 15, from 2 – 3:30, who will teach you how to create an 8″ x 10″ ready-to-frame pressed botanical artwork.  Pressed flowers, background board, and papers are included in the fee, which is $35 for THBG members, $50 for nonmembers.  Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Saturday, September 13, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Fun with Fungi: Natural Science Drawing and Painting

    Explore the fascinating forms and textures of mushrooms in this Tower Hill Botanic Garden natural science art workshop, to be held on Saturday, September 13 from 10 – 4 at Tower Hill, 11 French Drive in Boylston. Helen Byers’ instruction will include demonstrations of ways to achieve detailed effects using graphite, colored pencil, and watercolor. All levels welcome! A list of supplies will be sent to participants. To see more of Helen’s work, visit her website at www.helenbyers.com. Visit www.towerhillbg.org to register.  $60 Tower Hill members, $75 nonmembers.

  • Saturday and Sunday, August 23 and 24, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Vivid Vegetables: Drawing & Painting

    Vegetables aren’t just good for you, they’re also great to draw and paint! What’s your fancy – a tomato, an onion, an artichoke, a cabbage leaf? The choice will be yours in this two-day workshop and Saturday and Sunday, August 23 – 24, 10 – 4. We’ll spend mornings sketching in Tower Hill’s spectacular vegetable garden, and afternoons working indoors. The choice of medium will be yours as well: instruction will cover techniques of botanical drawing and painting in colored pencil and watercolor. Daily demos and plenty of one-on-one. All levels welcome. A list of suggested supplies will be sent to registrants. Fee is $100 for Tower Hill members, $130 for non members.  Register by clicking: https://dnbweb1.blackbaud.com/OPXREPHIL/EventDetail.asp?cguid=C7E2C131-AD0F-49AA-B073-5B92F8300A37&eid=49208&sid=7232957D-A896-445E-92A1-CEAB9B735379.  To see examples of Helen’s work, visit her website at www.helenbyers.com.  

  • Tuesday, August 26 – Thursday, August 28, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Drawing Flowers and More

    Practice, practice, practice.  Give yourself these three days at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden to refresh and strengthen your own way of contour drawing.  Carol Ann Morley guides you through discovery exercises that help you draw accurately and confidently.  See in new ways, analyze flower and leaf shapes to recognize patterns and rhythms in botanical shapes, and conquer the perennial problem of foreshortening.  For all levels – some drawing experience required.  The classes will take place from 9:30 – 3:30 on Tuesday, August 26 through Thursday, August 28.  Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Garden: $250; non-members: $300.  Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

    http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/irazumov/lectures/illustration/botanical/20th%20century/carol_ann_morley.jpg

  • Wednesday – Friday, August 13 – 15, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Botanical Illustration: Colorful Garden Fruits and Berries with Colored Pencil

    This three day intensive Berkshire Botanical workshop on August 13 – 15 from 10 – 4 each day, will focus on colored-pencil techniques for botanical illustration. Learn to capture the vibrant colors of garden fruits and berries. Find out how many multiple overlays of colors it can take to give depth, shine and texture to one berry! Draw from the abundance of the summer garden and make intriguing compositions of fruit, berries and foliage. Explore creative possibilities, whether traditional or whimsical, and make exciting background textures or borders to enhance your artwork. This is a playful workshop suitable for all student levels. Basic skills will be taught in drawing, colored pencil techniques and composition.

    Carol Ann Morley is an illustrator and dedicated teacher of botanical illustration working in Dover, NH. She founded the Botanical Art Illustration Certificate Program at the New York Botanical Garden and teaches illustration there and at other botanical gardens. This is Ms. Morley’s only summer workshop in the Berkshires for 2014. BBG member price $260; non-members $290.  Register at http://www.berkshirebotanical.org/ai1ec_event/botanical-illustration-colorful-garden-fruits-and-berries-with-colored-pencil/?instance_id=2625.

    http://carolannmorley.com//srv/htdocs/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_7331_2-300x239.jpg