Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, hosts the New England Society of Botanical Artists: Spring Blooms exhibit from April 3 – May 3. Free with admission to the Garden. See the best botanical illustration in the region at this thematic exhibition exploring the intricacies of Tower Hill’s springtime collection of flowering plants.
Botanical artist and NESBA member Kay Kopper received a grant from the American Society of Botanical Artists to paint plants and wildlife native to Southeastern Massachusetts, which has the second largest region of pine barrens remaining in the world. It is a habitat for pitch pine (Pinus rigida), scrub oak (Quercus ilicifolia), cecropia moth (Hyalophora cecropia), New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis), and American woodcock (Scolopax minor), among other species. Kay will describe what an adventure and learning experience this project has been for her in a lecture on Wednesday, October 25, beginning at 1:30 pm at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden. Co-sponsored with the New England Society of Botanical Artists. Sponsor members free, nonmembers $10. Reserve by calling 781-283-3094 or emailing wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.
How is your appetite for drawing veggies? Here’s your chance to find out! Join Helen Byers at Tower Hill Botanic Garden August 29, 30 and 31 from 10 – 4 to create a botanical portrait of a vegetable that “calls” to you. We’ll work in layers to achieve accurate proportions, luminous color, necessary values, and fine detail. Daily demos, tips, and personalized instruction. A list of recommended supplies will be sent to registrants. (Note: Returning botanical art students who prefer working in watercolor will be welcome to do so.) To see galleries of Helen’s work and slideshows from her courses, visit helenbyers.com.
Helen Byers is an artist and educator who is active in botanical and natural science drawing and painting. Her professional background includes book illustration, art journalism, college-level teaching of art and literature, and a career in educational publishing.
Helen’s botanical art recently received international recognition at the 19th International Exhibition of the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Horticultural Society of New York (2016). Her work has been shown nationally as well as widely in the Greater Boston area. Her affiliations include the American Society of Botanical Artists, the New England Society of Botanical Artists, and Concord Center for the Visual Arts.
SKILL LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE. Tower Hill members $180, nonmembers $200. Register online at www.towerhillbg.org.
The Garden Club of the Back Bay will kick off its 2016/2017 lecture series on The Prehistoric Garden on Friday, September 23, with a field trip to the Wellesley College Botanic Garden, 106 Central Street in Wellesley, to hear about Cycads and Gymnosperms.
Carol Govan will talk about the connections among related plants and how they express their genetic heritage in response to their environments. Discover the beauty of the first plants to produce seeds. A remarkable adaptation to help plants survive on land, we will see many examples of cycads, conifers, ginkgo and plants that were dominant during the age of the dinosaurs. See hands-on examples of various twigs, cones and seeds. After the lecture, visit these plants in the greenhouses with Carol. Cycads are seed plants with a long fossil history that were formerly more abundant and more diverse than they are today, according to Wikipedia. The living cycads are found across much of the subtropical and tropical parts of the world. Carol, a professional artist, botanical illustrator, and teacher, is a graduate of New England Wild Flower Society’s Certificate in Native Plant Studies program, which has helped her gain insight into the connection between art and nature. Her work has been featured by the New England Society of Botanical Artists, Duxbury Art Complex, and most recently at the Ashland Public Library. Image below from www.berkeley.edu.
Club members will receive a written notice of the meeting with car pool information. The lecture is co-sponsored by The Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Garden and non-club members may register online ($10) at www.wellesley.edu/wcbg/wcbg_friends
Come to the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum on Saturday, August 13 from 2 – 4, and see members of the New England Society of Botanical Artists demonstrate their talent as part of the ongoing show, The Art of the Woody Plant, running through September 11. With 150 members, the New England Society of Botanical Artists brings a strong, artistic presence to the Arnold Arboretum this summer. Up to thirty works will be exhibited ranging from watercolor to pastel. The Society has recently shown at the Brush Gallery in Lowell, Massachusetts, participated in the New England Flower Show, and includes many artists within the group who have received prestigious awards from the national organization— the American Society of Botanical Artists, as well as the British counterpart—The Society of Botanical Artists. For more information visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu. Free. Image of a decidedly non-woody plant by Society artist Jeannetta vanRaalte.
See gorgeous displays of lilies and arrangements featuring lilies, with botanical art of lilies by members of the New England Society of Botanical Artists, at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts. On Saturday at 3 pm, hear a lecture by lily expert David Chase on “Beetle Resistant Lilies”, and on Sunday at 2 pm Master Gardener Melissa Pace will speak on “Amending Soil for Success – Soil Preparation for Planting,” Saturday hours are 1:30 – 5, Sunday hours are 10 – 5. For directions, log on to www.towerhillbg.org.
