Boston Flora

Tag: Wellesley

  • Wednesdays, February 6 – March 13, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm – Foundations of Botanical Drawing

    Through demonstrations and tutorials, Education Director of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens (WCBG) Sarah Roche will introduce you to the traditional art and science of botanical drawing and painting. Instructional focus includes observational skills, drawing, composition, design, and watercolor techniques. For the fall, this class will focus on mixing greens, building up the intensity of a painting through washes and glazes to give complex and rich detail. Starting with studies and exercises, we will work together to complete a final painting with accurate color, texture and detail. The class takes place at The Gardens at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. $295 for Mass Hort and Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, $345 for general public.

    Must pre-register at https://www.wellesley.edu/wcbg/learn/adult_education

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  • Tuesday and Wednesday, November 6 and 7, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Festive Fruits: A Studio Focus

    The Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens will hold a two day class in the Cheney Classroom at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on November 6 and 7 from 9:30 – 3:30. Celebrate the changing seasons with Sarah Roche. Taking your inspiration from seasonal fruit, capture their rich colors and textures in a watercolor image on paper or vellum, which you could use on holiday cards. Friends price $195, nonmembers $245. Vellum is not included in the price. Bring your own or purchase it in class. To register, call 781-283-3094 or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu. Image below by Denise Walser-Kolar.

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  • Monday, June 4 – Wednesday, June 6, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm, and Thursday, June 7, 9:30 am -12:30 pm – Introduction to Botanical Art

    Explore the world of botanical art in this Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens course designed especially for the beginner.  Sarah Roche guides you through structured exercises, projects and demonstrations, exposing you to the basic techniques of botanical drawing and watercolor painting.  The four day class will be held at the Wellesley Community Center  Monday through Wednesday, June 4-6, from 9:30 – 3:30, and on Thursday , June 7, from 9:30 – 12:30. Friends price $250, nonmembers $300.  Register on line at www.wellesley.edu/wcbg/learn

  • 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.

  • Friday, April 6, 10:00 am – Charles Darwin

    Carol Govan talks about the personal life, unusual philosophy, and important works of Charles Darwin on April 6 at 10 at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden. English naturalist, geologist and biologist Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) rocked the world when he published his thesis that plants evolve and change to adapt to their changing habitats. He established that the vast diversity of life on Earth has all descended from common ancestors. Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, free. Nonmembers $10. Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email bcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • Friday, March 16, 10:00 am – Carl Linnaeus

    Carol Govan talks about the personal life, unusual philosophy, and important works of Carl Linnaeus on Friday, March 16 at 10 at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden. Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778) invented an easy method to identify and name all plants, including many previously unknown, sent to him from around the world. The modern system of scientific nomenclature is due to his work. Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens, free. Nonmembers $10. Register by calling 781-283-3094 or email bcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.

  • 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.

  • Tuesday, January 16 – Thursday, January 18, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm – History of Botanical Art Seminar

    Be inspired by the works of many famous and unknown artists who created botanical images for early herbals and documented the discovery of new plants from around the world. This three day Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens class with Carol Govan includes a private viewing of rare botanical art books in Wellesley College’s Margaret Clapp Library Special Collections. January 16 – January 18, 9:30 – 12:30 pm, with a snow date of January 19 if needed. Friends price $120, nonmembers $145. Register at www.wellesley.edu/wcbg/learn.

  • 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.

  • Thursday, January 4, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm – Tonal Drawing Review

    Carol Ann Morley reviews the fundamentals of light and shade in drawing, at the Wellesley Botanic Gardens on Thursday, January 4 from 9:30 – 3:30 (snow date Monday January 8.) Improve your transitions of gray values and strong contrast through graphite pencil exercises. Strengthen your drawing with an in-depth study of structural form and perspective. Revisit the basic shapes of cubes, cones, spheres, and cylinders, and observe how their shapes underlie all forms in nature. Study master drawings in class to examine how these artists used light on form to give visual clarity, depth and power to their drawings. Friends of Wellesley College botanic Gardens $90, nonmbmers $110. Register by calling 781-283-3094, or email wcbgfriends@wellesley.edu.