American Society of Botanical Artists

The VIRTUAL exhibition at nybg.org is CLOSING on March 26 - check it out now..... Forty artworks have been selected for inclusion in The New York Botanical Garden’s Fourth Triennial, devoted to biological diversity in cultivated utilitarian plants. We are excited about the fascinating stories told by these plants, as we seek to increase the resilience of crops during times of changing climate & myriad other challenges. These subjects have lessons to teach about the evolution... & future potential of our botanical heritage. The jury team of Susan T. Fisher, Annie Novak, & Denise Walser-Kolar selected works from artists in the US, Canada, Czech Republic, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, & the UK. Subjects featured range from heirloom & ancient food plants such as squash, emmer wheat, potatoes, & rice, to crop wild relatives such as wild figs, wild millet, & fox grapes, to utilitarian heirlooms such as raffia and a precursor to modern cotton. ASBA has published a catalog to accompany the exhibition, with major support from M. Danny Swanson, Keiko Nibu Tarver & Alan Tarver, & Catherine M. Watters. The exhibition will travel to Tucson Botanical Garden in Winter/Spring 2022, to Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Fall of 2022, & further venues are in negotiation. Please watch ASBA’s website for updates & the most current information on this exhibition. Image: Akiko Enokido - Shishigatani Kabocha Pumpkin - watercolor on paper

Did you miss this earlier in the week - Fiona Strickland in a great interview .....

Hope you all have a great weekend - for those in the USA do not forget Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday ......

'A History of Botanical Art' with Catherine Watters Live, Monday, March 15, 2 pm Eastern Time Join ASBA board member Catherine Watters for a virtual lecture on the fascinating history of botanical art. The presentation will focus on many noted artists & their work as well as several important florilegia - collections of botanical paintings depicting the plants growing in a particular garden or collected during a voyage of exploration. Born in France & residing in the San Fran...cisco Bay Area of California, Catherine is a botanical artist & instructor who has taught extensively & exhibited widely for 25 years. Should you be unable to join for the live webinar, or in the case the event fills & you are unable to register, a recording of the lecture will be made available via ASBA's YouTube Channel Botanical Art by ASBA following the broadcast. Register for the live event - https://us02web.zoom.us//register/WN_MxVHadoiRQS6vFpyG69zuA

"Botanical Art in the 21st Century" - Manggha Museum, Krakow, Poland - now open again & to remain until August 28th For years the Manggha Museum has been showing exhibitions focusing on the relations between nature & culture, between various traditions, Japanese & Western, examining their surprising, inspiring interactions. Our suiseki, bonsai, & ikebana shows, as well as international, nature-themed exhibitions, such as Co-garden &, on a grander scale, Kach-ga: Pictures of ...Flowers & Birds in Japanese & Western Art, are part of this reflection. Exploring Botany. Botanical Art in the 21st Century is Poland’s first exhibition showcasing the phenomenon of today’s botanical art, both European & Japanese. We are showing works by modern-day artists in the context of the oeuvres of old masters of botanical illustration, Basilius Besler, Crispijn van de Passe the Younger, Jacob Hoefnagel, Emanuel Sweert, Elizabeth Blackwell, & above all Maria Sibylla Merian. These are complemented by Hiroshige’s & Watanabe Seitei’s ‘pictures of flowers & birds’, which engage in surprising visual & narrative dialogue with the European works. Exploring Botany. Botanical Art in the 21st Century is being held at a special time, when the world of plants & insects that the artists, both contemporary & historical, have immortalized in their works is facing extinction. Perhaps viewing these extraordinary & beautiful works at the Manggha Museum will incline us towards reflection & also offer us a different way to get through this trying time of pandemic. The person who came up with the idea of this inspiring exhibition Sylvia Peter (Germany), a curator, essayist, & artist creating suggestive images of nature. manggha.pl/en/collection Images: Sylvia Peters; Robert McNeil;

Join the RHS Art Curator, Charlotte Brooks, for an online talk on March 31st on the enduring popularity of the daffodil & the beautiful artworks on view at the RHS Lindley Library (virtually available).......

Did you miss the 23rd Annual International exhibition at Wave Hill, NY? Do you know someone who would really like this catalog? It would make a great present!!! Do not worry the catalog (American Society of Botanical Artists & Wave Hill 2020) - IS AVAILABLE. $29.95 Includes US shipping and handling. Additional International shipping charges apply. Just go to www.ASBA-art.org/Shop/Catalogs

Just for fun! Meet Alkemie, an early music ensemble - they are debuting an interactive video-concert featuring 16th-century English & French music about plants, which comes with hand-made cards bearing contemporaneous scented botanical images - Violets, grapes, roses, medicinal herbs, & Tolkien's "Simbelmynë" (or Evermind) all make an appearance in this concert of 16th-century music from England & France. "Peel-n-sniff" cards bearing essential oils & contemporaneous botanical... images are handmade to accompany this program - ticket buyers receive a series of fragrances that match plants referenced in the music. Premiere: Saturday, January 23, 2021 - 8:00 to 9:15 pm EST. (The concert is 45 minutes long; the premiere will be followed by a live audience/artist discussion.) - Broadcast available On-Demand through February 7, 2021. See a Preview Video of this Concert - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dM6nAlcx6s&feature=youtu.be

Wildly Exquisite: Florida’s Native Plants', Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach - THE STORY BEHIND THE ART OF ELISA BALDWIN Cabbage Palm - Sabal palmetto Sabal palmetto is a wonderfully hardy & adaptable native tree palm growing in the Coastal Plains region of the Southeast. Extremely salt- & wind-tolerant, it is at home in coastal sands & tidal flats, as well as along urban streets & in private gardens. The species is important to natural ecosystems, providing habitat to b...irds, mammals, reptiles, insects, & even other plants. Its fruit is eaten by wildlife & the large leaf buds were once cut for a delicacy known as ‘swamp cabbage,’ hence the tree’s common name, cabbage palm. This practice is now discouraged since it kills the tree. Sabal palmetto became Florida’s official state tree in 1953, a well-deserved choice for it truly captures a wildly exquisite sense of place. I found several Sabal palmettos at the Mobile Botanical Gardens & was particularly attracted to the palm fronds which can grow to 6’ long & 3’ wide. I drew the leaf in profile in order to show the distinctive arching costa, or midrib, that extends into the leaf blade causing it to curve. The long, tapering, pinnately compound leaflets move with the slightest breeze and it was a challenge to capture this movement. Fortunately, I live just a few minutes away from the Gardens & returned many times to study the plant & make detailed graphite sketches before attempting it in colored pencil. Image: Elisa Baldwin - Cabbage Palm - Sabal palmetto - Colored pencil on paper

Let’s make it a Fungi Friday courtesy of our Institutional Member, the Lloyd Library & Museum, Cincinnati ....

The ASBA exhibition 'Wildly Exquisite: Florida's Native Plants' at the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, Palm Beach, FL has a wonderful exhibition catalog - get yours at ASBA-art.org > Shop > Catalog .....

Botanical art makes it to the Presidential Inauguration .... be it via embroidery not watercolors - but we'll take it any way it comes .....! Jessica Bustamante: Dr. Jill Biden's Inauguration Evening Dress had flowers from all 50 States plus the US territories embroidered on it, with the flower of Delaware sewn near her heart and the other flowers branching out from it. What a lovely message from a lovely woman. ETA: "Inside of the coat, representing the lifelong calling and ...service of Dr. Biden as an educator is a hand embroidery on the lining with a quote from Founding Father Benjamin Franklin: Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.' The materials used were existing available fabrics to minimize the impact on the environment." https://tomandlorenzo.com/.../jill-biden-sent-a.../ Pictures from designer Gabriela Hearst: https://www.instagram.com/gabrielahearst/... See more

Manggha Museum Krakow, Poland will launch on November 11th a new exhibition "Exploring Botany'. The extensive exhibition will be an innovative project in Europe, a project that will connect botanical artists from the West & Japan, showing the works of historical masters & contemporary works. Member & Instructor, Robert McNeill, has 3 pieces in the exhibition. His latest stunning piece, Banksia speciosa, is being used to advertise the show .....

The ASBA Great River Chapter Exhibition "Inspired by Nature" - as with many things in today's world they have had to go 'virtual' - so tap in to ames-center.com > art-gallery & enjoy the delights of your fellow artists from the Great River Chapter .....closes very soon, November 7th!

Member & Non-Member registration is now OPEN for 2021. If you know of ANYONE who is 'thinking about' joining the ASBA, encourage them to do so by NOVEMBER 10th. All NEW ASBA members, who join before or by November 10 will receive a complimentary issue of the 2020 December journal! Questions? Please contact [email protected].

23rd ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, Wave Hill, NY - until December 6, 2020. Virtual Studio Visit with Liz Shippam in the UK - Tuesday, November 10, 2:00 - 3:00pm Eastern US time. Although this virtual studio visit is free, a donation to Wave Hill is suggested. Registration is required. For more information go to https://www.wavehill.org//studio-visit-with-liz-shippam-in

The Northern California Society of Botanical Artists has a new exhibition - Mt. Tamalpais Florilegium Virtual. See their website for more information: http://www.ncalsba.org/wordp.../for-members/upcoming-events/ Phacelia californica, California scorpion weed by Catherine Dellor

A beautiful tribute .....

2020 International Botanical Art Show, Seoul & KBAC (Korea Botanical Arts Cooperative) Annual Exhibition 2020 On the 1st level of social geolidugi - the 2020 International Botanical Art Show, Seoul & KBAC Annual Exhibition 2020 Opening Reception & Award Ceremony November 5th - up until November 13th. A mask is a must !!!

ASBA's 23rd Annual International Catalog - NOW AVAILABLE - American Society of Botanical Artists & Wave Hill - 2020 $29.95 Includes US shipping and handling. Additional International shipping charges apply. Just go to www.ASBA-art.org/Shop/Catalogs ......

"TAKE THIS SURVEY" For those of you who recently attended the ASBA 26th 'Virtual' Annual Conference - Jody Williams, Executive Director, sent you a survey to complete on Saturday October 31st. ASBA would like to have your feedback to see how you enjoyed this new experience, should they do it again & how could it be improved. Let's have your thoughts .....

Wave Hill and ASBA had a virtual studio visit with John Pastoriza-Pinol last month, and that video is posted here: https://www.wavehill.org//studio-visit-with-asba-artist-jo Enjoy!

Member & Non-Member registration is now OPEN for 2021. If you know of anyone who is 'thinking about' joining the ASBA, encourage them to do so by November 10. All NEW ASBA members, who join before or by November 10 will receive a complimentary issue of the 2020 December journal! Questions? Please contact [email protected].

Check our what our friends in Melbourne, Australia are up to - a great virtual exhibition from some talented artists .....

The ASBA Awards Ceremony at the Annual Conference is always exciting - this year the '2020 Dorothy R. Peck Artist Grant' went to the Oregon Botanical Artists Circle (OBA), OBA has undertaken a major project exploring Oregon native plants, culminating with a public exhibition in August 2021. The exhibition, 'Wild Treasures: Oregon's Native Plants in Contemporary Botanical Art' will be complemented by outdoor trail events & artist talks staged from 3 months prior to, & concurrent with, the exhibition. OBA's project leader is Janet Parker; other project team members include Carol Stepick, Aislinn Adams, Dorota Haber-Lehigh, Alice Federicy, & Carol Putnam. The team plans to use the ASBA Artist Grant to produce a quality exhibition catalogue.

It's fun to wander through this past exhibition on the Met's website, devoted to artists' depictions of flowers and gardens in France, and includes a few botanical paintings along with many other fine and decorative works devoted to plants: https://www.metmuseum.org//20/public-parks-private-gardens