GNSI Fourth Coast Illuminated Exhibit!

UPDATE: Check out the Fourth Coast Illuminated's Facebook page! It contains an online gallery of 72 (of the 75) images in the exhibit.

I am excited to be preparing three pieces for an upcoming exhibit called Fourth Coast Illuminated. This exhibit of art by GNSI artists from the Great Lakes region will feature flora, fauna, and archaeological artifacts of the area. 

The exhibit will be held in the Glen Vista Gallery of the Kalamazoo Nature Center from July 1 - August 30, 2014 . Kalamazoo Nature Center is one of the most highly regarded nature centers in the country and is considered a leader in the field.

I will be including three botanical works in the exhibit:

Spring Beauties - ink and colored pencil.

White Trillium Bud - ink and colored pencil.

Wildflower Leaf Survey - graphite pencil.

If you are local to the area or find yourself in Kalamazoo this summer, stop by and see the wonderful work that will be on display!

The Fish Bridge to Japan Project - Gyotaku printmaking

What do you know about natural science printmaking? Not much? Me either, until just recently!

Through the Guild of Natural Science illustrators (GNSI) I learned about a project that one of the GNSI members, Stephen Di Cerbo, is working to get funded through Kickstarter called The Fish Bridge to Japan. Stephen has been developing his technique in Gyotaku printmaking for over 20 years and is hoping to travel to Japan to study under the tutelage of master Gyotaku printmaker Mineo Yamamoto.

As described on Stephen's blog, Icthyography, Gyotaku is "a relatively new art form [that] came to America in the 1950s and its history can be traced back a couple hundred years. Used to identify species of fish and record size of catches, gyotaku is often seen as a parallel to Taxidermy. It has evolved into an art form and unique type of illustration, and techniques and methodology continue to be refined today. A form of relief printmaking, it allows for an intimate familiarity with the morphology of the fish.

Not only are Gyotaku images popular in gallery art and editorial illustration, the process is a great tool for art and science educators to expose students to ichthyologic identification and morphology, as well as relief printing."

How cool does that sound?

I have been a member of GNSI since 1998 and am continually in awe of the very talented artists and illustrators who are a part of this group. I am going to contribute to the fund and hope to encourage others to do so if you are so inspired! 

Pledges start at just $1.00 and Stephen is offering pledge rewards to those who back his project including note cards, limited edition prints and more - check out the project details at The Fish Bridge to Japan. He only has until May 31st at 12pm EDT to reach his pledge goal.

Even if you don't want to pledge, click on over and take a look to learn more about this fascinating art form!

Stickers and Preschool Presentation - How to tell 3-year-olds about drawing?

So today I did a presentation to my daughter's 3-year-old preschool class about drawing. 

How do you keep preschoolers interested in a short talk? Interactive and hands-on!

Ask Them Questions

I only had about 10 minutes, and so I did some back and forth questions and answers with the kids, asking about drawing, what they liked to draw with, etc. I told them what I like to draw, including houses, animals and flowers, and explained some of the materials I use. 

Give Them Something to Touch

While I was talking, I passed around different paper (rough drawing paper, smooth hot press watercolor paper) so that they could feel the difference, and I showed how a crayon mark looks different on each. I also passed around some printouts of drawings I have done.
 

I think the biggest hit, however, were the daffodils that I brought. I told them how I especially like to draw flowers and gave them each one to look at up close. We talked about what shapes they saw in the center or in the petals and how that is a good way to draw something - by looking at the shapes you see. They liked pulling them apart, of course. :)

Something to Take Home

I gave them each a small piece of the rough and smooth papers to take home along with some stickers (of my tulip, daffodil and camel drawings--yeah for Zazzle stickers!) and a coloring page of the one daffodil drawing so that they could color at home if they want. I figure that if they took nothing else out of the little talk, maybe they would have fun coloring later!

Overall, not a bad first attempt at presenting to young kids! I owe a big thank you to fellow Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) members who gave me some great suggestions for making the presentation a success.
 

Have you ever presented your art or craft to young kids? How did it go?