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!

International Sketchbook Exchange!

It has been forever since I posted last! Happily, I have been busy with some different projects and finally have something to post about. 

I belong to two fantastic groups on Facebook for botanical artists: Botanical Art for Beginners and Botanical Artists. Both contain artists from all over the world who share a common interest in and passion for botanical art and illustration. 

Earlier this year, a subset of artists decided to start an international sketchbook exchange, inspired by a similar endeavor by other artists in the group last year. I was thrilled to be invited to participate! 

There are 9 of us total, spanning the globe from here in the U.S. to Ireland, Italy, the UK, Austria, Turkey, and Singapore. We all agreed to purchase the same type of sketchbook, Stillman and Birn's hardbound sketchbook from the Zeta series in A5 size (approx. 5.5 x 8.5 inches.) The Zeta series contains 180lb paper suitable for both wet and dry media, but most importantly, it opens up to lay flat, so one can work on a spread of two pages fairly easily.

Initially, we thought we would stick to just botanical subject matter, but agreed that if inspiration struck differently, we could feel free to include other natural subjects or artistic interpretations (e.g., some of the artists do motif work or other ethnic design work.) We also agreed that we would do a minimum of one, two-page spread and maximum of two, two-page spreads.

Each of us started our sketchbooks with some sort of decorated title page and then created some art to open the book. I decided to go ahead and cover my sketchbook with a nice Italian book cloth and pasted endpapers of a beautiful handmade paper from my favorite store, Hollander's. 

 

I started with a title page that included our group name, Nature Miscellany - A Sketchbook Exchange and space at the top for each artist to write their name. 

Since this is an international effort, I wanted to include something about where my book is coming from, so I drew an outline of the state of Michigan and added a couple of small botanicals: the state tree, the eastern white pine, and the state flower, the apple blossom.



 


I began working on the sketchbook during the frenzy of spring wildflower season, so I did a two-page spread of graphite sketches of the nodding trillium and bloodroot, two species that I had specifically hunted for in the woods this season. 
 

   
I saved the second two-page spread for a wildflower that I have wanted to draw for several years: the yellow trout-lily. The mottled leaves, resembling trout, and graceful, curving blossoms are a treat to find all over the forest floor in early spring.

I mailed my sketchbook out for our first round of exchange last week. We are mailing east, and I am excitedly awaiting the arrival of our Singapore artist's book soon!

Each of us will then have about a month to do a sketch in the book we received and mail it on in the exchange. It should take roughly a year to complete all the books, and we will have a wonderful treasure filled with beautiful artwork from artists around the world! 

Stay tuned for posts on my latest sketchbook entries!

Legacy of the Land Through Art Exhibit - Artwork Finished! Part II - Wildflower Leaf Survey

Update 10/11/13: Auction Site for Legacy of the Land Through Art is up! 

Visit the site to view, bid on and/or purchase artwork from the exhibit!

 
And here is Part II! Wildflower Leaf Survey in graphite pencil. How did I end up deciding to do a piece like this? Why not another plant portrait? 

Well, as I mentioned in my previous post (see details on my plant portrait of the Jack in the Pulpit,) I inadvertently missed the peak blooming of the wildflowers at Creekshead Preserve (oops!) so I actually spent a lot of time walking the trails, looking at leaves and plants and wondering what they were! I grabbed my trusty Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide and along with many, many reference photos, identified a number of species that I encountered there either in a few, blooming plants or by leaves, including:

• Spring beauty
• Trout lily
• Great white trillium
• False Solomon’s seal
• Bloodroot
• Jack in the Pulpit
• Wild geranium
• Cut-leaved toothwort
• Hanging or nodding trillium
• Ferns (not sure what type)
• White baneberry
• Blue cohosh
• Mayapple

I am sure there are even more that I missed, but I was thrilled to realize that I encountered and was able to identify so many different species in my few outings.

Using my reference photos, I did do a few sketches of different plants (see my post from May 28), and initially I thought I would like to do another plant portrait for my second piece. Although I was able to capture some beautiful mayapple blossoms, saw a couple of gorgeous nodding trillium (new to me) as well as pretty purple wild geranium with wonderful, fuzzy buds, I kept coming back to the idea of leaves. Doing a portrait of just one other plant seemed to shortchange the variety that are present in Creekshead Preserve. What if I wasn’t the only one who wanted to explore this area, but happened to miss the 1-2 week period when everything was in full bloom? 

So, I decided that a survey of 4-6 leaves found in the preserve would best represent it for my second piece. As this exhibits focus is awareness of local land resources and conservation of those, educating an audience about what can be found there might be helpful.

What to include? I wanted to make sure I represented some of the plants with broad, umbrella-like leaves that conceal flowers or seed pods, such as mayapple and bloodroot. I also wanted to include more popular ones like trillium with its deeply veined set of three leaves. I first took just four plants and put them into an evenly-spaced layout.Here is a quick, rough sketch:

It looked OK, but I kept thinking I wanted to add more and include different-shaped leaves that I found intriguing, such as the False Solomon’s seal and cut-leaved toothwort. With the helpful advice of my husband (my go-to second set of eyes on these things!), I decided to go with six different species and put them in a vertical format. I think this allowed for more visual interest and gave me more flexibility on where to place which leaves.

For example, I love the way the False Solomon’s Seal leaves droop gracefully forward on the stem. Placing this in the upper left corner of the piece worked well compositionally, pointing the eye towards the rest of the leaves on the page.

I spent a lot of time working out the composition and making sure my line drawings were accurate. I liked it so much that I decided to do the final piece entirely in graphite pencil. I wanted to eliminate any distractions and emphasize the shape and veining patterns on each of the leaves. I added a light grid around each leaf so that the leaves could slightly overlap it and pop out of the "frame" a bit, and it also allowed me to create space under each for a simple, printed label.

I started out with clear line drawings of the leaf perimeters as well as major veins, using my Faber-Castell 4H pencil. I ended up using a fine-tipped embossing tool to do much of the veining, especially on the bloodroot and trillium as the veins appear lighter than the surrounding leaf. I also did all of my initial shading with the 4H as it allowed me to map out the shading on each leaf, maintaining a consistent, light layer. 

I continued layering graphite with a softer 2H and sometimes HB, darkening shadow areas and overlaps, giving more depth to each leaf. After setting the piece aside, I took one more look and lightened some areas with my trusty, kneaded eraser.

 

  

Once I was satisfied with the shading (and at the point where I did not want to start overworking it!), I darkened the grid lines, erased any extra guidelines and added labels for each leaf, printing in graphite along the bottom of each row.

The final touch, of course, was to have the finished piece framed. The kind and talented staff at Dexter Picture Frame Company really completed the piece, helping me to choose a double mat with a light gray interior that really highlighted the graphite work. I also chose to use the same, clear cherry wood frame that I used for the Jack in the Pulpit piece. The wood is from Paul Hickman (Urban Ashes) who uses urban salvaged or deconstructed wood from right here in Michigan.

 

I delivered both pieces to Matthaei Botanical Gardens today, along with all of the other 40+ artists in the show. The show opens next Saturday, October 12 and runs through November 10 and will be on display in the Botanical Gardens building at at 1800 North Dixboro Road in Ann Arbor. The exhibit will be available in an online art auction as well, which I will update here when I get the details.

All pieces will be for sale, with part of the proceeds going to the artist and part going to Legacy Land Conservancy. After November 10, the exhibit will be stored again until spring when it will be exhibited again at the Sandhill Crane Vineyards in Jackson, MI. 

Be sure to stop by!

Artwork for Land Conservation - a new project!

I am excited to be one of approximately 40 artists chosen to participate in the "Legacy of the Land Through Art" mixed-media art exhibit to be on display later this year. 

The exhibit is being hosted by Legacy Land Conservancy, in association with the University of Michigan, Matthaei Botanical Gardens, and the Nichols Arboretum. The first exhibit will be at Matthaei Botanical Gardens this fall and a second exhibit will be at Sandhill Crane Vineyards in the spring of 2014. Fostering recognition of the connection between land and people is a key component of Legacy’s mission, so this exhibit is one way to bring this connection to the public.

Each participating artist is given a land assignment in Washtenaw or Jackson counties to explore. Some are assigned to a preserve managed by Legacy Land Conservancy, while others are assigned to private properties of interest in those two southeastern Michigan counties. The artist is to experience the land directly and create 1 to 3 pieces of art inspired by their interaction. 

I have been assigned to Creekshead Nature Preserve, a 27 acre mature beech-maple-basswood forest with spectacular spring wildflower blooms. I have made about 4 or 5 trips out to Creekshead this spring. Ironically, due to a scheduling problem of my own right at the peak, I missed the height of the spring wildflower blooms. Yikes! I nearly panicked, but in my trips to the preserve, I did manage to see and identify a number of species of wildflowers, including:

• spring beauty
• jack-in-the-pulpit
• large white trillium
• nodding trillium
• baneberry
• cut-leaved toothwort
• bloodroot
• mayapple
• trout lily 
• wild geranium

My trips out were sometimes brief and other times with my husband and young kids, so I only did a few field sketches. I took nearly 250 reference photos, though, and am currently working on more detailed studies from my photos. Some of these preliminary studies are below:

Jack-in-the-pulpit field sketches and notes.

Jack-in-the-pulpit study in graphite. This was done in my sketchbook which is Stonehenge paper, so it has a slightly rough texture.

This is a study of wild geranium that I just started. It's in graphite (apologies for the quick photo, rather than a scan). The lower right corner has a small color study (ink and colored pencil) of the flower buds. This was done on Fabriano Artistico Extra White Hot Press watercolor paper. It takes layers of pencil well and also has a nice, smooth texture for blending.



 






This is a graphite study of a mayapple blossom done in my Stonehenge sketchbook.

And here is an experiment on tan, toned paper. This is a white trillium (Trillium grandiflorium) study. I used graphite and then layered some colored pencil on top. The paper did not take the layers of pencil well, so I only did a partial study. Still, interesting to get a feel for the subject.









I am looking forward to doing additional studies and then deciding on what my final pieces will contain. I found it very intriguing to be in the preserve past-peak, wondering what the different plants were without an identifying blossom attached, so I am considering doing a piece of just leaves from different plants.  

What do you think might make a compelling piece? What would you be curious to see in an exhibit like this?

I will keep posting with my progress as I continue drawing and making composition decisions. I do also post updated sketches on my Facebook page and Flickr account, so feel free to check those more frequently. 

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute Retreat 2013! Afternoon of hiking and sketching...

If you have been following along, you know that I had the opportunity to spend a wonderful day at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute yesterday at an art retreat. I, along with about 8 other nature artists, spent time together catching up and creating some new artwork. We had a fantastic introductory class in etching with PCCI's first artist-in-residence, Doet Boersma. Read about it in my previous post.

After our etching class and a tasty lunch, we all spent the afternoon hiking the many trails at PCCI, sketching and painting whatever caught our attention. After such a long winter, it was a pleasure to have temperatures in the 60s and lots of sun! The woods are just starting to bud and spring plants are beginning to bloom.

I decided to hike one of the easier trails so I had plenty of time for drawing as I spotted wildflowers or other interesting subjects.

Three of us headed down toward the boardwalk behind the visitor's center, passing many,  pretty little spring beauties (Claytonia virginica) along the trail. These delicate, pink-striped flowers are among the first to pop up through the leaf litter each spring.

 


As we headed onto the boardwalk, I spotted a few blooming marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris). I missed the chance to sketch them last time I was here, so I set my gear down and decided to do a little drawing.

 

















Marsh marigold sketches are in graphite at the top of the page. Another plant that we saw everywhere was skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus). They have some really interesting shapes and colors, so I had to stop and capture those, too. I ended up doing graphite and added colored pencil on top. Not the best combo, since it gets muddy and smears. But I wanted to add some color to indicate the deep maroon next to the light yellow-green in the same plant. 

In the swampy area near the rest of the skunk cabbage, I did a quick sketch of a tree with bright green moss growing by the roots. I chose to use gray toned paper for this one.

 

 Tree with skunk cabbage growing all around.

 My quick sketch on toned paper. I didn't do a great amount of detail, but really wanted to capture a bit of the moss.

 










I made my way up the blue trail to the Maple and Beech forest next. This is one of my favorite spots and one I visited before. The beech trees look so beautiful and delicate, especially the smaller ones, with their papery white leaves rustling in the breeze. 

Along this whole area, the forest floor is covered in leaf litter and other winter debris, but up throughout all of those leaves, sometimes growing right through them, are the spring wildflowers. I saw trout lily (Erythronium americanum) leaves everywhere, but only one blossom so far. My guess is that in the next week or two, that area will be bright with the curling stems and yellow blossoms. 


 





I also spotted more spring beauties and some clumps of light purple flowers that are slightly bigger than spring beauties. They also have a wonderful, hairy white stem. I believe these are hepatica. 
 

I found one with its three-lobed leaves intact and did some sketching on the same toned gray paper as the tree I did earlier. 

After I finished this study, I simply enjoyed walking the rest of the trail, looking for more flowers and listening to the birds singing. 

My last interesting find was right at the edge of the trail as it came out of the maple and beech forest into the prairie section. It was sunny on the path and I had my walking stick with me, as usual. I was studying the left side of the trail for wildflowers and heard a rustling off to my right. I stopped and saw a thick snake, about 14 inches long, with light tan and brown markings. 

It blended in perfectly with the surrounding leaf litter. It has stopped and was waiting for me to move on. Can you see it in the photo above? Its head is toward the top of the photo, right in between the sideways "V"-shaped tree branches and has two black patches on either side.

I took my camera out and captured a few photos before moving on. It flared its head out as it waited for me to leave, reminding me of a cobra. I thought it might be the elusive Massasauga rattlesnake, Michigan's only venomous snake. 

However, further research when I returned home revealed this to actually be an eastern hog-nosed snake. It is often mistaken for the Massasauga rattlesnake. Those dark head markings really clarified it for me - in any photos you see, the Massasauga has more of a striped appearance. Also, I read that the hog-nosed snake tends to flare its head when disturbed. Either way, a rare and beautiful sighting!

We finished the day by gathering in Doet's studio again to pick up our etching prints that we created earlier in the day and exchange business cards and contact information. I am so glad to have had the chance to visit PCCI and my artist friends, even if just for one day. I look forward to returning again!