Posted on

Putting Botanical Art to Work

We invite those who are going to the ASBA Annual Conference in St. Louis next week and have time in their schedules to attend the BAEE Workshop on “Putting Botanical Art to Work,” held on Thursday at 9:45 am to 10:45 am. BAEE President Eileen Malone-Brown will relate how we created the book, marketed it, and awarded grants from the profits, and she will also cover lessons-learned. Several other BAEE members will attend.

Unfortunately, I am unable to attend this year but hope to see everyone next year in Pittsburgh. I am always happy to answer any questions about the project, especially for any group that is interested in undertaking a similar project.

Best wishes for a great conference.
Bonnie

Painting of Mountain Laurel by Karen Ringstrand.
Kalmia latifolia by Karen Ringstrand.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Posted on

Price Reduced on BAEE Book — $15.00, plus shipping

American Botanical Paintings: Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic.
Do you still need a gift for Mothers’ Day? Take advantage of our newly reduced price for American Botanical Paintings: Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic. The price is only $15.00 plus shipping (and tax if mailed to Virginia). To order use the “Contact Us” form on our web site: www.botanical-art.baeecorp.org/order-book/

All profits from sales go to support native plants. For example, BAEE awarded a $15,000 grant to support publication of the ASBA catalog for the “Botanical Art Worldwide: America’s Flora” exhibition.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Posted on

May Class Cancelled

We regret that we must cancel the class with Anne-Marie Evans that was scheduled for next month (May 21-25). She has had difficulty getting her travel visa renewed, although she expects everything will eventually work out. We will try to reschedule her for next spring and will contact everyone who signed up for this class.

Meanwhile, we will hold an informal workshop where students may come and bring their work for gentle critiques, encouragement, and motivation. Those who were in last November’s class should bring the apple paintings they began then. We hope to have available some of the companion plants that are grown in apple orchards. The workshop will be held May 21-23. Use the Contact Us form if you are interested. Cost is minimal — just enough to cover rental of the space — about $25.00.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Posted on

Exhibition on Cannabis

Katherine Tyrell maintains a blog for and about botanical artists. In her posting from October 3rd, she highlights the new exhibition at the Boulder Museum by the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists, ‘Cannabis–A Visual Perspective’. The link is https://www.botanicalartandartists.com/news/cannabis-a-visual-perspective-botanical-art-exhibition-by-rmsba-at-boulder-museum?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BotanicalArtandArtists-News+%28Botanical+Art+and+Artists+-+News%29

She also references a resource to online juried shows that would be useful to any artist interested in exhibiting: OnlineJuriedShows.com

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Posted on

Presentation at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

On Sunday, March 11, Eileen Malone-Brown, BAEE President, gave a presentation titled "Putting Botanical Art to Work" at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Henrico, VA, just outside Richmond. She was introduced by Phyllis Laslett, the Garden Adult Education Coordinator.

Eileen walked the audience through creation of the BAEE book American Botanical Art: Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic and told how proceeds from book sales have been used as grants to further understanding of the importance of native plants to the environment and to encourage their conservation and use in home gardens. Her presentation also included comparisons of Mark Catesby's prints of native plants with contemporary versions by BAEE members.

While encouraging the audience to develop their own projects, Eileen shared lessons learned from the making of the BAEE Book. The audience of 26 included Lewis Ginter Botanical Art students and graduates, as well as members of other local plant conservation groups. The event concluded with a lively question-and-answer discussion covering many botanical art project possibilities other than publishing a book.

Photo of seven people after a presentation at Lewis Ginter. One is signing a book.
Left to right: Patrice Hobbs, Ru Contois, Eileen Malone-Brown (signing book), Judy Rodgers, and Judith Towers.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Posted on

BAEE Grant to Earth Sangha Produces Beautiful Results at Area Schools

A BAEE grant of $10,000 helped Earth Sangha (ES) to develop "Garden Kits" that contained native plant seedlings from the ES Wild Plant Nursery, a manual that provided planting and maintenance instructions, and background on relevant conservation issues. ES distributed these kits to local schools and conducted workshops for both teachers and administrators.

The Garden Kits come in four designs for different landscapes: the Sunny Well-Drained Meadow Kit, the Wet Meadow or Rain Garden, the Forest Edge, and the Riparian. The most popular was the Meadow kit, which transforms featureless turf into lush, beautiful, and environmentally friendly landscape for schools.

Before and after photos show the effectiveness of the project.

Photo of plantings at elementary school yard.
New plantings at North Springfield Elementary School included Baptisia tinctoria (Yellow Baptisia), Pycnanthemum tenuifolium (Mountain Mint), Elymus glabriflorus (Southeastern Wildrye), Doellingeria umbellata (Flat-topped White Aster), Sorhastrum nutans (Indian Grass), Rudbeckia fulgida (Orange Coneflower), Symphyotrichum undulatum (Wavey-laved Aster), Monarda didyma (Bee Balm), and a couple other native grasses and forbs.
Photo of high school garden plants
Brad Webster, a Fairfax High School science teacher (left) and Matt Bright, Earth Sangha Conservation Manager standing in front of a mixture of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium fistulosum), threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata), narrow-leaved mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), purple lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis), and a couple other native grasses and forbs.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email