posted by Deb Shaw In anticipation of the opening of The Chinese and Japanese Gardens at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, this 2020 group show by the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California (BAGSC) focuses on the plants of Asia. The exhibition can be viewed at the Brody Botanical Center during regular visitor hours, from January 15 – May 6, 2020. BAGSC artists in the exhibition include: Natalia Alatortseva, Stephanie Buehler, Akiko Enokido, Ja

The BAGSC Botanical Day of Art is almost here, and the website has been updated with more information. There are still a few spots available for: Sunday, January 26, 2020 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden 301 N Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007 Cost, BAGSC Members: $50 Non-Members: $60 Be sure to visit the BAGSC website at https://bagsc.org/classes/bagsc-botanical-art-workshop-2020 to review updated information, including: A full schedule of

by Deb Shaw Back by popular demand! Last year’s BAGSC BOTANICAL ART WORKSHOP was such a great success, we’ve created a new one! Start a creative 2020 with: BASIC BOTANICAL ART WORKSHOP A Day of Botanical Art Skills & Techniques for All Levels Sunday, January 26, 2020 9am to 4pm Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007 Participants may choose from a variety hands-on sessions taught by skilled BAGSC teachers in a new, longer, 80-min

by Janice Hoiberg The American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) is celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. The celebration is being commemorated with a “Special Exhibition,” a catalog of member’s artwork to be published in October 2019, based on the theme “Celebrating Silver.” Each original features a plant with ‘silver’ in the common or scientific name, or is a plant that has a ‘silvery’ element or appearance. The catalog also will document ASBA’s history, and inclu

by Deb Shaw Sunday, January 27, 2019 9:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden for a day of mini-workshops and fun exploring techniques and supplies. Cost, BAGSC Members: $50 Non-Members: $60 Register online at: https://bagsc.org/classes/bagsc-basic-botanical-art-workshop Bring your own lunch or purchase from the Arboretum Café. This day of botanical art is designed to allow participants of all levels an opportunity to enjoy a hands-on botan

by Deb Shaw California Current, colored pencil by Nina Antze, © 2018. There are still a few seats left! Nina Antze will be teaching her color pencil technique in a two-day workshop at the Madrona Marsh Preserve in Torrance in February: Non-Native Invasive Plants of the Madrona Marsh Workshop in Color Pencil with Nina Antze February 7-8, 2019 Madrona Marsh Preserve Nature Center 3201 Plaza del Amo Torrance, CA 90505 $200 for BAGSC members, $250 for non-members Learn about the

by Janice Hoiberg Dudleya greenei, Greene’s Live-Forever, Watercolor on paper by Ellie Yun-Hui Tu, © 2015. This year ASBA celebrates its 25th Anniversary! Founded 1994, with 200 original members, it has grown to the vibrant organization of over 1700 botanical artists from around the world. As part of the celebration a special ASBA 25th Anniversary art catalog, “Celebrating Silver,” will be published. Each ASBA member in good standing is eligible to submit a scanned image of a

by Deb Shaw Kokia drynarioides, Hau hele ‘ula. Lesley B Randall, color pencil and graphite on cold press illustration board. Scale 1:1 and various for enlarged details, © 2015, all rights reserved. BAGSC’s exhibition “Totally Tropical,” opens Saturday, November 3, 2018, at the San Diego Botanic Garden (SDBG) in the Ecke Building. “Totally Tropical” celebrates the opening of the San Diego Botanical Garden’s tropical conservatory this past summer. Seventeen BAGSC members are ex

by Deb Shaw Signage with artwork by Esmée Winkel, Leiden’s 300-Year-Old Tulip Tree in Autumn (2016), Liriodendron tulipifera. Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands. Watercolor on paper. © Esmée Winkel. Courtesy of the American Society of Botanical Artists and the New York Botanical Garden. The Los Angeles Times joined The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens and BAGSC in letting everyone know that the “Out of the Woods” exhibition will be comi

by Deb Shaw Li’l Stinky decided not to bloom after all, but provided a wonderful dissection opportunity! The Huntington team and the public got to see what’s inside! We were all disappointed when Li’l Stinker, Amorphophallus titanum, or “Corpse Flower” failed to bloom last week at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. The failed bloom, however, gave Jim Folsom, John Trager, and Brandon Tam the opportunity to dissect the bloom on Facebook Live to crea

by Deb Shaw The wonderful botanical art exhibitions at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Brody Botanical Center are in their final month of display. Out of the Woods: Celebrating Trees in Public Gardens, The Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial and American Society of Botanical Artists will be on display until August 27, 2018, along with BAGSC’s adjunct exhibition “Amazing Trees.”  BAGSC members will continue to have drop-in family botanical

by Jude Wiesenfeld, posted by Deb Shaw Lesley Randall with one Aristolochia gigantea flower. Photo by Jude Wiesenfeld, © 2018. Lesley Randall’s workshop, held at the LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Acadia, was very informative, focusing on Aristolochiaceae, commonly known as the Dutchman’s Pipe Family of plants. Lesley began the workshop with a lecture on the origin of the Aristolochiaceae. They first appeared about 30 million years ago, when most of us were barely s

by Melanie Campbell-Carter, posted by Deb Shaw Aloe broomii hybrid, Melanie Campbell-Carter, watercolor on paper, © 2018. Image protected by Digimarc. BAGSC member Melanie Campbell-Carter is returning to Texas wearing her Botanical Artist hat! As fellow members know, in 2014 Melanie relocated to Southern California from Texas to study botanical art. Melanie was thrilled to see an article in the March 2018 issue of The Botanical Artist about a new ASBA Circle in north Texas. T

by Susan Eubank, Arboretum Librarian, Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, and Deb Shaw Party in the Stacks! Please join The Arboretum library and other plant and garden aficionados for a beautiful evening celebrating the Arboretum Library. The Arboretum Library is distinct among libraries as a comprehensive and very special collection of more than 20,000 books on botany, botanical illustration, gardening, California native plants, landscape design, gardens around t

by Teri Kuwahara and Deb Shaw BAGSC gathered at the Madrona Marsh Nature Preserve in Torrance for the January meeting to feature the ongoing mural project of BAGSC member Estelle DeRidder. The interior of the meeting room walls in the Madrona Marsh Interpretive Center have been filled with Estelle’s paintings of the plants, animals and insects found in Marsh. She has spent countless hours capturing each plant in its native environment. The meeting was highlighted by featuring

by Jude Wiesenfeld, posted by Deb Shaw Magnolia grandiflora, gouache on paper, © Carrie Di Costanzo Carrie Di Constanzo will be teaching a BAGSC-sponsored workshop, entitled Creating Botanical Paintings with Impact Using Gouache. Participants in this workshop will learn how gouache is used to create realistic and detailed botanical paintings. Explore the benefits of using gouache and the similarities and differences between gouache and watercolor. Demonstrations will include

by Deb Shaw Botanical Art Worldwide is listed on the American Express Essentials Culture site as one of 15 Art Exhibitions to see this spring at this link: https://www.amexessentials.com/top-art-exhibitions-events-spring-2018/ Congratulations to Akiko Enokido, her Camellia japonica var. decumbens is included (number 14 of 15 in the slide show). Thank you to the ASBA facebook page for the notification! BAGSC and ASBA member Akiko Enokido’s, Camellia japonica var. decumbens. #b

by Deb Shaw Every three years, the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Conservation Conference brings together California’s conservation community for scientific sessions and lectures, field trips, workshops, special events and networking. Each conference also has a native plant botanical art and photo contest. This year included a California native plant tattoo contest as well! BAGSC members Olga Ryabstova and Gilly Shaeffer taught botanical art workshops at the Conferenc

by Janice Sharp, posted by Deb Shaw This weekend, (February 24 and 25) is the Bonsai-a-thon at the Brody Botanical Center, The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California, from 10 am – 5 pm each day. Andrew Mitchell, The Huntington, hangs the final painting in the ““Portraits of Bonsai from The Huntington Collection” in the Brody Botanical Center. Photo © 2018, Olga Ryabstova. BAGSC’s “Portraits of Bonsai from The Huntington Collection”

by Jude Wiesenfeld, posted by Deb Shaw Ginseng, watercolor on vellum. Denise Walser-Kolar, © 2017, all rights reserved. Denise Walser-Kolar will be teaching the first BAGSC-sponsored workshop of 2018, entitled Roots and Leaves on Vellum or Watercolor Paper. This workshop will focus on drawing and painting roots and leaves, starting with exercises observing and drawing roots and leaves. The balance of the workshop will concentrate on painting several small leaf studies. Studen