by Akiko Enokido
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation at Carnegie Mellon University has an International Exhibition every three years, the opening reception coinciding with the ASBA conference.
They seek fine artists and illustrators who are not represented in their collection. The exhibition for Fall 2010 is the 13th since the Institute was established in 1964.
Sadly, the curator of art, Mr James White has stepped down from his position due to health reasons. His assistant, Ms. Lugene Bruno has taken over his position. I know her only via telephone, but she seems to be a wonderful person.
They requested I send six slides from my works painted within the last two years (they accept up to dozen slides or transparencies), a letter and a resume.
Camellia Japonica, watercolor, © 2009, Akiko Enokido
A week later, I received an e-mail from Ms. Bruno informing me that that they had accepted my Camellia Japonica painting.
I painted this piece last spring. I had painted camellias before, but this time I tried to focus on creating the texture of the shiny leaves in watercolor. I showed my work to Jenny Phillips when I took her class at the Huntington Library. She gave me some advice which was very helpful. Thank you, Jenny.
I’m not perfectly happy yet with this piece but I’m glad my effort was acknowledged.
The opening will be held on September  23 at Hunt Institute Gallery, 5th floor, Hunt Libarary, 4909 Frew Street, Carnegie Mellon University. The artwork will be on display until December 21st. I hope you can come and see the exhibition. The ASBA Annual Conference will be held September 23-25.