Congratulations to ALL the GNSI members* who claimed a spot in the Focus On Nature XIV exhibit. And congratulation to those who received a Jury award!
http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/fon/exhibitions/index.html
Volunteering during a GNSI conference offers the chance to meet new people, help the conference run smoothly, and deepen your connection to the organization. The first twenty people to commit to at least five hours of volunteer work at the conference will be eligible to receive a $100 refund on their registration (refunds will be processed after the conference). In many cases, several volunteer tasks will need to be combined to meet the five-hour minimum.
Description: Assist presenters with computer connections, presentation loading, and any other technical issues that arise. Each person will be responsible for two classrooms during their two-hour shift.
Longtime GNSI member Alice Tangerini discusses botanical illustration with writer Cheryl Corson in a local Washington DC news outlet:
The West Wing of the Smithsonian’s Department of Botany in the National Museum of Natural History houses 4.8 million dried pressed plants, the oldest of which was collected in the 1500s. Capitol Hill resident Alice Tangerini has drawn well over 1,000 of them in her role as the museum’s botanical illustrator. Her illustrations appear in scientific journals published worldwide and may be seen in the Smithsonian’s online Catalog of Botanical Illustrations: http://botany.si.edu/botart/artistGallery.cfm?myArtist=Tangerini,%20A.
GNSI Member Kisten Carlson found out about the Artist-at-Sea resident program sponsored by the Schmidt Ocean Institute from a GNSI notice of opportunity. She jumped on it and now finds herself on a multi-week cruise in the Pacific Ocean, helping the mission of science by creating visuals and communicating about the work of the ship's crew!
You can follow her journey of exploration on her twitter account and dedicated Blog here: https://twitter.com/kirstencarlson
http://www.artsyfishy.com/post/156041206890/artist-at-sea-get-ready
I’m excited to announce that some of my artwork will be part of the inaugural exhibit of the brand new Toronto art gallery and classroom Nature Art Studio, located at 2837 Dundas Street West in Toronto. About a dozen of my original paintings and drawings will be exhibited, including my recent goldenrod watercolors. The reception for this exhibit is January 28 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM; all are invited!
The accomplished botanical artist Nellie Sue Potter and her husband Steven are responsible for this new venture, and the first exhibit will include her work as well as paintings by master bird artist Barry Kent MacKay. This is a very unique gallery and I’m excited to see what other artists are featured in the months and years to come.
I love remembering two things from my childhood. One, there was never enough drawing paper and two, I treasured hearing my parents say, “We had a young daughter who liked science and we didn’t quite know what to do with her other than encouraging her.” What a gift!
I am happy for the chance to share with you some of my professional experiences demonstrating things I feel a passion for as well as ones that have impacted my professional life.
Who Can Enter?- Work must be entered as either a New Talent entry or a Professional entry.
- New Talent entrants are Undergraduate Students, Post-Graduate Students or graduates within two years of graduation. Professional entrants are all other professional illustrators.
Please welcome Karen A. Johnson, as Treasurer of the GNSI Board of Directors. Karen succeeds Marj Leggitt who has served in this role for 16 years. We are fortunate to have Karen bring her dedication and expertise to serve the Guild.
Karen has been a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators since 1989. She has bachelors’ degrees from Iowa State University in biological illustration and entomology, the study of insects. Karen has done the majority of her color work in watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and pastel and her black and white work on scratchboard. Her realistic depictions of flowers and insects are done on a variety of backgrounds ranging from plain to abstract. She also utilizes the computer to make her paintings available in cards and calendars.
William B.T. Ronalds III (Bill), of Rockland, Maine (b. July 29, 1943), passed away on Thursday, October 20, 2016.I first met Bill in the mid-1980s at a GNSI summer workshop at Eagle Hill Institute in Steuben, Maine. He was generous in his nature, funny, and he clearly loved art and sharing his passion for it. He happened to notice I had a picture of my dog with me, and through that, I learned he was a devoted dog owner as well, and our friendship began.
Bill was a Professor of Fine Arts at St. John’s University in New York for over two decades, and taught illustration, cartooning and drawing. He served as department chairman for 9 years. Teaching was a joy for him and he often maintained relationships with students long after they left the university. He won numerous awards, including a University-wide Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship (2004). One of his works is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Our warmest welcome to the recently formed GNSI Maine Group! Here's a note from the President, Amy Gagnon:
We are pleased to announce that we are starting a GNSI Maine group! Our group will be based in Bar Harbor and will meet at the College of the Atlantic Dorr Natural History Museum.
A video recording of Fernando Baptista's lecture for the GNSI-DC Chapter is now available on GNSI's YouTube Channel and below.
Fernando Baptista: National Geographic Artist
The Smithsonian Scholarly Press most recent publication features the work of GNSI member Julia Morgan Scott, alongside that of Larry Isham (1922-2011), GNSI founding member. The “Skeletal Anatomy of the North American Pangolin Patriomanis Americana (Mammalia, Pholidota) from the Latest Eocene of Wyoming (USA)”, written by Timothy J. Gaudin, Robert J. Emry, and Jeremy Morris, is a classic example of a high-quality science illustration-enhanced research report. The publication and art are more than 14 years in the making. When you think of a hardcore science illustration project, this is a great example.
You can examine the entire collection of art, and the science content, online in PDF form.
“Celebrating 10 Years of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators – Great Plains Chapter” exhibit of scientific illustrations by Great Plains Chapter members is on display through November at the University of Nebraska Love Library. The exhibit includes over 40 works of art along with tools, specimens and educational information about scientific illustration.
The exhibit is featured on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln website with information on what science illustrators do, and a full list of the artists participating.
GNSI member Hannah Bonner is adding to her already long list of children’s books (see here for an example) with the upcoming Dining with Dinosaurs, A Tasty Guide to Mesozoic Munching. The book takes you on a tour of who ate who (and what) in the Mesozoic. You will learn all about the ancient food web, from enormous long-neck herbivores to teensy blood-drinking fleas. Along the way, you’ll encounter Spinosaurus on the search for fish, raptors hunting in packs, plants telling you how they eat sunlight, and scientists sharing their knowledge in comic-book style interviews. Get ready to be amused, surprised, and maybe even a bit grossed out when you learn what was on the prehistoric menu.
"In Dining With Dinosaurs, the award-winning author of When Fish Got Feet and When Dinos Dawned serves up a full-course meal of mouthwatering Mesozoic food facts. Travel back in time for a tour of the “vores” of the dinosaur world, from mega carnivores to itty-bitty herbivores and everything in between.”
The New York MTA is searching for artists to design murals for five Brooklyn subway stations. If you are in the New York area, you have until Sept 30th, 2016 to submit a portfolio for consideration. Finalists will be selected and given $1000 to prepare a design. Winners will have a budget for design and fabrication of the artwork. Each subway station budget will range from approximately $200,000 to $230,000, including an artist fee of up to 20% of the final art project cost. As part of this fee, the selected artist will be required to submit a budget, produce completed designs, select a fabricator and oversee the fabrication and installation of the artwork, with project management by MTA Arts & Design.
More details here: http://web.mta.info/mta/aft/about/calldocs/Call_for_Artists_SeaBeachII_f...
AF: Sharon, Five Fingers Lighthouse in Frederick Sound, S.E. Alaska, is by definition, off the beaten track. How did you find yourself there?
> Photo of Five Fingers Lighthouse with breaching Humpback whale in the foreground, © 2014 Jane Ruffin
There are many ways to support the GNSI, from volunteering your time, presenting at our conferences, teaching workshops, or contributing articles to the Journal, the listserv, our social media or the website news. But you can also help the GNSI and help yourself too! Consider a monetary donation to the Friends Of The Guild (F.O.G.)! The Guild is a USA 501(c)3 nonprofit, and your donations may be tax deductible. Please include the GNSI in your year-end financial planning, and remember that donations of ANY amount are welcome any time of the year. Visit the GNSI website to make a donation.
If you are looking for a long-term legacy, consider creating a GNSI scholarship fund, either by yourself or in memory of a loved one, colleague or friend. Scholarships can be designated for students or anyone attending the Annual Conference or the Education Series Workshops. Contact any Board member and we can discuss your plans with you.
In the course of renovating my studio space, I opted to recycle my old cumbersome morgue files, as I now use the internet regularly for reference photos. Using the iPad is great, but I had no good place to set it to refer to while I work at my drawing table. Putting it on the edge of the drawing table isn't very secure (I've knocked it down several times), it's in the way, and the angle isn't very good. I have a smallish taboret of sorts next to the drawing table that is loaded up with the essentials, no room to prop up an iPad there either.
So I hunted on the internet for a tiny table to wedge in next to the taboret, with no luck (too big, too expensive, or all of the above). Then I came across a flexible, adaptable clamp-on iPad holder that has turned out to be the perfect solution for me.
I first saw these kneaded erasers a little over a year ago and ordered some from Cheap Joe's. I use kneaded erasers all the time so I wanted to test if these were - aside from their color - any different from the gray ones I've always purchased. They came as a set of three, one each of blue, red, and yellow. The Cheap Joe's website description said that the erasers will not leave a color stain on the drawing surface, and I have found that to be true. As one might expect, the bright colors do not last long; they quickly become mixed with whatever one is erasing. My latest order arrived with each of the three erasers in its own plastic box, which seems to me like excessive and wasteful packaging. My first order didn't have the boxes.
Major Disadvantages:
The Faber Castell erasers do not last as long as the traditional gray kneaded erasers. They become sticky after awhile. I went through all three in about a year. They are softer than gray kneaded erasers so they do not erase stronger marks as readily as the gray erasers.
