Nature Illustrated at Tohono Chul Park

When I gave a power point presentation about pollinators at Tohono Chull Park last spring, I used several of my watercolor paintings as illustrations. Preparing the exhibit Nature Illustrated, curator Ben Johnson remembered those images and invited me to participate. Thank you so much, Ben!

My contributions are watercolors of beetles and bugs as well as photo collages of Arizona beetle species.

I missed the show opening last Friday evening because I was still preparing for the weekend art show at La Encantada - autumn and winter are our busiest seasons in Arizona.  But in a way, I am glad that Randy and I went today in the morning to see the show:

 The exhibit room is in one of the historic buildings of the park.Beautiful windows overlook desert vegetation, courtyards, fountains and bird feeders, and instead of distracting from the artwork, this background added a very fitting dimension. I think that speaks for the skill of the exhibit designer as well as for the strength of the artwork. This photographer, unfortunately, is unable to balance wall-art and window-views with her camera...  

 The emphasis of the exhibit was on nature illustrations that are esthetically pleasing and scientifically accurate, created to educate and inspire interest in our complex desert ecosystem.

The works of Linda Feltner, Paul Mirocha, Lois McLane, Rachel Ivanyi, Narca Moore-Craig, Margaret Pope, and Manabu Saito fulfilled this requirement in exemplary fashion and I am very proud that my pieces are part of the show.

The exhibit will be open til February 16, 2014, so there is a lot of time to see it, but right now you get the added bonus of some late blooming flowers in the gardens that are still drawing a surprising abundance of butterflies.