Expanding the Roots, Advanced Workshop for Artists

by Paula Blair Dabbs, Volunteer, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

“In the Pink” by Paula Dabbs, created with colored inks (Dr. P.H. Martin brand), a non-traditional medium for botanical art.

At the end of October, botanical illustrators and other artists will come together for a new class, Expanding the Roots offered by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s adult education department.
Instructor Celeste Johnston says, “It is a chance to place traditional botanical elements and imagery within a work of art that draws from dreams, poems, ideas, words and other things you might imagine.  It is also a chance to create a botanical work in a non-traditional medium.”
The class is targeted at the student who knows the fundamentals of botanical art or who has had some previous botanical art experience who wants to add other expressive ideas or use  more non-traditional media or a combination of media.

For the traditional botanical illustrator, the familiar parts would be the botanical element, good drawing and attention to detail. From that starting point, the student might end with a mandala, with a special plant as focal point, or a map with flowers placed within it,  or even a family heirloom themed with plants and flowers.   Students will create a contemporary botanical work of art in the media of their choice.  The ideas are endless.

The class begins October 31 and runs for four Wednesdays. Registration is now open.