The Art & Science of Botanical Illustration

This winter, View, the Center For Arts and Culture in the Adirondacks, is holding several themed exhibitions exploring the beauty and unique qualities of plants, trees, leaves, roots, and fungi. The beauty and diversity of the Adirondacks may be hidden under the snow but View wants to invite the public to an exuberant group of exhibits to remind us of the beneficial and uplifting qualities of nature year round.

View is inviting you to submit your Botanical Art and Illustration to The Art & Science of Botanical Illustration. This will be a separate juried exhibit offered in conjunction with the juried Flowers, Trees & Roots:  The Wild World of Plants and the wood sculptures of Jack Elliot. We seek botanical art and illustration of plants or fungi depicted accurately, reflecting an intimate knowledge and understanding and meeting a high aesthetic standard.

Join us for our opening reception on December 9th from 5-7pm. The reception is FREE and open to the public and light hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar. The opening is the first opportunity to see Flowers, Trees, and Roots: The Wild World of Plants; Botanical Illustrations: The Art & Science of Plants; and Adirondack Plant Photo Contest.

Jurors for the Botanical Illustration portion of this exhibit are Carol Woodin and Cynthia Rice

Carol Woodin:
Carol has been making botanical artworks for nearly 30 years. Her main focus has been orchids and wild plant species, many of which are at risk in their native habitats. Her devotion to the art and craft of capturing today's plant life doesn't stop at wild plants though - edibles and cultivated flowers are also game. Through investigations of plant life, we can see into the deep past of plant evolution as well as human-guided changes over millennia. Working in watercolor on vellum since 1995, the material provides an ideal foil for the organic form and color of botanical subjects. 

Cynthia Rice:
love of the plant world began early, as a young child in her English grandmother's perennial garden and the fields and forests of New England.  It stayed with her as she grew into gardener, propagator and student of botany through college.  She then went on to become a landscape architect. 

Her professional career began with urban design, streetscapes, parks and monuments in and around New York City, then turned to rural themes in Northwestern Connecticut, where she founded a landscape architecture and garden business.
 
After selling her business in 2004, she embarked on a new career as botanical artist.  She has been a Director and Officer of the American Society of Botanical artists, currently serving as their Treasurer.  She is also a Master Naturalist in coastal wetlands.