Welcome to Reed-Turner Botanical Artists
Celebrating 20 Years Supporting Botanical Art and Artists!
Each year Reed-Turner Botanical Artist (RTBA) brings local botanical artists together to educate each other and the public about botany and the conservation of our natural resources through their artwork. Members have achieved success in presenting their botanical artwork at exibitions in the community. Members have also achieved success in national and international exhibitions, written articles in ASBA The Botanical Artist magazine and published books on botanical art. Reed-Turner Botanical Artist have made great strides in their 20 years.
Reed-Turner Botanical Artists is a Circle affiliated with the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA). Artists’ Circles are independent associations with a mutual interest in botanical art whose participants may be comprised of ASBA members and non-members. Reed-Turner Botanical Artists also maintains an ongoing relationship with the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Members meet monthly throughout the year. Meetings give members the opportunity to gather together with fellow botanical artists, learn botanical art techniques, become educated about botany, and share their botanical artwork.
Important Dates
July 26, 2025, Monthly Meeting of Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Circle
Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Meeting at Reed-Turner Woodland Preserve. The Board of Directors will be reviewing matters with the committees.
Book Share, Show & Tell, and Supply Swap 9:30-11:30
Bring your current favorite botanical art, conservation, ecology, nature, etc. book to share with the group. Also, bring any lightly used supplies you don't need/want. We can set up a little "shopping" time. Unclaimed supplies can be donated to B.A.S.E. at Brushwood Center.
*Snacks/refreshments as usual on that day.
August 30, 2025, 9:30 a.m. Monthly Meeting of Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Circle
Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Meeting at Reed-Turner Woodland Preserve. The Board of Directors will be reviewing matters with the committees.
Members Show and Tell of their recent art works. This would be a great opportunity for members to show progress on their phenology. In addition, members can bring their sketchbooks for end of summer sketching in Reed-Turner Botanical Woodlands.
*Snacks/refreshments as usual on that day.
Botanical Education Opportunities
This list is intended for the midwest area. It is in not all inclusive. The intention is to show the availability of botanical art education online or in-person this area.
Contact the RTBA website administrator HERE if you have a course coming up and would like it to be announced on the website or in the RTBA Newsletter.
Chicago Botanical Garden offers many botanical art courses both in person and online. Here are a few coming soon:
July 24 – August 21, 6 – 9 p.m. Climbing Plants in Colored Pencil
Claudia Lane, freelance artist will be teaching. To reach for the sun, many plants climb towards the light. Whether the plant latches on firmly to a wall like ivy, or sends tendrils feeling for support like clematis, the results provide opportunities for compositions that show the structure of the vines as well as the blooms they may produce. Register HERE
September 6 - October 25, 2025 Online Botanical Drawing
Marlene Hill Donnelly, scientific illustrator, The Field Museum. Strong drawing is the cornerstone of botanical art. In this class, we will work in pencil, covering the fundamentals of proportions, line, tone, dimensionality, and expression. We will work from live specimens, flowers, seeds, and fruit. Register HERE.
Heeyoug Kim offers many botanical art courses both in person and online. Here are a few coming soon:
June 22 to August 31, Special Series: How to Improve Your Watercolor Painting Skills
Workshop 1 - Value and Form
Workshop 2 - Painting Green Leaves
Workshop 3 - White Flowers with Leaves
Review her courses and register HERE
Julia Trickey Talks are one hour presentations from award winning botanical artist and experienced tutors. Here are a few coming soon:
31 July 2025 - 7pm Orchids and Pollinators with Daleen Roodt Register HERE
21 August 2025 - 7pm Captivating Contrast with Sue Wickison Register HERE
ASBA offers many botanical presentations and tutorials online: most of these workshops are $15 for members and $25 for non-member. Here are a few coming soon:
July 31, 2025 Creating an In-Situ Painting with Betsy Rogers-Knox. Register HERE
August 14, 2025 Painting Leaves in Watercolor on Vellum with Akiko Enokido. Register HERE
August 28, 2025 Drawing Flowers in Colored Pencil and Pan Pastel with Jeanne Reiner. Register HERE
September 11, 2025 Watercolor Painting in Sepia Tone with Lara Call Gastinger. Register HERE
Upcoming Travel Opportunity
ASBA Conference in Saint Paul, Minnesota
October 16-18, 2025
Time to make your plans to visit us in Saint Paul! Enjoy curated tours to Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Como Conservatory, Bell Museum, and Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Fill your schedule with art instruction in all media including watercolor, graphite, oil, pen and ink, colored pencil, and silverpoint.
Details for the ASBA Conference HERE
Exhibitions & Events
Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature
May 16-August 17, 2025
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611
McEwen was singularly devoted to the technical aspects and traditions of his crafts and how, in the case of his paintings, they enabled him to capture, in the minutest of detail, the essence of his subjects—plants of all kind—in all their organic beauty.
Plan your visit to Driehaus Museum HERE
ALSO review the ADA Accessibility of the Driehaus Museum HERE
Bogs in Art by Friends of Volo Bog
June 14 - July 27, 2025
International Bog Day is Sunday July 27, 2025. There will be Artist Reception, poetry reading, and live music. The silent bid auction closes at 2:00 on July 27, 2027. Friends of Volo Bog website is HERE
Nature Artists’ Guild Exhibit Into the Wild at Hidden Oaks Nature Center
July 5 until August 30, 2025
Hidden Oaks Nature center is located at 419 Trout Farm Rd, Bolingbrook, IL.
Hidden Oaks Nature Center is open Wednesday - Sunday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.
The Nature Artists’ Guild was there when Hidden Oaks celebrated their grand re-opening after the facility was purchased by the Forest Preserve District of Will County, and the Guild will be there again a few years later to help celebrate the recent extensive renovations to the award-winning building.
Review information HERE
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal - Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes
July 13 – August 31, 2025
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, 21850 N Riverwoods Rd, Riverwoods, IL 60015
In this exhibition, Brushwood Center will celebrate the plants of the dunes that remain, and also address the Dune's environmental importance and the dangers that it and the community that live around it face. It is presented in partnership with the Driehaus Museum to explore perspectives on art and nature in association with their summer exhibition featuring acclaimed botanical artist Rory McEwen, Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature.
Call for Entry
2025 Small Works Exhibition: Dare to be Square-St. Paul, Minnesota
July 1-August 31: Small Works entries open to members planning to attend St. Paul conference
This non-juried exhibition is open to all registered attendees of the 2025 ASBA Conference. Each attendee may submit one original botanical artwork. The exhibition will be on display at the hotel.
Details of this Exhibition HERE
From Our Blog
Botanical Sketches and Rambles
Chronicling the interests and activities of Reed-Turner Botanical Artists Circle
Dues are $25 for the year. These dues are put towards programs, website and exhibition costs.
Memberships are for a calendar year, January through December.
Benefits
Shared community of local botanical artist with common goals
Stay up-to-date with the botanical arts events
Workshops, lectures, and field trips throughout the year
Annual local exhibition opportunity
Listing of members websites and artwork in exhibition galleries
Contact us for more information about joining Reed-Turner Botanical Artist
Membership
Background artwork: George Dionysius Ehret (1708 - 1770)