“Botanical art connects science to people with one finely tuned, articulate voice. And it draws us to plants, to conservation, and to a sense of awareness and concern that without plants we are nothing. All of which makes the subject of botanical art so enormously relevant - more relevant today, perhaps, than it has been for generations.” -Derek Norman
Welcome to Reed-Turner Botanical 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
January Meeting of Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Circle
January 31, 2026
RTBA is kicking off the new year by reflecting on last year’s group project - the phenology wheel - and this year’s share activities - Studio Secrets.
Bring in you phenology wheel
Any stage of completion is welcome. RTBA hope to present the RTBA phenology wheel project as an article for publication to ASBA The Botanical Artist this year.
Studio Secrets: Favorite Accessories
This years there are several RTBA programs where some or all of our members will share their studio secrets. In January, members are sharing their favorite accessories that make working in the studio a little easier.
All members, go to your studio and grab your favorite accessories that you would recommend to a fellow artist - paint kit, brushes, pencils, embossing tools, pencil sharpeners, water containers or dispensers, measuring tools. We all have these wild and wonderful gadgets we use in our studios. Bring them in and tell us how you use them.
February Meeting of Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Circle
Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show - Feeling Groovy starts in February. The past few years have been a spectacular event!
RTBA would like to go as a group in lieu of our February Meeting.
GET YOU TICKETS NOW!!!
So many of our members are also members of the Chicago Botanic Garden that members will be purchasing tickets separately.
PURCHASE TICKET HERE FOR FEBRUARY 28, 2026, 10:00 A.M.
Mellow out with us for a groovy orchid show and a boss lunch at the Garden View Cafe.
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. Check out their upcoming selections HERE.
These are some of the class coming soon:
Botanical Drawing / Online with Marlene Hill Donnelly, scientific illustrator, The Field Museum
8 Saturdays
January 10 – February 28
9 a.m. – noon.
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.
Pen and Ink 2 | Online with Claudia Lane, freelance artist
(This does have prerequisites.)
6 Thursdays:
January 22 – February 26
6 – 9 p.m.
Explore advanced pen-and-ink techniques and composition in botanical documentation and illustration. You will draw a plant of your choice and its dissected parts, creating a traditional, beautiful, scientific botanical plate. While perfecting skills in linear and tonal drawing, you will learn to communicate accurate botanical information and the value of aesthetics in scientific botanical art. Register HERE.
Heeyoug Kim offers many botanical art courses both in person and online. Here are a few coming soon:
January 8, 15, 22, Feb 5 & 12 (no class on Jan 29), 10 am - 1 pm Drawing Fundamentals for Beginners, Zoom
The Most Sought-After Drawing Workshop Year After Year: An Intensive course with lots of detailed technique demos, meaningful assignments and constructive feedback. Informative PDFs prepared by Kim will help students understand the drawing process naturally and logically. Kim’s deep understanding on the medium helps students experience the whole drawing process from a completely different perspective.
Register HERE for any in this series
Julia Trickey Talks are one hour presentations from award winning botanical artist and experienced tutors. Here are a few coming soon:
15 January 2026 - 7pm PAINT A PEONY by Elaine Searle
29 January 2026 - 7pm A FYNBOS LOVE AFFAIR with Vicki Thomas
Register HERE.
Domestika Botanical Courses
These course are often offered with a 97% discount!
Julia Trickey Domestika
Julia Trickey course taught through Domestika , includes 15 lessons focusing on painting a botanical portrait of fruit Register HERE.
Vincent Jeannerot, Botanical Watercolor Illustration: Cross-hatching Technique
This 15 lesson course, taught through Domestika, focused on building layers using washes and a dry brush technique of cross-hatching. The course includes several lessons on vellum. Register HERE.
ASBA offers many botanical presentations and tutorials online: most of these workshops are $15 for members and $25 for non-member. Recordings are available for up to two weeks after the event.
Thursday, February 26, 2026, 1:00 PM until 2:00 PM, ASBA The Botanical Artist Live with Andreas Hentrich, a watercolor and oil painter, will share his approach to working with specimens in both the studio and the field. Sessions can be viewed live or on demand for two weeks following live airing.
ASBA Calendar posted HERE also post events from their chapters! Consider joining a chapter for their online events.
Call for Entry
These dates are coming up fast!
Lake County Audubon Society
Through the Eyes of the Piping Plovers: The Flora, Fauna & People of the Lake Plain
Robert T. Wright Community Gallery of Art, Lake County, Illinois
College of Lake County - L-Wing, 19351 W Washington St, Grayslake, IL
Submission Deadline: February 2
Exhibit Dates: February 27 – March 31
Info and application link HERE
Woman Made Gallery, Chicago
1332 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60607
Seeds of Resilience
Submission Deadline: : February 22
Exhibition Dates: April 11–May 9, 2026
Info and application link HERE
Oak Park Art League
BLOOM: Art of Flowers, Foliage & Fruit /Juried Exhibition
720 Chicago Ave, Oak Park, IL
Submission Deadline: April 30, 2026 midnight
Exhibition dates: June 12 - August 2, 2026
Botanical artist, Kathleen Garness is the juror!
Info and application link HERE
29th Annual International American Society of Botanical Artists and Society of Illustrators
Exhibition: September – December, 2026
Submission Deadline: Friday, April 24, 2026
Botanical specimens. Work may have appeared in regional exhibitions, but may not have been shown in another international juried exhibition of ASBA.
Details of this Call for Entry HERE
ASBA Orchids: Jewels of the Plant World / The Sixth New York Botanical Garden Triennial
Opening February 2027
Submission Deadline: March 11 - September 11, 2026
The theme for The Sixth New York Botanical Garden Triennial is all about orchids, whether terrestrial or epiphytic, found nearby or anywhere in the world. The diversity of orchids is incredible; there are over 30,000 species and over 100,000 hybrids.
Details of this Call for Entry HERE
Exhibitions
Nature Artists’ Guild’s special exhibits at the Downers Grove Public Library and Arts and Cultural Center at Wheaton Public Library in January, 2026.
Check their event calendar HERE, for times and locations.
Adler Arts Center, 1700 North Milwaukee Avenue, Libertyville, Illinois
January 9 - February 14 2026, 2026 Artist Member Exhibit
Opening Reception: Friday, January 9, 6-8pm
Check their event page 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)
Members can CLICK HERE to add to the RTBA Padlet (video accompanied by Vince Guaraldi Autumn Leaves)