HomeNCalSBA 2024 Activities

Flora of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Presentation

via Zoom with Nina Antze and Kitty Ritz

November 15, 2024 at 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Narrow leaf milkweed

Asclepias fascicularis

by Nina Antze

Bee Plant

Serophularia californica

by Kitty Ritz

Nina and Kitty will present The Flora of the Laguna, an exhibition of botanical paintings by a dozen Sonoma County colored pencil artists. The exhibition is a culmination of a two-year project documenting the California native plants of the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed. Kitty will describe the Laguna watershed and the work of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation. Nina will walk us through the art exhibit and talk about the process the artists went through to find and choose the plants we wanted to paint. We will look at photos and study sheets that evolved into the beautiful paintings now on view at the Laguna Stone Farm in Santa Rosa. The project was an ongoing education for the artists and our hope is that it will inspire others to see the natural beauty in our own backyards and the importance of conservation and restoration.

Nina will provide a color pencil presentation called

"Creating Browns with Colored Pencils".

Click here for the handout.

Laguna Oak by Nina Antze

Nina Antze has a Fine Arts degree and a Certificate in Botanical Illustration from the New York Botanical Garden. She teaches Drawing Nature classes throughout California and online and is a member of the Filoli Florilegium, the Alcatraz Florilegium, and the Mt. Tamalpais Florilegium. Her Chinese Maple was selected for the deYoung Museum Open 2020 and her Shelter in Place Quilt#5 was selected for the Open 2023 . She works in colored pencil, watercolor pencil, and fabric. Her botanicals can be viewed at her web site, www.pcquilt.com

Kitty Ritz has studied botanical art with Nina Antze for more than a decade. Her interest in plants extends from her own garden to the hills and valleys she loves to hike. As a Docent for the Laguna de Santa Rosa she has been lucky enough to explore this assemblage of wetlands, uplands, oak woodlands, and chaparral that is a treasure of the Sonoma County landscape. She has monitored for Sonoma LandTrust, lead groups of students on field trips to Laguna habitats, is a Master Gardener, and lover of native plants.

This Zoom presentation is free to NCalSBA members.

Circle Oak Ranch

September 29, 2024

"On Sunday, September 29, 2024, the North Bay Representatives hosted a sketching day in the beautiful and inspirational garden of Circle Oak Ranch in Petaluma. This was the first in-person event in the North Bay since COVID. Twelve people attended, including the organizers Kristin Jakob and Bernard Halliwell.

The beauty of this garden is in the juxtaposition of the color of foliage and form of interesting and unusual plants. This is not a garden that emphasizes flowers per se, though some of the plants do bloom. There are pathways and benches and tasteful objects that serve as focal points in the tableau of contrasting foliage. Many visitors wander the paths and sit on benches and are content to take in whatever is before them. Even some botanical artists are satisfied just to look and be inspired. The majority, however, find a quiet place, pick a bit of a plant to observe, and pull out a sketchbook to begin what one can accomplish in a few hours.

Sara Malone, the warm and gracious owner, has been cultivating this garden for 25 years. This is a garden that once visited is never forgotten."

Bernard Halliwell

Photos by Kristin Jakob

Mary Batchelder and Kaye Herbranson

Laurence Hills

Tour of Annie's Annuals & Perennials

September 4, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Annie's Annuals Entrance

Maddie with Janice

Dorcas Walton and Laura Brainin-Rodriguez

Prajwol Bhandon - events and marketing, Maddy Fisher -Retail Supervisor & Sally Petru

Tour of Annie's Annuals & Perennials

September 4, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

NCalSBA members and their guests are invited to join East Bay members, Janice Byer and Sally Petru, at Annie's Annuals & Perennials in Richmond on Wednesday, September 4th from 11am to 1pm. There will be a tour at the nursery with staff member Maddy Fisher, Retail Supervisor, who will explain the history of Annie's from inception to today (plus, who id Annie!?) The tour will include an explanation of their nursery grounds and display gardens including garden bed and display pot themes, Annie's garden design principles and an explanation of the value of producing their own plants, the propagation and production process, and why they offer plants in the 4" pot size. You will receive a 15% discount of all plant material and are invited to bring your own lunch, stick around and sketch your purchase or the garden itself! Take an advance peek at the nursery by going to Annie's website.

This tour will be limited to the first 20 members/guests.

Please notify Sally Petru (sal@sallypetru.com) or Janice Byer (artistjaniceb@yahoo.com) if you have any questions or want to be placed on a wait list, guests are welcome.

Annie's Annuals is a unique East Bay Nursery that grows its plants on-site from seeds, plugs, or their own cuttings, none of which are genetically modified. They do not apply growth hormones or use systematic pesticides and have adopted a "bee-friendly" program among their vast selection of native and non-native plants.

Early Women Botanical Artists of the West

Join us on September 6th, 2024 from 11:00am to 12:30pm for a virtual presentation by Brian Thompson, from the University of Washington Botanic Gardens and author of a six-part book review series about the lives and achievements of early women botanists and botanical artists in Europe, North America, and beyond.

NCalSBA Annual Membership Meeting with Lesley Parness

History of Women in Botanical Art

August 24, 2024 from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm online with Zoom

Please Note: although the business portion of the meeting will be recorded, our speaker has requested that her portion be 'live' only, so it will NOT be recorded.

Suitable for Framing: A Victorian Woman's Place

in Botanic Art & Illustration

When renowned British botanist John Lindley wrote Ladies’ Botany in 1834, he did so to block women from, not welcome them into, the academic world of horticulture. Learn how women figured it out anyway and managed to contribute to science, influence public taste and advance their own craft. The Victorian artists featured range from rebels to spinsters, suffragettes to missionary wives and are highlighted with strikingly beautiful imagery and humor.

Presented by Lesley Parness, Garden Historian and retired Superintendent of Horticultural Education at New Jersey’s Morris County Park Commission.

Visit Lesley's website here!

Lesley Parness

Ruth Bancroft Garden and Tour - Photos from July 2024

photos taken by Janice Byer

RUTH BANCROFT GARDEN & NURSERY TOUR

Friday, June 21, 2024

Private tour from 9:00 am - 10:00 am, followed with an option to sketch, paint, or discuss the plants that have inspired us. Our event will end at noon.

Fee: $24 NCalSBA members & $30 non-member non-refundable

1552 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek phone: 925-944-9352

website: www.ruthbancroftgarden.org

The Ruth Bancroft Garden & Nursery is a world-renowned 3.5 acre botanical garden and retail Nursery housing a collection of climate-resilient plants from around the world. It has been in business for over 50 years. Voted “Best Tourist Attraction” by Diablo Magazine editors and readers in ‘Best of the East Bay’, 2022 & 2023.

Note that because of limited pathway space easels, tripods, carts or chairs will not be allowed yet beautifully arranged picnic tables and benches are placed throughout the garden and would be a perfect place for us to sit, sketch and share our reactions to the tour.

Please contact Janice Byer if you have any questions.

Email: artistjaniceb@yahoo.com or Cell: 510-734-1424

Kelly Darpinian has a sketching kit that meets the garden's requirements. Click here to read Kelly's Blog post on her Streamlined Sketching Kit.

Ruth Bancroft Garden & Nursery Guidelines:

Do not damage any plant or disturb wildlife.

Do not bring in easels, tripods, carts or chairs

Stay on designated paths, do not let your equipment block others from passing by you.

Keep 3 feet clearance so other visitors & wheelchairs can pass you

No equipment set-up in planting bed, nor use park benches to rest materials on

Do not dispose any art materials (including water for watercolor paints) in garden bed or path

Non toxic liquid can be poured into bathroom sinks

Carpooling is requested for a Tour party of six or more

PHOTOS FROM THE UCBG GARDEN TOUR WITH HOLLY FORBES ON APRIL 10, 2024

photos taken by Janice Byer