HomeNCalSBA Activities

NCalSBA ACTIVITIES

Click here the for 2026 Calendar!

Please Note: Reservations for events are non-refundable. However, if you are unable to attend, you may transfer your reservation to another participant.

Have an idea for an event. Contact the Activities Chair.

Meanwhile, please be sure to visit our Exhibition page for information about any exhibits we have coming up. And don’t forget to watch for Calls for Entries deadlines!

TAKE A SKETCHING TOUR OF THE LUTHER BURBANK GARDEN

WITH AMBER TURNER - AND VIEW HIS ICONIC TREES

Friday, June 12, 2026

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

This is an In-Person event with time to sketch, chat during lunch, and experience the arboretum through the eyes of Amber Turner. Members will meet at the Gift Shop entrance.

There is no fee; the garden has given Amber permission to lead our group. As an additional benefit to us, the garden store is offering her book for purchase at a discount: $25.00 less $5.00, plus tax, and is its own unique guide to our special visit.

This event is limited to 12 people.

Please email Susan Mark-Raymond susanmarkraymond@yahoo.com to register for this event.

As a continued theme of sketching in northern California’s beautiful gardens, artists are invited to come to Santa Rosa, home of Luther Burbank, and tour the grounds of his personal garden in the heart of “the city designed for living.” We are especially excited to be led on a personal stroll of the garden by Amber Turner. Amber received an ASBA educational grant to document the trees growing in Burbank’s garden and to convey their quiet magic to garden visitors.

Amber Turner Bio: I live, teach, and garden in Northern California. As illustrating trees is my favorite thing to do, I wrote and illustrated a book called Eye Spy a Tree, Welcome to the Arboretum. It is the story of the trees at Luther Burbank Home & Gardens in Santa Rosa, CA. This 3-year ASBA Grant project consisted of 104 separate plant structure drawings of 26 tree species in pen and ink. The scope of my work extends to multiple mediums from watercolor, pen and ink, and gouache, most often with botanical subjects. Additionally, I work commercially as a surface designer creating patterns for textiles. I have a love of both science and art so that the botany is just as important as the art in my work. I just finished illustrating in watercolor, a children of all ages book celebrating the Point Reyes Peninsula based on a poem written by a friend. It illustrates not only the plants but the animals, insects in the environment as well.

Sketch Day at Tilden Regional Park Botanic Garden

Thursday, May 7, 2026 from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Join Nina Antze and Cheryl Perko to explore and sketch at The Regional Parks Botanic Garden

Location: Tilden Regional Park Botanic Garden

1550 Wildcat Canyon Road, Berkeley, CA 94708

*Nina and Cheryl will meet artists at the Visitors entrance of the garden on Wildcat Canyon Rd. at 10:00 AM.

What to bring: Sketching supplies, foldable seat, lunch (There are no formal or reservable picnic areas in the Garden; there are numerous benches and lawn areas around the Garden.) Dress in layers, bring a hat.

Guidelines for visitors

A map of the garden with seasonal highlights.

https://www.ebparks.org/sites/default/files/botanic-garden-map-brochure.pdf

The garden’s web site - Tilden Regional Park Botanic Garden

Admission to the garden and parking are free

Parking: The lot can fill up quickly depending on the day of the week or garden activities; additional parking is located along Anza View Road.

Email Lynne Lyle at lynne.lyle@gmail.com if you plan to attend the activity. Please let us know you are coming by May 6.

Maximum numbers of participants: 10

Tacca integrifolia by Gwyn Lewis

NCalSBA Annual Meeting

and

2026 Plants Illustrated "In Bloom"

Artists Reception

Please join us for our Northern California Society of Botanical Artists Annual Meeting and the 2026 Plants Illustrated “In Bloom” Artists Reception.

Friday, May 1, 2026

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Julia Morgan Hall

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

Click here to view the virtual exhibition.

This is an opportunity for you and your guests to celebrate the artistic talents of fellow members, to renew old friendships, to share your portfolio/current work, to sell your art, and to sip a glass of wine in a beautiful setting.

Through the generosity of the UC Botanical Garden you and your guest will receive complementary admission to the Garden that afternoon. We have been told parking ($1.50/hr) will be impacted with the suggestion attendees carpool. The deadline for registration is 4/24/26.

2026 Activities

Past Activities

Board Meeting Schedule

Click here for more 2026 activities.

PAST ACTIVITIES

2025 Activities
2024 Activities

2023 Activities on Zoom

2022 Activities on Zoom

2021 Activities on Zoom

2020 Activities

Board Meetings

All members are invited to attend our board meetings. Contact the president for details.

Friday, January 16, 2026 at noon (Zoom)
Friday, April 24, 2026 at noon (Zoom)
Friday, July 24, 2026 at noon (Zoom)
Friday, November 11, 2026 at noon (Zoom)