Celebrating 20 Years Supporting Botanical Art and Artists!
The First Meeting of the Red-Turner Botanical Artist was on October 29, 2005,
Derek Norman convened the meeting.
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
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:
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:
August 21, 10 am - 1:00 am Learning about Bees: Anatomy, Drawing and Painting
August 28, September 4, & 11 10:00 am - 1:00 pm All about Butterflies: Anatomy, Drawing and Painting
Nov 6, 13, 20, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm The First Step toward Bird Painting: Demystifying the Complex Bird Anatomy for Accurate Drawing and Painting
This series of 3 workshops are designed for those who want to add faunal elements such as bees, butterflies and birds to their botanical paintings, but have not gotten courage to start yet, or do not have enough knowledge and experience about drawing/painting them. Kim will guid them from drawing to painting with easy-to-follow demonstrations.
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:
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:
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
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)