“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

Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Meeting at Reed-Turner Woodland Preserve. The Board of Directors will be reviewing matters with the committees. The meeting will be followed by a show and tell where members will share their recent botanical work. Refreshments will be served.

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!

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)