Susan Frei Nathan - Fine Works on Paper, LLC

Kelly Leahy Radding
She Loves the Sun, 2021
watercolor on vellum
8 x 10 inches

Kelly Leahy Radding’s painting entitled, “She Loves the Sun” welcomes us into seasonal change from Spring to Summer.  The Buttercup’s elegant plant posture with its elongated stem and simplicity in leaf construction, speaks to the season of summer as we shed our layers and receive and devour the warmth of the sun.  Although it typically grows in dense patches, Radding’s composes the plant as a singular force, a symbol of the sun and its glory.  Through this composition she elevates its status as a plant, often categorized as a weed for the speed it which is grows and spreads, here, reminiscent of Redouté’s 19th century botanical portraiture, referencing his commissioned work in his Les Liliacées, documenting the plants in Josephine Bonaparte’s garden.  This work includes over 500 plants in this classical style combining scientific specificity and a definitive voice in style of composition, thereafter setting the standard for botanical portraiture for future centuries of painters.

Spring feels like a new beginning, especially after the winter we experienced in the Northeast of the US.  Spring ushers in earth’s awakening.  Karen Kluglein’s Ferrari bulb exemplifies the excitement of the season to come.  Variations in tones within the bulb hint to its beauty and what to look forward to.  So much to say within this spectacular rendering of the bulb, ready to activate beneath the earth for a true show when its time to bloom.  The story here is the anticipation of Spring.

Karen Kluglein
Ferrari (amaryllis bulb), 2016
watercolor on vellum

Please visit www.sfnbotanicalart.com for holiday gift ideas.  Works by Beverly Duncan, Elizabeth Enders and Monika de Vries Gohlke available from $750 – $1,950.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to ALL!

Monika de Vries Gohlke
Magonia x Brooklynensis “Eva Maria”, 2022
Aquatint etching, hand-painted, chine collé
16 x 16 inches
$950

Beverly Duncan
Ashfield Composition:
Autumn Golds, 2018
Watercolor on paper

We are currently featuring Beverly Duncan’s Observations in Nature on www.sfnbotanicalart.com.  Her fascinating journey expands our understanding of the subject selection process and the meaning behind her contemporary assemblages of plant life, seemingly self-portraits of her through nature.

In our ongoing Observations in Nature series, please find our next featured artist, Gertrude Hamilton.  It is with immense pleasure to bring you insights into Hamilton’s thoughts and inspirations on her art.  As an artist born and raised in Ghent, Belgium, a true European sensibility appears through her romantic and whimsical nature based portraits with an undeniable gravitational pull.  The careful study of flora and fauna reveals her vision of nature. In this watercolor on paper entitled, Having a Ball Up There, 2017, Hamilton is conversing with her father who had recently passed.  What appears is a joyful scene with a contemplative bird set within a colorful dot-filled background looking up. Perhaps the bird propped on the black plant in the foreground refers to his passing and their loving relationship?

Her art is a blend of imagery with purpose, whether it is telling a story or intentionally decorative.  She choses the medium of pencil, watercolor or oil from her mood and the environment.  Either way she captures the essence of the plant in the moment with a saturated  European, painterly lens.  We hope you find her Observations worth considering and please visit her artist’s page on www.sfnbotanicalart.com for available work.  Check back often as new pieces will be added in late Feb and early March 2025. Prices upon request.

Observations in Nature is a new online exhibition series based on my curiosity with how artists select subjects and the origins of thought and inspiration they bring to the drawing table.  The goal is to uncover the layers of meaning behind the botanical portrait.  Our journey through these questions enlightens us to the plethora of ideas behind the work and to derive a deeper appreciation for the artist and their art.

New works can be found on the artist’s page.  Please e-mail for acquisition information:  susanfreinathan@gmail.com.

Susan Rubin, July 18-August 30, 2024

Denise Walser-Kolar, September 1-late October, 2024

Connie Scanlon, October 16-late November, 2024

A Holiday Gift Guide will also post in mid-November.  Exquisite small works to be available, stay tuned.

Scanlon consistently paints blueberries in all stages of its evolution.  She masterfully captures the various hues from, as the artist describes, “its early green berries with hints of rose, to slowly growing berries of magenta and violet, eventually showing its ripe blues and indigo.  Heirloom blueberries are cultivars who have been in continuous production for over 50 years, and include many first and second generation crosses made by the original horticulturalists (Elizabeth White, Frederick Coville and Arlen Draper).  The names of some of early heirloom high bush blueberry plants include:  Stanley, Rubel, Jersey and Elizabeth.  Heirloom blueberries are seeds that regrow and pass on from one generation to the next.”

Scanlon continues, “Over a hundred years ago, the USDA botanist Frederick Coville wrote “Taming the Wild Blueberry” and began a collaborative effort with cranberry grower, Elizabeth White, in cultivating blueberries from the wild.  Their first commercial blueberry crop was harvested in 1916.  Coville named one of the earliest heirloom cultivars for his eldest son, Stanley.  It is considered one of the sweetest blueberries ever to be produced.”

Stylistically, this work continues her love affair with the plant.  She captures a romantic essence through her technique, harking to the 19th century European master botanical painters.  Her choice of a vellum as the substrate further evokes the golden age of botanical art.

As this and her Heirloom Blueberry Branch #2 (visit www.sfnbotanicalart.com) show, the blueberry bush is a favorite of Scanlon’s to paint and has propelled her to the upper echelon of contemporary botanical painters.  These paintings are love letters to art collectors.

The New England Society of Botanical Artists (NESBA) is featuring Beverly Duncan on their Beyond the Brush lecture series, Wednesday, January 24th at 11AM.  We are posting her Winter Branches in conjunction with this talk to further share and celebrate her passion for studying and documenting her natural world.

Kelly Leahy Radding

Of Winged Things, 2023

 Mallard Duck, Blue Jay and American Kestrel feathers with a black maple samara

Watercolor on calfskin vellum

7 x 5 inches

Available now

Lizzie Sanders (1944-2020) was a master contemporary botanical artist whose talent is world renowned.  She carefully chose specimens that conveyed beauty through form and composed her subjects with the utmost care to show their fragility or regality, no matter its popularity.  Three works to consider for acquisition from a private collection.  All information is included here, to purchase please e-mail susanfreinathan@gmail.com.

Passiflora tripartita, 2001

watercolor on paper

18 x 20 inches

$5,500

Iris foetidissima, 2004

watercolor on paper

19 x 17 inches

$4,500

Robinia pseudoacacia (Locust Beans), 2006

watercolor on paper

19 x 17 inches

$3,500