Denise Walser-Kolar’s Hoefnagel-inspired Paintings

The magnificent Joris Hoefnagel-inspired paintings by Denise Walser-Kolar pay homage to one of the greatest European natural history illustrators working in the 16th century.  Perhaps Walser-Kolar’s European lineage has strong links to her appreciation of Hoefnagel’s work.  Her contemporary paintings of plants and insects reflect her passion for gardening within her part of the midwest.  She finds beauty wherever she roams and takes specimens from her friends who know and appreciate her specific interest and aesthetic which she often incorporates into her designs.

In Walser-Kolar’s Hoefnagel-Inspired #12, the snapdragon and rose specimens are from her garden as well as the Japanese beetle (which loves to nosh on her roses).  The shell is from Sanibel, the Mayfly is from a friend and the apricot and grape are from her local Trader Joes.  Her degree in graphic design and commercial illustration informed her confidence in combining these elements while her velvet painting technique touches on her romantic treatment of color tones and texture, surely a European trait.

 

Denise Walser-Kolar Hoefnagel-inspired #12, 2016 6 x 4 inches

Denise Walser-Kolar
Hoefnagel-inspired #12, 2016
6 x 4 inches

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Sculpture of Charles A. Johnson

The nature-based sculpture of CA Johnson, made from reconstituted limestone, allows the artist to obtain wonderful details which highlight the realism of his subject.  As a garden furniture restorer, Johnson comprehends the historical techniques employed in antiquarian art.  As a 21st century artist, he has thought about sculpture today and transformed how we think of the medium with his unique choice in material.  As both indoor and outdoor sculptures,  this medium enables the client to move these hollow pieces with ease, ensuring the collector can appreciate them in many areas of the home.  His wide range of subjects in nature brings a lot of variety and choice to the client.   Please visit our website for more works.

Charles A. Johnson Walnut Reconstituted limestone and mineral stain Hollow, 55 Ibs. 16" tall, 18 " wide, 15" deep

Charles A. Johnson
Walnut
Reconstituted limestone and mineral stain
Hollow, 55 Ibs.
16″ tall, 18 ” wide, 15″ deep

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Botanical Art in Bloom for Two More Weeks at ILevel Studio. An Interior Garden of Botanical Art ends on December 16.

Please make arrangements with Susan Frei Nathan at susan@sfnbotanicalart.com to meet for a person tour before it ends.

Carol Woodin Volunteer Squash watercolor on vellum attached with linen string 11 x 27.5, $5,800

Carol Woodin
Volunteer Squash
watercolor on vellum attached with linen string
11 x 27.5, $5,800

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BOTANICAL ART IS BLOOMING AT ILEVEL STUDIO, NEW YORK CITY

Beverly Duncan The Seasons #1, 2016 Watercolor on paper

Beverly Duncan
The Seasons #1, 2016
Watercolor on paper

Susan Frei Nathan and ILevel invite you to an Open House, Saturday, December 3 for 12-5pm at ILevel Studio, 37 East 7th Street.

Please stop by for hot cider and donuts while enjoying contemporary botanical art. Susan Frei Nathan will be on-site all afternoon and looks forward to discussing the art.

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Connie Scanlon

Connie Scanlon’s botanical art portraits are like magnets to the eye.  She has enormous talent and great patience with the subjects she paints, as seen in her Norway Maple samara. As Scanlon sees it,  ”the delicate strength of the veining, ridges and shadows of this small yet magnificent element of the maple tree”, is mindfully extracted through her dry brush watercolor technique.  Here she is pointing to subjects in nature often overlooked.  Sourced plant-life like her recently painted Riverbank Grapes,  capture its trailing vine by magnifying it x 3 , showing its range of coloration (common throughout her works) with elegance and abundant grace.  This viewing satisfaction lingers on the mind like all great compositions, shifting our attention to often stepped on or brushed by specimens in nature.  Scanlon masterfully pulls us in to revel in their non-traditional beauty.

 

"Taking Leave" (Norway Maple samara), 2014 Watercolor on Kelmscott  vellum, 11 x 6. 6 inches

“Taking Leave”
(Norway Maple samara), 2014
Watercolor on Kelmscott
vellum, 11 x 6. 6 inches

"Riverbank Grapes", 2015 Watercolor on Kelmscott vellum, 13 x 7 inches

“Riverbank Grapes”, 2015
Watercolor on Kelmscott vellum, 13 x 7 inches

 

 

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MOMENTS

As you peruse the Spring-Summer online exhibition, I hope you enjoy the moments when the blooms beckon you. Nature’s pure glory is within these moments where we connect with its beauty, frailty, vulnerability and grace. Nature takes it’s time to present itself, the artists here have captured the moment where nature fully exposes itself for all to see. We turn inward at that moment with pure wonder about earth’s manifestations. We build botanical art collections around these moments which are personal and surround the collector with a lasting memory.

Karen Kluglein Hollyhock, 2009 watercolor on vellum 23 x 19 inches

Karen Kluglein
Hollyhock, 2009
watercolor on vellum
23 x 19 inches

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Mother’s Day Botanical Art Offerings

Beverly Duncan Ashfield Composition-Early Summer (Rosa Eglanteria, Barred Rock Egg & Feather), 2002 7 x 7 inches $700

Beverly Duncan
Ashfield Composition-Early Summer
(Rosa Eglanteria, Barred Rock Egg & Feather), 2002
7 x 7 inches
$700

Presented are a few of Beverly Duncan’s jewel-like paintings especially for Mother’s Day. These pieces were selected for this event only. We hope you consider adding a work to her interior garden for this occasion.

Beverly Duncan Two Tulips, 2009 watercolor on vellum 7 x 14 inches $900

Beverly Duncan
Two Tulips, 2009
watercolor on vellum
7 x 14 inches
$900

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CURRENT ON-LINE EXHIBITION, NATURE’S VOICE, PART II: SPRING-SUMMER

Please visit our website to view our new exhibition featuring watercolors on paper and vellum by many of the artists we represent. Now that spring has arrived in the Northeast we are excited to embrace these long-awaited seasons with a beautiful selection of botanicals evoking feelings of romance (Esther Klahne’s rose) and the farmer’s markets with Carol Woodin’s Chihulomato. Enjoy our interior garden of paintings.

Carol Woodin Chihulomato watercolor on vellum

Carol Woodin
Chihulomato
watercolor on vellum

Esther Klahne Tea Rose watercolor on vellum

Esther Klahne
Tea Rose
watercolor on vellum

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Nature’s Voice: Seasonal Changes through Botanical Art, Part II: Spring-Summer

Our upcoming show captures nature in its most exciting months of the year. Artists soak their paper and vellum with vibrant colors and spectacular compositions celebrating our favorite seasons. Please visit us from April 25-August 25 as we showcase these works; the artists mindful choices of subjects and quality of drawing satiate us with everlasting appreciation. We hope you consider building an interior garden of botanical art, walls full of treasured plants that evoke meaning and beauty year round.

Thanks to Denise Walser-Kolar’s image below, a magical voyage of fluttering into Spring.  See you soon!

Hofnagel-Inspired #4, 2014 watercolor and gouache on vellum 6 x 4 inches

Hofnagel-Inspired #4, 2014
watercolor and gouache on vellum
6 x 4 inches

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Carol Woodin’s Hazelnut

Carol Woodin’s Hazelnut watercolor, 7 x10 inches,  is the newest acquisition to my inventory.  Painted on McEwen’s vellum, a prized material reintroduced by Rory McEwen, a treasured Scottish botanical artist who revived painting on vellum (animal skin). A prepared gessoed surface applied on top of the skin acts as a diving board for the art to jump off the sheet. The gesso electrifies the paint, adding a depth to the dry-brush watercolor technique.  Woodin has produced some of the most exquisite examples of 21st century botanical portraiture on this substrate, a shared experience with a master who would have celebrated this renaissance of painting on vellum and appreciated Woodin’s stylized compositions.

Woodin Hazelnut

 

 

 

 

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