It happened! My first painting is now at the garden. Last week , the garden hosted its first "State of the Non-Profit" Dinner in conjunction with their annual Board of Governors meeting, where all business is approved for the following year. My Botanical Residency has been renewed for another year and every two months, a new work from this body of work titled "Expressions of Nature at The Elizabethan Gardens" will be "unveiled" in their charming gatehouse.
We went to the garden the next day and the Saucer Magnolia was already blooming. While I was "checking in" the new painting and prints, my husband brought in a fallen petal and placed it on the painting. We all just smiled - "I hit the mark!"
Linda C. Miller, Resident Botanical Artist
The State of the Non-Profit Dinner Speech
The Elizabethan Gardens
At North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Copyright Linda C. Miller 2012
It was April 2008 when Jeff and I first toured the garden, taking a break from the beach. I remember the azaleas were in their glory.
It was a year before my visit when I began this amazing journey. A creative journey that I always knew was within. I kept hearing “now is the time to do this.”
“This” meaning to live my life as an artist. What I didn’t know then is that I would become a botanical artist, someone who paints flora, from our gardens and the trail, dead or alive. What I also didn’t realize at that time was there were all these doors awaiting me, ready to be opened. I just needed to start the journey, taking a step each day, for there is nothing like a dream to create the future.
Back on our first visit, we stopped in the Reception Hall and guess what, the doors to the meeting room were open! I walked in and I said to Jeff, “This is perfect for a botanical art workshop ~ after all, they do have a garden outside!”
My first meeting was with Patsy Zoll that summer. Her effervescent spirit and zest for life excited me and I was so looking forward to becoming a “friend” of the garden. After a few discussions, we set the dates for the first workshop. It was April 2009, where we had 8 attendees from near and far.
Then a little over a year ago, the “Dream Team” arrived and the garden hasn’t been the same ever since. Attendance at this year’s Botanical Art Workshops was amazing due to Nancy Harvey’s marketing efforts. We were bursting at the seams in the meeting room with thirteen students this past September. Why I even had two men sign up! One, a guest of the Sanderling decided to spend three days at our workshop while his wife enjoyed the spa. The other, the young and talented local artist, Wyatt Bell Smith.
I would also like to thank Carl Curnutte and Nancy Harvey for believing in me. Last year after a vote by the Board of Governors, I was named your first Botanical Artist in Residence, an honorary position that I hope the garden will continue in the years to come.
This announcement appeared not only in the Coastland Times, but also Kathy Van Mullekom, the Home and Garden Editor of the Daily Press, called Nancy Harvey the morning of my first day of residency ~ to ask Nancy to take a photo for her feature article. It was the perfect photo, thank you Nancy and Dee.
This announcement and my workshops have appeared in the American Society of Botanical Artists' Journal, a worldwide publication, the Botanical Art Society of the Nations Capital Region’s Journal and the very popular Botanical Art and Illustration website Artplanetae.
From April to October, I came to the garden the second Tuesday of the month to draw from the garden’s specimens. Workshop attendees were invited to join me and they did; the doors were also open to your guests and they stopped by too!
The Saucer Magnolia painting is the first painting from this body of work. The specimen was taken from a mature tree on the Grand Lawn and the painting was composed to show the various stages of its bloom – from its furry buds to its wrinkled petals.
Its title “Keep Your Heart Open” is a reminder, an acknowledgement and hopefully an inspiration to each of us as it has been for me to know that life is so much better when you open your heart and live by your heart, for you never know what doors may open, just as the doors here at the garden opened to me three years ago.
And next week, the meeting room doors will open again for my 7th Botanical Art workshop with six returnees, including Wyatt!
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| Carl V. Curnutte III Executive Director, Linda Miller Botanical Artist in Residence and Penny Rose, Chairman |
Again I would like to thank the Board of Governors, Paula, Amy, Dee, Gary, Jeff, the nursery staff and especially Nancy and Carl for all your help this past year. It has been a joy to be at the garden.
Linda C. Miller
Artist ~ Naturalist ~ Instructor
http://www.lindacmillerbotanicalarttoday.com/
http://www.thebotanicalartstore.com/
botanicalarttoay@yahoo.com
Revised Copyright Linda C. Miller, February 18, 2012
Linda C. Miller
Artist ~ Naturalist ~ Instructor
http://www.lindacmillerbotanicalarttoday.com/
http://www.thebotanicalartstore.com/
botanicalarttoay@yahoo.com
Revised Copyright Linda C. Miller, February 18, 2012
