Here are works from the Trail!
I love to walk the trails throughout the year. Over the past two years, I have been learning more about marsh and seashore habitats. I have a wonderful photo library now with hundreds of photos (probably thousands as I take at least 300 photos on my hour and half walks) of the flora and fauna I come upon.
In 2012, I will be creating work from these moments and in addition to painting in watercolor, I will be creating more work in graphite, oil and pastel.
Woven Treasure
Watercolor on HP paper
Specimen: Greensprings Trail
Image Size 8 x 6 inches
Custom Framed
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2011
On Exhibit The Williamsburg Regional Library
February 1 - 29, 2012
On Exhibit The Williamsburg Regional Library
February 1 - 29, 2012
$175
This is a bird's nest from my favorite walking trail -- a sketch painted in watercolor after making a detailed line drawing on transfer paper. This is my second painting from a winter photograph and this interpretation is inspired by my recent studies of Andrew Wyeth sketches.
In the Studio........
I have a basket lined with linen ~ filled with my "fall treasures" ~ an array of seeds, seed pods and dried fruits.
Here are a works that I painted this fall.
Exhibited
SMALL WORKS EXHIBITION, 2011
The Charles H. Taylor Art Center
New Town Art Gallery
Tuesday - Saturday 11 AM to 5PM, Sunday Noon to 5 PM
At The Gallery at York Hall
This piece was commissioned by Mr. Sargent for his wife's birthday, a long time member of The Herb Society. Not only is this one of Mrs. Sargent's favorite flowers - it grows in the marsh wetlands on their property. I so enjoyed painting these delicate flowers with their clustered buds and hairy leaves and stems. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Sargent
Marsh Mallow
Watercolor on paper
12 inches high by 10 inches wide
Commissioned for Mrs. J. Sargent, 2011
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2011
During my Master Naturalist training, we spent one full day with Charlie Dubay and Hugh Beard, two of the most unique and gifted botanists you can ever know. On that day, I learned so much and especially -- we like "Lichen". Seeing Lichen on our trees is a sign that our air is clean. Lichen will not grow where there is air pollution!
Also this amazing organism is actually two organisms that live off each other in what is called a symbiotic relationship. Fungi are incapable of making their own food. They usually provide for themselves as parasites or decomposers. Lichen are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont), usually a green alga.
Lichen can live for many years and will actually go "dormant" in times of drought.
Also this amazing organism is actually two organisms that live off each other in what is called a symbiotic relationship. Fungi are incapable of making their own food. They usually provide for themselves as parasites or decomposers. Lichen are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic partner (the photobiont or phycobiont), usually a green alga.
Lichen can live for many years and will actually go "dormant" in times of drought.
Lichen
Watercolor and Ink HP paper
Image Size: 7 inches high by 1.5 inches wide
Specimen: Williamsburg
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
$150
Custom and Archival Framing
New Town Art Gallery
New Town Art Gallery
Tuesday - Saturday 11 AM to 5PM, Sunday Noon to 5 PM
Exhibited 2010 Small Works: Miniatures by Hampton Roads ArtistsThe Charles H. Taylor Arts Center
"Among the Reeds"
Male Common Yellowthroat
Watercolor on HP Paper
Image Size 12 inches high by 10 inches wide
Specimen photographed at Bodie Island Lighthouse
$175
Framed
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2011
Here is a painting of my favorite warbler taken at the Bodie Island Lighthouse last November. We were walking on the boardwalk when my husband spotted this little fellow. With my 300mm Nikon lense in hand, I took over 40 pictures while he bathed and fluttered among the reeds. I had done several studies that I posted earlier and here is my first painting with others to follow!
Also, I am studying with James Warwick Jones who is helping me so much with composition and design. When we looked over this piece, he said that it reminded him of a painting by Durer called "A Large Clump of Grass", a painting that I have long admired as a naturalist and a botanical artist. When we looked at the various matting/cropping options there was one that I had not considered and works so well for this piece. This work will be matted leaving all of the "white space" (a bit more than this image shows).
The Gallery at York Hall
301 Main Street
Yorktown, Virginia
757.890.4490
Please call for hours and availability!
Past Exhibitions
"Through the Eye of a Naturalist" Photography and Art Exhibition by the Virginia Master Naturalist Historic Rivers Chapter
March 2011
"It's all about Color" Exhibition at Pembroke 4 Art Gallery
April to July 2011
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462
Here is a specimen that my husband brought home from the Golden Horseshoe Golf Course this September. While at this year's "Art on Levingston Lane" show here in Williamsburg, I had set up my drafting table and spent just over two hours drawing this interesting specimen. With the specimen in the studio, I added washes and detail to tell its story. I am a botanical artist who will paint insect scars and decay as I see it. A botanical illustration is a work where the artist depicts the specimen as a true specimen without the effects of nature, time and weather.
Aesculus sylvatica
Painted Buckeye
Watercolor on Paper
Specimen: Williamsburg, Virginia
Image Size: 8.5 inches high by 12.5 inches wide
$450
$450
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
The Gallery at York Hall
301 Main Street
Yorktown, Virginia
757.890.4490
Please call for hours and availability!
5 x 7 Prints now available at The Gallery at York Hall
Past Exhibition
"Through the Eye of a Naturalist" Photography and Art Exhibition by the Virginia Master Naturalist Historic Rivers Chapter,The Williamsburg Regional Library,March 2011
Euonymus americanus Hearts a Bursting
Watercolor on 300lb HP Paper Specimen: Williamsburg
Size: 15 inches high x 16 inches wide
Larson Juhl antique gold frame/double matte/conservation glass
$350
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
New Town Art Gallery
Larson Juhl antique gold frame/double matte/conservation glass
$350
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
New Town Art Gallery
Tuesday - Saturday 11 AM to 5PM, Sunday Noon to 5 PM
This painting started in 2009 when my husband took photos of these “bolder than bold” orange fruits at the annual Estuaries Day event at York River State Park. That October, I found a specimen on the Greensprings Trail and sketched its branches and took a number of photos with the leaves already turned to their transparent white and the fruit still holding on while its casing was drying out.
After making my initial drawing, I realized that I had missed a few details and went back to the “trail” to study the plant more closely. With the new drawing transferred onto watercolor paper, this piece sat for a few months while I worked on three paintings for the "Nature Illustrated" exhibit this past spring.
I am so glad I waited. Over the last six months, I have been visiting, recording and painting this wonderful native’s life cycle from bud to fruit.
And to top it off - while working in the yard this fall - I found a four foot shrub growing on my property just where the tree line stops. Isn't nature full of wonderful surprises!
Past Exhibitions
"2010 Winners Show", This Century Art Gallery, Jan-Feb2011
"Through the Eye of a Naturalist"
Photography and Art Exhibition by the Virginia Master Naturalist Historic Rivers Chapter,The Williamsburg Regional Library,
March, 2011
"D is for Dayflower"
Slender Dayflower
Commelina erecta
Watercolor on 300lb paper
Size: 25 inches high by 18 inches wide
Antique gold Larson Juhl frame/double matte/archival glass
Spoken for! $450
copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
This is a a very special species for me in that the first botanical drawing I made in September 2007 was of the slender dayflower and this is the third time that I have painted it. What appeals to me is how this plant grows straight up and out reaching up to two feet high and yes, its bold and blue flower lasts just a day!
Awarded Second Place, Pemroke 4 Art Gallery Exhibition
Coquina Beach II
Horseshoe Crab, Whelk Shell, and Mermaid Purses
Watercolor on 300lb HP paper
Specimen: Cape Hatteras National Seashore, North Carolina
Size: 13 inches high by 7 inches wide
$275, archival framing
Coqina Beach I
Sea Oat, Clam Shells, and Dried Brown Seaweed
Watercolor on 300lb HP paper
Specimen: Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NC
Size: 12 inches high by 7.5 inches wide
$275, Archival Framing
The Gallery at York Hall
301 Main Street
Yorktown, Virginia
757.890.4490
Please call for hours and availability!
Here are two wonderful paintings composed just as the naturalist artists had done in the 18th century. They are finds from my favorite beach at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Each specimen is drawn to scale and I just loved the tiny crustations on the lower mermaid purse in "Coquina Beach II.". All edges were tightened up using my husband's father's hand held magnifying glass purchased at Hudson's Department store for $4.50!
Exhibited
Pembroke 4 Art Gallery April- July 2011 Virginia Beach, Virginia
Parade of Homes, Buckroe Beach, 2011
Available from the Artist
In September, one of my fellow Virginia Master Naturalists had my husband and I over for dinner. Just before we were seated on the patio, I noticed something "big" flying in front of their Moon flower. It was this amazing moth and its very, very long proboscis was having its dinner too! Hawk and sphinx moths are known to get its nectar from flowers with very long calyxes and the Moon flower has just that. In honor of this moment and should this be the pollinator of the gardenia in my garden, I painted this amazing creature made from a series of field guide references.
Pink Spotted Hawk Moth
Agrius cingulata
Watercolor on 300lb Hot Press paper
Size: 5.5 inches wide by 4 inches high
Matted
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2010
The Gallery at York Hall
301 Main Street
Yorktown, Virginia
757.890.4490
Please call for hours!
This specimen is from a fallen tree branch after a wind storm. This is a traditional botancial painting, in that it showcases all the details specific to this species of tree but with a contemporary composition.Tulip Tree Seed Pod and Buds
Liriodendron tulipifera
Watercolor on 300 lb HP paper
Specimen: Williamsburg
Size: 12inches high by 8inches wide
copyright Linda C. Miller, 2011
$300
Trumpet Creeper
Campisis radicans
Watercolor on HP 300 lb paper
Specimen: Williamsburg
Size: 11 inches high by 13 inches wide, partial view
New Town Art Gallery
Tuesday - Saturday 11 AM to 5PM, Sunday Noon to 5 PM
I am not sure if I enjoyed drawing or painting this piece more. The flower is so colorful and its leaves are plentiful. Also, the stem of this species is very knotty with leaf scales. The composition helps this lovely flower "toot its horn".
Artist Solo Exhibition
"Botanical Discoveries" at Williamsburg Regional Library, March - April 2009
I just loved this Southern Oak leaf with all its holes. The Sweetgum was much harder to paint as it kept changing every day. This is a favorite at my Flickr site.
Watercolor on 140 lb CP paper
Size: 10 inches high by 8 inches wide
Specimens: Williamsburg
Spoken for!
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2008
I sat outdoors on very cold day last March (2009) and drew this beauty. There is a large naturalized patch on the Greensprings Birding and Wildlife Trail --- in the woods, off the farmer's field. I was so delighted when I finally found a photo and write up of this specimen. ‘Telamonius Plenus’, this is “the most important of all doubles” according to expert A.M. Kirby in 1907. "It’s also the double most often found at old homesites, multiplying vigorously without care. And it’s the most confusing! In its first year or in a perfect spot its doubling is neatly confined by the trumpet. Usually, though, the whole flower explodes into a wild froth of green and gold."
Silent Auction donation.
Narcissus Van Sion
N. Telamonius plenus
Watercolor on 300 lb HP paper
Size: 10 inches high by 8 inches wide
Specimen: Williamsburg
Copyright Linda C. Miller, 2009
Exhibited: "Nature Illustrated", Botanical and Flower Painting Exhibit at The Williamsburg Regional Library, March ~April 30, 2010
New Town Art Gallery
Tuesday - Saturday 11 AM to 5PM, Sunday Noon to 5 PM
Here are two studies rendered in graphite and pen & ink after preparing a detailed, two hour contour drawing. The contour drawing was used to transfer the image to the appropriate art paper for each technique.
The pine cone is from the New Kent Forestry where pine cones are harvested to grow seedlings to reestablish this native tree, the Long Leaf Pine. I visited the New Kent Forestry in January 2010 as part of my Master Naturalist training.
