Studio News

Olivia Braida's July Studio News - Bulletin

2010-06-25T09:46:56Z

July
2010

"OM Studio News
Bulletin"

Just thought you would like to know.....

ACADEMY INSTRUCTORS ARE BUSY...
HERE'S WHAT IS BEING OFFERED
BETWEEN NOW & SEPTEMBER!

Study the Color Of Light

STUDY WITH
CERTIFIED ACADEMY INSTRUCTOR
RON SANDERS IN WISCONSIN

Academy @ Kentucky
with Leslie Ramsey

ANNOUNCING

Botanical Art Workshops

Graphite - Watercolor - Pen & Ink
Beginners to Advanced

With

Leslie Ramsey

Certified Botanical Artist
Certified Academy Instructor

THURSDAYS
Day & Evening Classes

CALL FOR SUMMER SCHEDULE

Day: 10am to 1 pm $200 (individual class $75)
Evening: 5:30pm - 8:30pm $200 (individual class $75)

Location
4464 Stuart Hall Boulevard #33102
Lexington, KY 40509

Art supplies and books not included.
For recent Arboretum/Kentucky University
Workshop attendees who completed Drawing I and Watercolor I, pursue the next level book
Drawing II and Watercolor II.
For Books and Course Paks and
Art Supplies visit...
www.botanicalartsupplies.com

To Register, call Leslie Ramsey:
606-434-4280

ACADEMY @ Kentucky Arboretum Workshop

Simple Color Theory for Nature Artists

4 Day Workshop
August 23 - 26, 2010
9am to 4pm

The Arboretum
State Botanical Garden of Kentucky
The Dorotha Smith Oatts Visitor Center
500 Alumni Drive
Lexington, KY

To Register, call Olivia Braida 941-953-9999
or Leslie Ramsey 606-434-4280

Certified Academy Instructor Mindy Lighthipe
At the New York Botanical Garden

Drawing on the Right Side
of the Brain Techniques
July 12-16, 2010

Time:10:00-3:30
Cost: Non-Member $735.00
Member $705.00

Drawing is a skill that can be acquired, just like learning to ride a bicycle or learning to read. Based on Dr. Betty Edwards book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, students learn to use the side of the brain that is suited for drawing. Lectures, demonstrations and exercises guide you into drawing. The first step to accurate drawing is to train the eye to observe detail and capture that detail on paper. Please bring lunch.

(Includes a $75 Materials Fee)

This is a great class for people who have always wanted to learn to draw but believed it wasn't possible. There is no prerequisite for this intensive workshop.

Sign up for this class at NYBG:

Call toll free at : 1-800-322-6924
in New York : 718- 817-8747
Online at : http://www.nybg.org/edu

Also with Mindy Lighthipe
Artistic Painting & Photography Tour to Costa Rica 2011

January 21 - 30, 2011

Cost: $3,499 per person based on double occupancy + airfare
Join Mindy Lighthipe & Nancy Richmond
on a 10 day Artistic Adventure to the South Pacific region of Costa Rica.

Mindy Lighthipe, botanical artist & Nancy Richmond, wildlife photographer have been traveling to Costa Rica since 1989. Each year brings something new and exhilarating to paint and photograph. The flora and fauna is never ending. Mother Nature is the ultimate artist! Our passion for this beautiful place has spilled over into our teaching. As artists we marvel at the world around us and it is with great pleasure that we personally invite you to come with us to Costa Rica for an incredibly fun and unique Artists/Photographers workshop "Bugs, Beasts & Botanicals!"

Mindy does lots of drawing and painting demonstrations to help you tackle exciting botanical and natural science subjects in the field. Nancy teaches digital photography techniques to artists, photographers and nature enthusiasts. Learn to download your images onto a laptop and burn CDs right in the jungle! Go behind the scenes of animal and plant conservation efforts and experience what few ecotourists ever encounter. Draw, photograph and more! You stay at beautiful hotels and eat great meals! Join us for a wild, tropical, learning tour of Costa Rica.

No experience necessary - All levels from novice to professional.

Spouses, friends and partners are welcomed. Single supplement housing is available for an additional $500.

Any questions about the tour please feel free to contact Mindy @
Mlighthipe@mac.com or call 908.769.7417
http://www.studio16online.com/studio16online/Painting-Travel-Art-Tours-Costa_Rica.html

Academy Specials

NEWEST OM BOOK!!!

COLORED PENCIL
For The Botanical Artist

Volume 12 and Course Pak #12

Click Here To Order

Need Supplies? Visit Our Store!!

We keep adding information on
Products & Art Supplies

OM Art Book Store
OM Art Class Art Supplies
OM Art Instruction Books

Here's the info you asked for so you can ship your artwork for review and store it safely

For Shipping & Storing
Archival Clamshell Box
And
Glassine Interleaving Paper

Academy of Botanical Art
Distance Learning _sm

Now Available for Anyone Interested in Endangered Species, Bromeliads or Palms

Endangered Species for Botanical Artists
This wonderful course is available to anyone interested in the study of endangered species.
Academy Students earn elective credits for taking this course and completing the enclosed exam. A wealth of information that all will find extremely interesting.
Academy Electives: 15
by John Beckner, Botanist
$95.00 Non Certificate Student ~ $220 Certificate Students

Bromeliads for Botanical Artists
The structure of bromeliad plants and their flowers
with suggestions for ways to illustrate and
better understand these exciting plants.
Academy Electives: 5
by John Beckner, Botanist
$39.00 Non Certificate Student ~ $164 Certificate Students

Palms for the Botanical Artist
This publication is just the tip of an iceberg.
Palms are plants inclined to large dimensions.
They are very numerous and more varied than you first imagine. This text is for the person interested in illustrating them in various ways;
artistic or scientific and as a motif for crafts. But nearly all of it will be useful to plant lovers, tropical nature fans, gardeners and other people.
Academy Electives: 5
by John Beckner, Botanist
$39.00 Non Certificate Student ~ $164 Certificate Students

Click here to learn more about the
Academy and its instructors

ABA Instruction & Course Paks

The Academy of Botanical Art's flexible program allows for distance learners to tailor a schedule of botanical art training to their needs that includes phone tutored lessons, classes with the Ringling College of Art and Design, the Marie Selby Botanical Garden, and Academy workshops now offered in several locations. Distance learners take advantage of classes offered in their hometown as part of their study program. There is hardly an excuse left not to join the Academy's growing school.

Book Volumes 1-8 = $44.00 each
Book Volumes 9 = $55.00 each
Book Volumes 10 = $65.00 each
Plus Shipping and Handling

Accompanying ABA Course Paks
Volumes 1-9 = $22.00 each
Volume 10 = $39.00
Plus Shipping & Handling

Click Here To Order

Newest Books & Paks

Volume 12
Colored Pencil for the Botanical Artist $44.00

Course Pak #13
Research on the Internet $39.00

Course Pak #11
Marketing Your Art $39.00

Course Pak #12
Colored Pencil $22.00

Course Book/Pak #16
Combined Endangered Plant Species of the World $125.00

Click Here To Order

To unsubscribe from: Studio News, just follow this link:

http://omartdesigns.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/omart/example/example.com/

Click this link, or copy and paste the address into your browser.

Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail

Olivia Braida's May Studio News - Plant Pollination & Their Pollinators

2010-06-03T16:39:35Z

June
2010

"Plant Pollination
& Their Pollinators"

Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit.A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world.

~Ada Louise Huxtable

Happy Summer! See you in September

The French Court Watercolor Technique uses layers.
Remember to apply paint by pulling it out dark to light.
Start on the shadow side and work right to left and back to front!
O.M. Braida Omisim #15

Dear Friends:

Last month we discussed Pollination, so I thought I would continue our discussion of this very interesting and large topic. Some of this may repeat what was said before but it never hurts to hear some things twice.

Plant Pollination & Their Pollinators

Although bees pollinate more flowers than butterflies, hummingbirds, and insects, butterflies seem to make people happy. Their bright colors light up a garden, they don't sting, and favor hot colors and cool shady places. This means you can design your garden with bright, colorful flowers and a shady spot to sit down in and enjoy the show. Butterflies also increase your bird population as birds love to eat them! For this reason, butterflies especially favor plants that offer camouflage so don't forget to include that in your garden.

Butterfly morphology includes a pair of "false eyes" on the tail of their wings to confuse the would-be predator into thinking their tail is their head which gives the butterfly a chance to escape. In addition, their bitter taste also helps keep them alive long enough in most cases to lay eggs on host plants that they sample first for suitability by tasting leaves with their feet!

Butterflies that are not tasty are slower flyers - maybe only 10 miles per hours. The tastier treats, like Skippers, can fly up to 30 miles per hour.

Since the whole objective for plants is to attract pollinators for survival, plants have their job cut out for them. Many, but not all, pollinators fly. They are attracted, yes to scent, but also by color and shape. Different pollinators see the same color in a different way. For example, when it comes to red flowers, only butterflies and hummingbirds see red. Other pollinators like bees and flies have to rely on the scent of red flowers because they don't see red. Bees are attracted to blue and yellow flowers, as are butterflies, but see red as blue.

Once color attracts the pollinator, shape plays its roll. It boils down to what shape is worth their trouble. It is a case of fitting or fleeing. Common flower shapes include the bowl which works for short and long tongue insects like bees and beetles. The trumpet and umbrella shapes are perfect for long tongue insects, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Flowers with landing platforms work for short and long tongue insects, but butterflies are choosy and prefer landing platforms that are pretty stable.

Ah yes, it is a case of the perfect Cinderella shoe. For this very purpose, native plants always thrive better in their native habitats. It stands to reason that the availability of the right pollinator for the right plant makes plant propagations a "shoe-in" (sorry couldn't resist ).

In the reproductive structure of the seed-bearing plants known as angiosperms, a flower may contain up to four whorls or arrangements of parts: carpels, stamens, petals, and sepals. The female reproductive organs consist of one or more carpels. Each carpel includes an ovary, style, and stigma. A single carpel or a group of fused carpels is often referred to as a pistil. The male reproductive parts are the stamens, made up of a filament and anther. The reproductive organs may be enclosed in an inner whorl of petals and an outer whorl of sepals.

Figure 1 Illustration by O.M. Braida©

Over many millennia, flowers have evolved in form and color as a response to their pollinators. Some flowers produce nectar to attract animal pollinators, and these flowers are often highly adapted to specific groups of pollinators. Flowers pollinated by moths, such as species of jasmine and nicotiana, are often pale and fragrant in order to be found in the evening, while those pollinated by birds, such as fuschias, are frequently red and odorless, since birds have good vision but a less developed sense of smell.

Wind-pollinated flowers, such as those of oak trees or grass, are usually drab and inconspicuous. Well, so how does this all work...boy meets girl I mean? In order for plants to thrive they need to pollinate and so the process goes like this... Plants are male or female, or both at the same time or at different times. A bit confusing but they have a system.

As mentioned above (also see diagram), male parts consist of stamens (anthers at the top holds the pollen and rather flexible filament holds the anther tip). The pollen grains, of which there are thousands on a plant, hold the male genes of the plant. They appear as white, yellow, or orange in most cases and disperse in many ways as dust. They are tough and travel by wind, water, animal, or insect. They cling to the back, head, wings, feet of pollinators and travel inches or miles. They have a protective coating that will keep the pollen dormant for thousands of years until once again it becomes softened by the moisture of female parts of the same flowers. And what is so amazingï¿½with all this flitting, fleeing, and dispersing, pollen can't end up on the wrong doorstep. Each pollen grain has its own distinctive shape that is designed to precisely fit into the female parts of the same flower! Very cool

Again as mentioned above, the female parts of the flower contain the ovary. The ovary is located at the base of the carpel and ripens into a fruit after fertilization of one or more of the ovules. Each unit is referred to as a carpel. When the carpels are fused together, they make a pistil. At the top of the pistil is the stigma. The pistil can be reclusive until is ready to accept pollen, when the stigma is receptive, it will only allow the right pollen to progress to the ovary.

For illustrators, it is important to note that the "receptive" appearance of stigma is different for each flower. This is especially important if you are illustrating the different stages of a plant. Note that some pistils lunge forward, split open to display hair for trapping pollen and become sticky for the same purpose. While some gleam, other flowers appear brighter in color, while still others increase their fragrance all in an attempt to attract pollen from a male counterpart. Once this has been done, pollination has begun and the journey from stigma to ovary down the length of the style is chemically communicated and only the strong will survive!

Upon reaching the ovary the pollen finds the ovules (seed or eggs) arranged differently for each type of flowers. It takes one pollen grain to fertilize one ovule at which point the male parts of the flower are no longer needed and most of the flower parts begin to fade, wither, and drop off. Also remember to include this when illustrating flower stages.

The female part of the flower, however, swells sucking up moisture and nutrients from its roots and develops a new appearance with all its nutritional supply package in a hard shell known as the seed head.

All plant parts play a role in helping the plants succeed in reproducing. Here are some of the star players and their important role:

Sepals protect the flower before it opens from harmful insects and sun.
Petals both attract pollinators with the bright colors and scent, but also protect the reproductive parts of the plant.
Tepals, actually the term used for plants whose sepals and petals look the same, as in a lily or tulip. The outside sepals perform the same job as the sepals.
Bracts can be green, hairy, small, large or even colorful. They too act as both protector and provocateur.
Nectar is edible and sweet and protected, a veritable candy store behind bars, alluring pollinators who greedily take all they can get. Because of the trouble it takes to get at the nectar, pollinators deposit pollen as they flit about getting their fill.

It is all pretty remarkable how all this works. But I suppose no more remarkable that the birth of a human being. Life in all its forms is a magical blessed event. May we always care for and rejoice at the spark of divinity that is part of every living thing.

God bless. OM

Upcoming Selby Garden Lectures

Cattleya Culture

Date: June 7, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Hosted by the Sarasota Orchid Society. Join Steve Hawkins of The Orchida Specialist as he discusses "Cattleya Culture."

Free Presentation
You Won't Want To Miss This!!!

Journey to Tibet

Date: Friday, June 25, 2010
Time: 12:00 Noon to 1:00PM
Place: Cooley Theatre

A film presentation by Botanical Artist Maggie Snee Detailing her Five and a Half Week Journey to Tibet in search of flora growing in the alpine meadows of the Kham District of Tibet.

Margaret Snee, is a soon to be graduating student of the Academy of Botanical Art at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. She has completed her requirements to obtain certification as a botanical artist from the Academy and will present for review paintings and drawings of several species of flora including a terrestrial orchid a her Independent Thesis at the end of June.

You are welcome to attend this one hour lecture and see for yourself this amazing journey through the mystical land of Tibet.

Please R.S.V.P. to
Olivia@omartdesigns.com

Academy Travel Deals

For those of you who may be traveling in the near or possible future, I thought you would like to know about Penell Braida Skinner, Travel Specialist, who expertise will help you plan not just glorious vacations but exciting trips to the Galapagos, Africa, and other exciting places. If the name sounds familiar, Penell is my sister. So as you can imagine, highly recommended!!! Take a look and if you have questions, let Penell know. She will be delighted to help you and delightful to work with.

http://www.penellontour.com/Hot-Tips.html

Penell Braida Skinner, ITMI, PAAWW
Travel Specialist - Europe/the Americas

"Dreams & Adventures" (941) 266-2689

VIRTUOSO - Affiliate,
Admiral Travel International, Inc.
www.admiraltravel.com

Sarasota Bed & Breakfast

La Palme Royale
A Bed & Breakfast Inn

Great Rates at a Beautiful Bed & Breakfast
In Sarasota, Florida
Walking Distance from
Marie Selby Botanical Garden

624 South Palm Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236

CELL 1-941-284-8890
FAX 1-866-804-6331
PHONE 1-866-800-3921-x104

reservations@lprsrq.com
Ask for Tim and tell him you are
Referred by the
Academy of Botanical Art
Visit their website to see their beautiful rooms!
http://www.lprsrq.com

Soul Biz

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.

~Gertrude Jekyll

In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way I have to go to bed by day.

~Robert Louis Stevenson

In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.

~Aldo Leopold

I question not if thrushes sing,
If roses load the air;
Beyond my heart I need not reach
When all is summer there.

~John Vance Cheney

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the
grass on a summer day listening to the murmur
of water, or watching the clouds float across
the sky, is hardly a waste of time.

~John Lubbock

No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer.

~James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal, 1848

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon;
to me those have always been the
two most beautiful words in the English language.

~Henry James

Love is to the heart what the summer is
to the farmer's year - it brings to harvest
all the loveliest flowers of the soul.

~Author Unknown

Exhibits Museums

South Florida Museum
201 10th Street West
Bradenton, Florida 34205
(941) 746-4131
http://www.southfloridamuseum.org/

John and Mable Ringling Museum
5401 Bay Shore Road,
Sarasota Florida 34243
(941) 359-5700
http://www.ringling.org/

Museum of Fine Arts
255 Beach Drive NE, St.
Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 896-2667
http://www.fine-arts.org/

Salvador Dali Museum
1000 Third Street South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-4901
(727) 823-3767
http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/home.html

Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213-3890
(412) 268-2434
http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/

National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005-3970
(202) 783-5000
1-800-222-7270
http://www.nmwa.org/

Smithsonian Institute
10th Street and Constitution Ave., NW in Washington, D.C. 20560
(202) 633-1000
http://www.si.edu/

Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10028
(212) 535-7710
http://www.metmuseum.org/

American Museum of Natural History
79th Street @ Central Park West
New York, New York
(212) 769-5100
http://www.amnh.org/

Modern Museum of Art
11 West 53 Street,
New York, NY 10019-5497
(212) 708-9400
http://www.moma.org/

Brooklyn Museum of Art
200 Eastern Pkwy
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(718) 638-5000
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/

High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
(404) 733-HIGH
Receptionist: 404-733-4400
http://www.high.org/

Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois, 60603-6404
(312) 443-3600
http://www.artic.edu/aic/

Bruce Museum One Museum Drive
Greenwich, CT 06830
203-869-0376
http://www.brucemuseum.org/

Harvard University Museum of Natural History
Home of the famous Glass Flower Sculptures
by Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895)
and his son Rudolf (1857-1939)
22 Divinity Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-2365
http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/

Locate Other Fine Art Museums

Click Here To Locate Natural History
Museums Anywhere in the World

Click Here To Locate
Museums in the United States

Click Here To Locate
Museums of the World

Click Here To Locate Botanical
Gardens of the World

Locate Garden Events

Click here to find a garden in your area

Click here to visit dukegardens.org

Art Classes & Workshops

You can now combine
Distance Learning with Class Time
at any of our locations!!!

Private Classes with O.M.Braida

Studio 20 Resumes October 2009

Time:
All Private Studio Classes
are from 10:30am to 3:30pm

Location:
2068 Sunnyside Lane, Sarasota, FL, 34239.
Just off 41 in the Southgate area two blocks north of Webber and the Mall.

Dates:

2010
October 7, 8, 21, 22
November 4, 5, 11, 12
December 2, 3, 9, 10

Tuition:
3 classes/15 hours: $375
Individual class: $125
Refreshments provided, but you may want to bring your own lunch.

Credit Cards Accepted!
Register Here

Or contact olivia@omartdesigns.com
Or Call 941-953-9999 for more information

Academy of Botanical Art _sm @
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens

To Register, visit www.selby.org
Or Call Marilynn Shelley 941-366-5731 x 239

2010 Academy
@ Selby Schedule

Botanical Drawing & Watercolor
Noon to 5pm

Dates:
Three Day Workshops
$350 Members/$375 Non Members

2010
October 18, 19, 20
November 8, 9, 10
December 6, 7, 8

Selby Workshops resume in October.
We hope to see you then. Have a great summer.

To Register, visit www.selby.org
Or Call Marilynn Shelley
941-366-5731 x 239

Academy @ Kentucky
with Leslie Ramsey

ANNOUNCING

Botanical Art Workshops

Graphite - Watercolor - Pen & Ink
Beginners to Advanced

With

Leslie Ramsey

Certified Botanical Artist
Certified Academy Instructor

THURSDAYS
to June

Day & Evening Classes
Day: 10am to 1 pm $200 (individual class $75)
Evening: 5:30pm - 8:30pm $200 (individual class $75)

Location
4464 Stuart Hall Boulevard #33102
Lexington, KY 40509

To Register, call Leslie Ramsey:
606-434-4280

Events

Art Exhibit

Mark your calendars

Botanical Art Exhibit

By Academy of Botanical Art
Founder & Instructors

Nature,
Naturally!

Meet the Artist Reception
June 10, 2010 5pm to 7pm

Exhibit Dates
June 10-18, 2010

The Dorotha Smith Oatts Visitor Center
500 Alumni Drive
Lexington, KY
Center Open 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission is free.

ACADEMY @ Kentucky Workshop

Drawing & Painting Butterflies

June 14-17, 2010
9am to 4pm

The Arboretum
State Botanical Garden of Kentucky
The Dorotha Smith Oatts Visitor Center
500 Alumni Drive
Lexington, KY

To Register, call (859) 257-6955
Executive Director Marcia Farris
http://www.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/

For more information, contact

Olivia Braida 941-953-9999
Leslie Ramsey 606-434-4280

ACADEMY @ Kentucky Workshop

Simple Color Theory for Nature Artists

4 Day Workshop
August 23 - 26, 2010
9am to 4pm

The Arboretum
State Botanical Garden of Kentucky
The Dorotha Smith Oatts Visitor Center
500 Alumni Drive
Lexington, KY

To Register, call (859) 257-6955
Executive Director Marcia Farris
http://www.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/http://www.ca.uky.edu/arboretum/

For more information, contact
Olivia Braida 941-953-9999
Leslie Ramsey 606-434-4280

Academy Specials

NEWEST OM BOOK!!!

COLORED PENCIL
For The Botanical Artist

Volume 12 and Course Pak #12

Click Here To Order

The All New OM ART Book Store

We keep adding information on Products & Art Supplies

Click Here To Visit Our Book Store and See What's New

Book Buys

Today's Botanical Artists

By Cora Marcus and Libby Kyer

LOSING PARADISE?
Endangered Plants Here and Around the World

This beautiful catalog showcases contemporary botanical artworks created by ASBA artists from the US and around the world, including a pen and ink illustration
by Anne Marie Brady-Carney.

Click Here

Need Supplies? Visit Our Store!!

We keep adding information on
Products & Art Supplies

OM Art Book Store
OM Art Class Art Supplies
OM Art Instruction Books

Here's the info you asked for so you can ship your artwork for review and store it safely

For Shipping & Storing
Archival Clamshell Box
And
Glassine Interleaving Paper

Academy of Botanical Art
Distance Learning _sm

Now Available for Anyone Interested in Endangered Species, Bromeliads or Palms

Click here to learn more about the
Academy and its instructors

ABA Instruction & Course Paks

Book Volumes 1-8 = $44.00 each
Book Volumes 9 = $55.00 each
Book Volumes 10 = $65.00 each
Plus Shipping and Handling

Accompanying ABA Course Paks
Volumes 1-9 = $22.00 each
Volume 10 = $39.00
Plus Shipping & Handling

Click Here To Order

Newest Books & Paks

Volume 12
Colored Pencil for the Botanical Artist $44.00

Course Pak #13
Research on the Internet $39.00

Course Pak #11
Marketing Your Art $39.00

Course Pak #12
Colored Pencil $22.00

Course Book/Pak #16
Combined Endangered Plant Species of the World $125.00

Click Here To Order

To unsubscribe from: Studio News, just follow this link:

http://omartdesigns.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/omart/example/example.com/

Click this link, or copy and paste the address into your browser.

Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail

Olivia Braida's May Studio News - About Pollination

2010-05-03T10:08:45Z

May
2010

"About Pollination"

This newsletter is dedicated to
our soldiers and their families.
To those who have served and
lost their lives and
those who are on active duty.
We offer our prayers to you all
and our belief in your safe return.

Watercolor Artists know its best to connect brush strokes - No Loop de Loops!
O.M. Braida Omisim #14

Dear Friends:

In preparation for my Butterfly workshop in Kentucky this June, I am writing the following information on Pollination that I think will be interesting to all. Visit our OM Art Book Store for more information on this fascinating topic. Also look for the numerous videos online that actually show pollination in progress, including vanilla orchid pollination done by hand! And speaking about insects, you will want to scroll down this page to find a link about Strawberry Insects - just in time for the season. Enjoy and I hope your Spring is a wonderful buzz of activity - in the garden and in the studio. God bless. OM

About Pollination

Humans and animals are rather selective when it comes to finding a mate. Animals mate strictly for sexual transfer, but plants are mostly stationary and usually rooted in the ground. Because of this they must attract something to help them accomplish the task of transferring male sperm to female plant parts.

The fact that insects search and find plants upon which they feed does not indicate premeditated pollination. Regardless they are codependent and thus they cannot survive without each other.

"Fossil records show 250 million years ago we had plants but no flowers. Ancient spore and cone-bearing plants (like ferns and pines) reproduced with the help of wind and water."¹ It took a long time for a new order of plants called angiosperms to appear. Leaves forming bowl shapes became the first flowers. Flowering angiosperms branched into thousands of different colors and shapes constantly adopting new pollination that came to rely on these flowering plants for food never suspecting they were helping in the plants continuum.

Even though flowering plants are designed to attract pollinators, usually insects but not always, plants and pollinators have different goals. Plants want to maximize the spread of pollen, and minimize their effort in pollen and nectar production. Pollinators, on the other hand, want to maximize their find of high quality food (pollen and sugary nectar), and minimize their cost of foraging. These seemingly opposed goals can result in highly specialized symbiotic relationships between plant and pollinator.²

Plants and pollinators have co-evolved physical characteristics that make them more likely to interact successfully, which led to the great diversity of flowers in nature. The plants benefit from attracting a particular type of pollinator to its flower, ensuring that its pollen will be carried to another flower of the same species and hopefully resulting in successful reproduction.

The act of pollination moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain. Pollinators break down into four main categories:

Entomophily: pollination by insects. Insects comprise the most diverse group of animals on the earth, with over 800,000 species described - more than all other animal groups combined. There are approximately 5,000 dragonfly species, 2,000 praying mantis, 20,000 grasshopper, 170,000 butterfly and moth, 120,000 fly, 82,000 true bug, 350,000 beetle, and 110,000 bee and ant species. The study of insects is called entomology.
Zoophily: pollination by animals such as birds or bats. Zoophily is a form of pollination whereby pollen is transferred by vertebrates, particularly by hummingbirds and other birds, and bats, but also by monkeys, marsupials, lemurs, bears, rabbits, deer, rodents, lizard s and other animals. Zoomophilous species, like entomophilous species, frequently evolve mechanisms to make themselves more appealing to the particular type of pollinator...., e.g. brightly colored or scented flowers, nectar, and appealing shapes and patterns. These plant animal relationships are often mutually beneficial because of the food source provided in exchange for pollination. Species which are primarily spread by contact tend to develop burrs, hooks, or other structures for attaching themselves to an animal's fur.³
Hydrophily: pollination by water is fairly uncommon. Hydrophilous species fall into two categories: those that distribute their pollen to the surface of water, and those that distribute it beneath the surface. Surface pollination is rare, and appears to be a transitional phase between wind pollination and true hydrophily, where pollen is completely submerged.
Anemophily: pollination by wind very common in grasses, conifers and sweet chestnut. The Anemophilous species do not develop scented flowers, nor do they produce nectar.

Bees

Bees are often considered as the most efficient pollinator.
In the US there are over 4000 species of native bees.
The European honey bee (Apis mellifera) is an almost global species - being introduced into the Americas by humans during the early colonization of the continents. Honey bees are best known for their role in the production of honey.
Bee pollination is estimated at $60 million per year in Pennsylvania, and at $14 billion per year in the US as a whole.

Beetles

Largest set of pollinating animals.
Early beetles appear to have been among the primary visitors of primitive flowering plants, and due to their pollination being an improvement over wind pollination, beetles likely played an important role in the evolution of flowering plants.
Beetles pollinate about 88% of the 240,000 flowering plants on earth.

Butterflies

Compared to bees, butterflies are often less efficient at transferring pollen between plants because frequently pollen does not stick to their bodies and they lack specialized structures for collecting pollen.

Birds

About 2,000 species of birds worldwide are nectar feeders.
The hummingbird family provides vital pollination services to thousands of plant species.
Of the 300 different hummingbird species, 16 breeding species occur in the United States.
Only the rubythroated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) breeds in the eastern United States.

Bats

Though most bats are insectivorous, many bats are important pollinators.
Species in approximately 1/3 of bat genera visit flowers and eat nectar and pollen.

The Role of Butterflies^4&5

Butterfly fossils are rare. The earliest butterfly fossils are from the early Cretaceous period, about 130 million years ago. Their development is closely linked to the evolution of flowering plants (angiosperms) since both adult butterflies and caterpillars feed on flowering plants, and the adults are important pollinators of many flowering plants. Flowering plants also evolved during the Cretaceous period.

The role of butterflies is important in our natural world. Their sheer numbers supply a vast food source for predators, and they are significant plant pollinators. With their acute sensitivity to pesticides and toxins, their presence, diversity and relative abundance indicate the overall well-being of our ecosystems. Their message is simple: A healthy community usually has a large number and wide array of butterfly species; a contaminated or altered community doesn't. The aesthetic appeal of these winged creatures is even more significant once we realize that butterflies neither sting, bite, nor transmit disease.

Butterflies and moth belong to the order Lepidoptera. Lepidos is Greek for "scales" and ptera means "wing". These scaled wings are different from the wings of any other insects. Lepidoptera is a very large group; there are more types of butterflies and moths than there are of any other type of insects except beetles. It is estimated that there are about 150,000 different species of butterflies and moths (there may be many more). There are about 28,000 butterfly species worldwide, the rest are moths.

Butterflies are found all over the world and in all types of environments: hot and cold, dry and moist, at sea level and high in the mountains. Most butterfly species, however, are found in tropical areas, especially tropical rainforests. Many butterflies migrate in order to avoid adverse environmental conditions (like cold weather). Butterfly migration is not well understood. Most migrate relatively short distances (like the Painted Lady, the Red Admiral, and the Common Buckeye), but a few (like some Monarchs) migrate thousands of miles.

Butterflies can only fly if their body temperature is above 86 degrees. Butterflies sun themselves to warm up in cool weather. As butterflies age, the color of the wings fades and the wings become ragged. The speed varies among butterfly species (the poisonous varieties are slower than non-poisonous varieties). The fastest butterflies (some skippers) can fly at about 30 mile per hour or faster. Slow flying butterflies fly about 5 mph.

Like all insects, butterflies have six jointed legs, 3 body parts, a pair of antennae, compound eyes, and an exoskeleton. The three body parts are the head, thorax (the chest), and abdomen (the tail end). Butterflies are very good fliers. They have two pairs of large wings covered with colorful, iridescent scales in overlapping rows. Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) are the only insects that have scaly wings. The wings are attached to the butterfly's thorax (mid-section). Veins support the delicate wings and nourish them with blood.

Butterfly color emanates from thousands of tiny, shingle-like scales in rows delicately attached by twin stalks to a parchment-like wing membrane. If you gently rub your finger across a butterfly wing, these stalks break and the scales brush off like dust. Two types of color arise from the wing-pigmented and structural or iridescent hues. Pigmented colors such as red, orange, yellow and brown come from the actual color pigment of each scale. In contrast, the iridescent, metallic colors such as blue, green, violet, silver and gold are created by minute structures on the scale surface that bend light and reflect it.

The four stages in butterfly metamorphosis are egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and adult. Metamorphosis begins when the fertilized egg hatches into a small caterpillar. The caterpillar's voracious appetite causes it to continually search for food while growing larger by the hour. After finally getting its fill, the caterpillar slowly molts into an inactive, mummy-like stage called the chrysalis. Within this waxy pupal case, the mystical transformation into adulthood occurs. As the chrysalis case splits, the wrinkled-winged adult butterfly emerges. After stretching and drying, the butterfly takes to the air in search of a mate so the cycle can be repeated. The miracle is complete; the ugly caterpillar has become a beautiful airborne ambassador of nature.

For Inspiration

"Letter to the Student of Painting"

Charles Philip Brooks
North Carolina Landscape Painter

American Tonalist Painter

"Your day contains a great measure of freedom. Your responsibility as a painter is here within the walls of the studio and in the setting of the landscape. You have the opportunity to exercise genuine mastery at every step, and it is in this spirit of grand possibility that I hope you will reflect on the advice made plain here.

Do not grieve too long for the troubles of the outside world. There is important work to be done here. We can best express our care for all others by attending to our work well.

Allow yourself the peace of purpose and the knowledge that to make another attempt with the brush is a noble thing. If you accept the discipline of the truest principles of art, then yours is the reward of an unbroken line of tradition.

Therefore, you may earnestly free your mind of all heartaches, sadness, and transitory despairs. Creation is above these things.

Your vocation is as real and as true as any other. Those who denounce the artist as idle manifest a deep ignorance of the nature of art. Have faith that the civilized will somewhere, at some time, value your well-wrought works. It is a miracle that the world keeps its havens for art and yet it does. Know that to create art is to do a necessary piece of work. The most noble pleasures and measureless joys result from such endeavors. True art is undeniable and it is a gift for all humanity.

The threefold responsibility of the artist is: to creation, to individual talent, and to humanity. For creation - the whole of nature - we must cultivate prayerful awe. This is our source of work and our refuge as well. We should seek harmony with nature. For the individual talent - long hours and years of steady industry hope to find our abilities fulfilled, our minds, hearts, and hands put to valuable service. In this way, we maintain the sanctity of art. Lastly, we make to humanity a willing gift of all we do. Our control over the material world lasts only a lingering moment and it takes a generous soul to build the ambition of a lifetime and then to hand it over in trust to the future.

Painting requires the bravery of solitude. Painting requires disciplined labor. To be a painter is to search the world with a benevolent eye for every subtle beauty that the infinite world offers.

Here is the opportunity to give your honest effort and to add in any small way to the legacy of art. Cultivate patience in your heart and you will improve. Learn to see well and your hand will become sure.

No pain or doubt can invade the honest soul engaged in the communion of creation. We artists must love the world with our deepest selves and forgive it at every turn.

To paint even a little passage with a measure of quality is to achieve a life's triumph.

Spend your days wisely with the best thoughts and works of those who have walked the road before you. Search their paths, their timeless inspirations, and the lineage of their genius. Learn your craft well and your talent will mature into its full possibility. Keep an obedient heart before nature. She is the master above all other masters. Nature is the concrete manifestation of all that remains true and sublime. Let us always be thankful for her abundance and hopeful that we might approach her in our art. Nature will renew every generation of painters, ready to illuminate the minds of those who practice the art with what is calm, rational, beautiful, sublime, and eternal.

Such is the purity of your vocation. Treat every moment before the easel as a quick and tender opportunity. Invest your most noble self. Give your most noble self. To be a painter is to enjoy a precious state of life."

Important Info About Strawberry Insects

How to Clean Strawberries!!!
You'll want to see this
video as it comes in time for
strawberry season !!!!!!

http://www.star-k.org/cons-appr-vegetables-videos10.htm

Upcoming Selby Garden Lectures

The Orchids of Costa Rica

Date: May 3, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Hosted by the Sarasota Orchid Society. Join Shelton Thorne of American Travel Group as he discsses "The Orchids of Costa Rica."

Cattleya Culture

Date: June 7, 2010
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Hosted by the Sarasota Orchid Society. Join Steve Hawkins of The Orchida Specialist as he discusses "Cattleya Culture."

Academy Travel Deals

penellontour.com

Penell Braida Skinner, ITMI, PAAWW
Travel Specialist - Europe/the Americas

"Dreams & Adventures" (941) 266-2689

VIRTUOSO - Affiliate,
Admiral Travel International, Inc.
www.admiraltravel.com

Sarasota Bed & Breakfast

La Palme Royale
A Bed & Breakfast Inn

Great Rates at a Beautiful Bed & Breakfast
In Sarasota, Florida
Walking Distance from
Marie Selby Botanical Garden

624 South Palm Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236

CELL 1-941-284-8890
FAX 1-866-804-6331
PHONE 1-866-800-3921-x104

reservations@lprsrq.com
Ask for Tim and tell him you are
Referred by the
Academy of Botanical Art
Visit their website to see their beautiful rooms!
http://www.lprsrq.com

Soul Biz

"Could life so end, half told;
its school so fail?
Soul, soul, there is a sequel to thy tale!"

-Robert Mowry Bell

"Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions,
the spirit of men and so it must be daily
earned and refreshed - else like a flower
cut from its life-giving roots, it will
wither and die. "

-Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide. "

-Napoleon Bonaparte

"You have freedom when you're easy in your harness."

-Robert Frost

"For what avail the plough or sail,
or land or life, if freedom fail?"

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Those who expect to reap the blessings
of freedom, must, like men,
undergo the fatigue of supporting it.?"

-Thomas Paine

"Who speaks of liberty while the human mind
is in chains?"

-Francis Wright, 1828

"There are two freedoms - the false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where he is free to do what he ought."

-Charles Kingsley

"If you are irritated by every rub,
how will you be polished?"

-Rumi