Forbidden Root Project

Backyard Botanist is on Facebook!

Congratulations! My client Forbidden Root in Chicago relaunched their botanical beers with new labels illustrated by me. The 12 key ingredients (among which elderflower, sweet osmanthus, marigold, honeybush...) are illustrated in colored pencils. The finished products are so elegant and refreshing. If you like Chicago and beer, do visit them at your next trip to The Windy City! I myself will definitely swing by to enjoy their beers soon, cheers!
Forbidden Root Restaurant & Brewery
1746 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
www.forbiddenroot.com

Happy Painting!
Ellie

Recent Exhibitions and Botanical Art Communities

Backyard Botanist is on Facebook!


I've been travelling, painting, and attending six exhibitions and one artist talk lately:

Current-

Flora of National Parks

(Display only)

When- Now until Oct.02

Where- U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C

Everything's Coming Up Roses

(Display and sales)

When- Now until TBD 2017

Where- Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge, California

Past:

Celebrating 100 Year of National Park Service Artist Talk, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, CA

Botanical Wonders, E.P Foster Library, Ventura, CA, and Oak Park Library, Oak Park, CA

Filoli 18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition, Woodside, CA

Looking for Flora at Roger's Gardens, Corona del Mar, CA

I met wonderful fellow artists, enthusiastic visitors, and fantastic exhibition coordinators and volunteers at all these shows, botanical art is a very welcoming community, members are always to share the knowledge with others. You'd be surprised that how fast you'd feel like home once you join the community.

For those who are interested in joining, check out this main site:

ASBA American Society of Botanical Artists

www.asba-art.org

You can find regional chapters to join, or just join the main site. You don't have to be an artist to join, as long as you enjoy botanical art!

Here are a few photos of my recent exhibitions:

Flora of National Parks

Filoli 18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition

E.P. Foster Library Exhibition

Oak Park Library Exhibition

Roger's Gardens "Looking for Flora" exhibition

Artist Talk at Channel Islands National Park

Happy Painting!

Ellie

Recent Exhibitions and Botanical Art Communities

I've been travelling, painting, and attending six exhibitions and one artist talk lately:

Current-

Flora of National Parks

(Display only)

When- Now until Oct.02

Where- U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C

Everything's Coming Up Roses

(Display and sales)

When- Now until TBD 2017

Where- Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge, California

Past:

Celebrating 100 Year of National Park Service Artist Talk, Channel Islands National Park, Ventura, CA

Botanical Wonders, E.P Foster Library, Ventura, CA, and Oak Park Library, Oak Park, CA

Filoli 18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition, Woodside, CA

Looking for Flora at Roger's Gardens, Corona del Mar, CA

I met wonderful fellow artists, enthusiastic visitors, and fantastic exhibition coordinators and volunteers at all these shows, botanical art is a very welcoming community, members are always to share the knowledge with others. You'd be surprised that how fast you'd feel like home once you join the community.

For those who are interested in joining, check out this main site:

ASBA American Society of Botanical Artists

www.asba-art.org

You can find regional chapters to join, or just join the main site. You don't have to be an artist to join, as long as you enjoy botanical art!

Here are a few photos of my recent exhibitions:

Flora of National Parks

Filoli 18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition

E.P. Foster Library Exhibition

Oak Park Library Exhibition

Roger's Gardens "Looking for Flora" exhibition

Artist Talk at Channel Islands National Park

Happy Painting!

Ellie

Filoli 18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition

Today's sunset at Montara Lighthouse was stunning!
Tomorrow, April 7th, 5 to 7 p.m., is the reception of Filoli 18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition. 65 pieces chosen from 196 botanical paintings are shown this year at Filoli Garden between April 5th and June 12th. I have the great honor to have 2 paintings entered the exhibition! Hope you will come and enjoy this exquisite exhibition. Filoli Garden:http://www.filoli.org/
‪#‎Filoli‬ ‪#‎BotanicalArt‬

May the Bb Power be with you,
Ellie

I Am to Present Two Botanical Art Talks and Display Art in Ventura County

BAGSC News:

BAGSC member Ellie Tu will have two displays of her botanical art, and will present two talks this coming weekend:

Saturday, March 19, 2016 at 1 pm
Ojai Library, Ojai, California

Ellie will present a talk entitled “Channel Islands National Park Guide Book Illustrations and a Glance at Traditional Botanical Art.” This talk will include a brief history of traditional botanical art and explain the equipment and materials used for painting and drawing.

Ellie will also speak on the process of creating the Channel Islands National Park guide book illustrations and give a drawing demonstration. She will bring some plant samples for guests to experience from a botanical illustrator’s point of view.

Ellie Tu illustrated the Channel Islands National Park guide books.

Ellie Tu illustrated the Channel Islands National Park guide books.

Ellie’s artwork will be on display in the library until the end of June, 2016.

This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact the library at (805) 646-1639. The E.P Foster Library is located at: 111 East Ojai Avenue, Ojai, California 93023.

Pen and ink illustrations of California native plants by Ellie Tu,© 2016, all rights reserved.

Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 2 pm
Oak Park Library, Oak Park, California

On Sunday, March 20, Ellie will present a talk entitled “Botanical Wonders: An introduction to Traditional Botanical Art.” Ellie will give a brief history of botanical art, show the step-by-step process of botanical painting, and give a watercolor demonstration. Those who attend get to create (and take home) their own botanical art! Ellie’s artwork will be on display in the library until April 3, 2016.

This event is free and open to the public. The address for the Oak Park Library is:897 North Kanan Road, Oak Park, CA 91377.

Additionally, Ellie will be giving a talk at Channel Islands National Park auditorium on April 9th. Stay tuned — details will be posted to our BAGSC News blog.

Bowers Museum 'Reds That Colored The World' Artist Demonstration

In conjunction with Reds That Colored The World exhibition at Bowers Museum, Botanical Artist Guild of Southern California has a series of demonstrations to show the public how we paint with red colors. Here are some event photos of me with Deb Shaw. Next demonstration days will be Feb. 20 and 21. Feb. 21 is also the last day of the exhibit. It is an eye-opening exhibit focusing on the history of human using the dye from cochineal bugs. Deb even brought her microscope to let the visitor take a close look at the bugs! We were lucky to witness the birth of 4 nymphs.

Day 1. We sat in front of a big bunch of prickly pear cactus. The host plant of cochineal.

Photo credit: Olga Ryabtsova

Showing my pen & ink sketches.

Photo credit: Olga Ryabtsova

The other day, it drizzled outside, so we move the tables into the main hall. Some geclee prints of other iconic artists are shown along with books.

A great book about THE lady who inspires all the nature artists.

Visitors are all very interested in what we do, botanically, artistically, and scientifically.

In the background is a canoe from Orchid Island, Taiwan. I was pleased to see this folk art piece from my home country.

Deb's microscope with some cochineal bugs being observed.

A newborn cochineal nymph under microscope.

My sketch of trumpet flower. Still in progress.

Pen & Ink sketch of day 2: pink camellia. Still in progress, too.

All in all, it is a very rewarding experience to introduce botanical art to more people!

May The Bb Power Be With You,
Ellie