Banner art, above, was designed by Alice Fredericy, using art created by OBA members.​​
We welcome and support artists of all levels of skill and knowledge, as well as supporters of botanical art and those who celebrate the importance of plants in the world.

Above: Some of the fine art on view at the Multnomah Art Center Exhibition
Images above by Kip Nordstrom, Pearlyn Tan, Margot Cole, Paige Goganian and Carol Putnam

OBA MEMBERS SHOWCASE AT THE MULTNOMAH ARTS CENTER

Please join Oregon Botanical Artists and the Multnomah Arts Center for an exhibition of botanical art.  

When: May 26 to July 22, 2023

Where: Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, OR 97219

Artists Reception: Thursday, June 15, 2023, 6-8 pm

This exhibit features original art, prints and cards created by local botanical artists and available for purchase.  For a list of participating artists and gallery hours follow the link:  oba_exhibition_at_the_multnomah_arts_center.jpg



PictureWyeth's Buckwheat & Black-tailed Bee, © N. Sherwood
Artist Spotlight:
Nora Sherwood

Nora Sherwood joined the field of science illustration as a mid-life career change after many years in the world of high tech. She graduated from the University of Washington’s Natural Science Illustration certificate program in Spring 2014, and she is now a full-time, self-employed artist. You can see more art at norasherwood.com.

For this Artist Spotlight, Nora shares some information on her journey to scientific illustration and how she built her successful freelance business:

OBA: You were born in Colombia and traveled the world with your family, growing up. Were you interested in animals, plants, and bugs as a child? Do you have any memories of exotic species from South America or elsewhere?

Nora: To be honest, my early fascination was more with cartography, which lead to my first career (geographic information systems). My interest in natural history developed later and grew out of my concern with the human race’s destruction of our natural world. As a child, I took in the exotic species as yet another rich element (along with language, culture, geography, etc.) of the unusual way I was raised in the Foreign Service’s diplomatic corps. 

OBA: After a successful career in tech, you decided to pursue the Natural Science Illustration Certificate at the University of Washington. How did you prepare for the switch to an art career? Did you take foundational art courses? Or did you self-study to learn basic drawing skills?

Nora: I had taken a few figure drawing and watercolor classes, but did not have much visual arts background. Soon after enrolling, I was told that my art skills were deficient, and I should enroll at the Gage Academy. That’s where I really got my foundation in the technical end of art (drawing, color theory, composition, etc.). So it was a very busy time, taking both programs at the same time, and I completely dedicated myself to learning that year. I still wasn’t a very good artist, but I’ve just continued to work at it. 

OBA: Perseverance has paid off! Since studying art and science illustration, you now have an impressive portfolio of work for national agencies as well as local businesses. What was your first assignment after the UW Illustration program? How can emerging illustrators find clients when starting a business?

Nora: Thanks for thinking it’s impressive! An awful lot of the illustration work is now freelance, so the advice we were given at UW was “just get it out there, the work is going to find you.” I really did try to solicit work proactively, and got absolutely nowhere. On the other hand, getting a website up, getting work into galleries, getting a couple of solo shows, etc. did finally get me some work. My first projects were pretty dinky — a queen bee, a silly chicken illustration for an egg farmer, etc. but my first larger job was for an entomologist who was researching new blister beetle species (Nothing pretty, just ink diagrams of distinguishing anatomy). I did not (and still don’t) say no to anything. Frankly, it was the exact opposite of my experience in tech, but some of the business skills I had, like follow-through, defining the project’s scope, keeping the client informed, etc., were helpful. 

OBA: In 2019, OPB's "Oregon Art Beat" featured your work -- congratulations! In the segment, you mentioned the "10,000 Hour Rule." Could you explain a bit about that concept and how it has worked for your career shift?

Nora: I was referring to Malcolm Gladwell’s rule (which has been shown to be overly simplistic, or course) that putting 10,000 hours into learning a skill is going to help you achieve mastery. For me, not being a “good artist” when I started out, it helped to keep me going when the results I was seeing on the page weren’t very good because I recognized that I was just going to have keep putting in the time and effort. Another idea along those lines was something my beloved Gage Academy teacher, Margaret Davidson, said many times: “You have to draw a thousand lousy drawings before you can draw anything good, so let’s get started on the lousy ones and get them out of the way.” 

OBA: Your background includes a graduate degree in geography. Do you ever include these elements in illustration?

Nora: I have been able to call on my knowledge of geography, spatial analytics and cartography on occasion, but I leave the serious freelance GIS stuff to other folks.

OBA: You have created beautiful scientific art in many media such as scratch board, colored pencil, and watercolor. What is your favorite medium? Do you ever use Photoshop or other software? 

Nora: Watercolor chose me, and it’s definitely the one I’d choose to take to a desert island if I could only take one. I have gotten better at colored pencils, but given the need to make a living, I’m faster at watercolor. I absolutely adore scratchboard, but there’s not much call for it in commercial work. I do use Photoshop on the front end to help with composition and on the back end to do any needed post-processing of scans. If I were in my 20’s and just starting out in an illustrating career, I would absolutely emphasize “non-traditional” media skills, as that’s how a lot of science illustration is being done these days.

OBA: In February, you are offering a Zoom-based workshop to "Paint Like Beatrix Potter."  What can participants expect to learn in the class?

Nora: Ah, Beatrix Potter, my “patron saint”! She was an incredibly hard-working science illustrator who wandered into a career of writing and illustrating cute, little bunny books, became an amazing business woman, made a bundle, and pioneered land conservation. She is my hero! We’re going to learn about her in her historical context, and we’re going to learn about and copy some of her techniques — nature sketching, observation and gestural sketching of live (well, in this case, video) animals, “cute critter” anatomy, working from photography, etc., etc.!

OBA: That sounds like a great course! Is there anything else you’d like to tell us? What projects are you currently working on? 

Nora: At the moment, I am working on book illustrations for a river ecologist, a private commission of an Oregon swallowtail butterfly in adult and caterpillar stages, and some grain illustrations for a distillery. I’m expecting some more jam jar work any moment. I am continuing to work on monetizing my artwork through putting it on consumer products, and also increasing my workshop catalog. Lots of legs to the stool of earning money in this field!
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Register for upcoming workshops with Nora Sherwood! 
Feb. 11, 18, 25: "Paint Like Beatrix Potter" on Zoom
March 4, 11: Basic Drawing and Pencil Skills on Zoom
May 8, 15: Shading and 3-D Form Bootcamp — Graphite on Zoom
Upcoming Educational and Exhibition Opportunities:

See ​Upcoming Events on the News/Calendar page: www.oba-artists.com/news--calendar.html
L I N K S
 American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA)
 Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI)
 ArtPlantae
 Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
 Pacific NW Botanical Artists (PNBA)
 Native Plant Society of Oregon
 Hardy Plant Society of Oregon
 The Hoyt Arboretum
 The Audubon Society of Portland
 Tryon Creek Nature Center
 Leach Botanical Garden
 The Oregon Garden
  Portland Japanese Garden
 Portland Chinese Garden
  Fibonacci YouTube video
 Bosky Dell Native Plant Nursery
 
Above: Sketchbook Exchange, Round 5.
All images on this website are copyright of the artist. ​