Hello Art Patrons,
I veered off a bit during the Pandemic. I received the always thrilling “Congratulations you have been juried into The Bedford Gallery exhibit, If a Tree Falls” e-mail, but not for botanical watercolors—for woodworking?! It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. An iconic 325 year-old Valley Oak had fallen and artists were invited to choose pieces of wood to give the old tree new life. I pointed out a protrusion along the trunk, the arborist sawed it off and once in my hands, it felt like a nest. Generous fellow artist, Marc Weidech, dug out an off-center core with his lathe and I went to work. Sanding, scraping out bug frass (petrified poop) and cambium, finer sanding, oiling to reveal the natural wood grain, then vigorous buffing. Three spotted oak galls in the nest suggest rebirth. The surrounding oak bough is embalmed in glycerine giving this iconic Boundary Oak “A Nest of Its Own.”
This was an exciting way to spend a lockdown. Also accepted was my largest yet Bug Hotel #50 made of Valley Oak and forest floor organic detritus. The rebirth theme continues as this shelter fosters habitats that encourage biodiversity and remind the public that insects need our help. They also call attention to the simple beauty of nature. Parking in their Lesher Center lot in back is free for the first hour and there are parklet restaurants spanning blocks. The exhibit runs into February and has 64 artists and 96 pieces that are fascinating, beautiful, imaginative and weird! Check ahead for hours of operation.
If A Tree Falls: Art of the Boundary Oak
Bedford Gallery at Lesher Center for the Arts
1601 Civic Dr. Walnut Creek
https://www.bedfordgallery.org/exhibitions/on-view
Due to Covid, I participated in a low-keyed open-air Piedmont Harvest Festival exhibit this Fall and was recently notified that the 150th Anniversary of Golden Gate Park exhibit, Canopy Trees of GG Park, is again delayed until Sept – Dec 2022. Until then it’s online. https://www.sfbg.org/ggp150artexhibit. Click the image of the redwood slice to see my artist’s page.
Upcoming in January we are back at Berkeley Botanical Garden’s Julia Morgan building for our NorCal ASBA exhibit. I plan to show my rarely exhibited work of Dichondra leaves cascading down a wall.
The Beauty of Leaves
UC Botanical Garden Berkeley
Reservations required in the garden
https://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu
Painting class has resumed with masks, distancing, and foggy magnifier glasses. Continuing the theme, I’m painting a Valley Oak bough heavy with fall leaves and oak galls, the birthplace of harmless tiny native wasp larvae. If you collect oak galls for your table decoration, consider temporarily keeping them in a bag—it can be like a maternity ward in there—remember open bag outdoors.
Happy Holidays everyone. Email if you’d like to shop for last minute botanical gifts, books, cards or prints in my studio. See my 2021 Spring Newsletter for a photo of botanical gift offerings. Bring friends, enjoy Grandma’s fudge, cookies, tea or wine. You bring the people, I’ll have the party.
Otherwise, Rocky’s Market in Oakland’s Leimert District carries my art cards. You can make your own last-minute gift pack. I also highly recommend their nonprofit www.nourishthepeople.org for donations and volunteer opportunities to fight hunger locally. Hunker down folks and take care.
Yours,
Bonnie Bonner
a.k.a. Joanne Palamountain
